Introduction
The most successful business organizations have strong leadership of owners or managers who use numerous leadership styles in their businesses, each with a different focus. Two very different leadership styles are the trait approach and the situational approach. According to Cote (2017), the situational leadership style is described as tried and true framework that enables leaders to align their behaviors with the performance of an individual or group they are trying to influence. On the other hand, the trait leadership style focuses on the leader and the qualities they possess to run the business effectively. This study aims to help leaders differentiate between the situational and trait approaches to leadership. Understanding the various systems in administration can help leaders be more effective by allowing them to know how and why they act in the way they do, as well as determining when and where to change their style. This study will focus on differentiating between situational and trait leadership styles.
Theoretical Framework and Analysis
Differences between Situational leadership style and Traits leadership style
| Situational leadership style | Traits leadership style |
| The situational leadership style is flexible as it can adapt to the needs of the organization and the existing business environment (Benmira & Agboola, 2021).
The situational leadership style is based on something other than a leader’s specific skill, as business leaders modify the management styles to fit the organization’s requirements. The situational leadership style considers an employee’s readiness level and performance to do a specific task and the amount of support and direction required from a leader in the business organization (Deshwal and Ali, A. (2020). An example of how situational leadership style can be applied. As a company manager, you use your leadership skills to help new employees with little expertise and experience to improve. As a leader, you can take your time to show them how to perfume the task before delegating tasks to them first. You must also supervise them regularly to ensure they are on the right track. When they gain experience, you can change your leadership style to match their new level of performance of tasks. |
Traits leadership style, as explained by Vasilescu (2019), is an early assumption.
Leaders are born, not made, and this assumption makes them have good qualities and traits for leadership. Based on behavioral skills and characteristics of leaders to lead the business organization effectively to success. The trait leadership style is based on characteristics of successful and unsuccessful leaders, which is used to predict effectiveness in leadership. An example of leadership style traits is Nelson Mandela’s distinctive characteristics as a former political prisoner and president of South Africa. He inspired the world in his leadership journey and how he treated others with compassion, conscientiousness, and significant emotional intelligence. |
Differences between Situational Leadership skills and Traits approach leadership skills
| Situational leadership skills | Traits approach leadership skills |
| To become an effective situational leader, one must master the following skills: diagnosis, flexibility, and partnering for performance skills (Gandolfi & Stone, 2018).
An effective leader must develop and determine the level of the direct report focusing on motivation and skills. The best way to determine the sum of knowledge and experiences of an individual is to look at their performance, the level of motivation, and the confidence an individual has about a task. Gandolfi & Stone (2018) also argues that situational leadership skills are the flexibility of a leader to move from one development level to another. Partnering opens communication between a leader and their customers and helps improve the conversation’s quality and quantity. Partnering helps a leader gain direct reports’ permission on the appropriate leadership style that matches the development level. |
Given (Bashir et al., 2022), integrity is an essential leadership trait skill for an organization or an individual, which may be a potential blind spot for businesses.
Influential leaders delegate core responsibilities to their team to facilitate teamwork, provide autonomy, and help them make better decisions. Effective communication is another skill that helps leaders transmit information to inspire others. Effective communication among the leaders affects the success of the organization’s strategy (Benmira and Agboola2021). |
Strengths of situational leadership approach/style and example(s) to support
The situational approach to leadership, as outlined by Benmira & Agboola (2021), consists of concepts that are easy to apply and understand across various situations in business. For example, more than 500 fortune companies have used it in their leadership programs because of the positive feedback it has. A leader who uses situational leadership style adapts to every situation they encounter by acting differently with different employees to offer solutions. For example, two members of a group discussion did not attend and contribute to discussion work and therefore are forced to be chased away from the group. The leader listens to their reasons for not attending the discussion and then later explains the situation to the rest of the group members.
Henkel & Bourdeau (2018) also describe leaders in situational approaches as having the permission to change their management styles and adjust to them to respond to different factors while keeping their focus on achieving targets of organizational success. For example, change from an autocratic management style to a democratic style or vice versa. A team leader of a project holds weekly physical meetings with each of the other team members and asks them to share the progress of their tasks, what they think is going well, and the improvements that need to be made.
Weakness of situational leadership approach and example to support
Wright (2017) explains that situational leadership can create confusion within the organization or team depending on how leaders communicate with their employees or members. When a leader is consistent in their leadership approaches, it creates clarity in them. For example, in a sports team manager, new members join every season while others join, which confuses team organization in one way or another. Situational leadership is focused on short-term goals that arise at the present moment. This causes a disconnection from the larger vision of the organization or team. For example, a sports team manager focuses on minor goals like local friendly matches instead of focusing on the significant champion’s trophy at the end of the season. Situational approaches to leadership risk putting too many responsibilities on the leader, making them respond to situations in their teams or organizations inappropriately. For example, a sports team manager is tasked with many responsibilities in hiring, team selection, and substitutions, among others. This makes them work inappropriately for their team or organizational success.
Strengths of Traits leadership approach and example(s) to support.
As described by Ibrahim & Daniel (2019), the trait theory of leadership emphasizes that distinctive and effective leaders are influenced by features acquired by their social interactions, culture, and inherited ones. Therefore, the trait approach to leadership motivates people to advance and improve their leadership abilities continuously. For example, when a group member shows confidence when completing tasks and suggesting new ideas, they encourage members to contribute with confident behavior. Ibrahim & Daniel (2019) also alludes that many studies and research in leadership have supported the foundation of the trait approaches to leadership; therefore, the implications and characteristics of the trait leadership style apply to all businesses and all types of business organization. For example, minimum weight and height are necessary to perform tasks efficiently in a military leadership position. The trait theory creates a way of identifying future leaders who show common qualities and attributes of leadership. Leaders use the trait theory to access on the leadership strengths and weaknesses they may exhibit. For example, when candidates participate in various tests and assignments, attending benchmark activities to assess how strong or weak they concern leadership skills.
Weakness of Traits leadership approach and example to support
As Walls (2019) explains, the trait approach of leadership contains an endless array of traits that are constantly changing in sociocultural circumstances. For example, when leading a sports team as a manager, social-cultural practices affect the team relation as they come from different cultures. The trait approach in leadership needs to consider the role of contexts and situations in predicting influential leaders. For example, when leading a committee, different situations and contexts that arise need to identify an effective leader. The trait approach in leadership needs to be more decisive in demonstrating the effects of leadership traits on the group’s outcome within the organization. For example, the leadership potential of a committee leader the trait cannot show the effects they bring to the organization. Moreover, Walls (2019) also illustrate that most characteristics of trait theory belonging to psychological structures; therefore, training and teaching an understanding of the characteristics of influential leaders still cannot help managers positively and impact their psychology. For example, learning the leadership characteristics of Nelson Mandela cannot directly impact individual psychological characteristics in leadership.
Which one is a more practical approach to leadership?
As described by Tabrizi & Rideout (2019), situational leadership is the most effective form of leadership because it accounts for different confidence levels and skills among team members in a group or organization. Therefore this makes situational leaders deliver and elevate the organization or team in the right direction where there is support. Situational leadership is a more flexible approach to leadership as it is based on a leader’s directive on the abilities and readiness of his followers by incorporating other leadership styles. The situational approach to leadership is also the most effective, as it encourages successful collaborations among team members. The use of technology has made interaction easier among team members in an organization, increasing productivity and engagement. The situational approach also enhances work productivity when leaders make positive and effective changes; employees are more committed to their tasks as they feel part of something significant and increase their engagement in the organization (Tabrizi & Rideout, 2019).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the study has Critically appraised the difference between situational leadership versus traits approach or skills and style approaches to leadership. The essay has also discussed the strengths and weaknesses of situational and trait approaches to leadership. Being aware of different styles and skills in leadership can make a leader know their own or can even borrow bits of each style to make their leadership skills more effective. The situational leadership style is the most effective form of leadership because it accounts for different levels of confidence and skills among team members in an organization making the leaders deliver the right amount of support and direction required. Situational leaders change their styles of leadership as per the situation, which is highly required in the company to make it highly profitable. Leaders in an organization or team need to move from one leadership style to another to meet the changing needs of an organization and its employees toward success.
References
Cote, R. (2017). A comparison of leadership theories in an organizational environment. International Journal of Business Administration, 8(5), 28–35.
Benmira, S., & Agboola, M. (2021). Evolution of leadership theory. BMJ Leader, leader-2020.
Deshwal, V., & Ali, A. (2020). A systematic review of various leadership theories. Shanlax International Journal of Commerce, 8(1), 38–43.
Vasilescu, M. (2019). Leadership styles and theories in effective management activity. Annals-Economy Series, 4, 47-52.
Gandolfi, F., & Stone, S. (2018). Leadership, leadership styles, and servant leadership. Journal of Management Research, 18(4), 261-269.
Bashir, I., Rana, R. A., Naseem, A., Ghafoor, A., & Mumtaz, B. (2022). A Comparative Analysis of Situational and Style Leadership Theories. Competitive Education Research Journal, 3(1), 127–134.
Benmira, S., & Agboola, M. (2021). Evolution of leadership theory. BMJ Leader, leader-2020.
Henkel, T., & Bourdeau, D. (2018). A field study: An examination of managers’ situational leadership styles. Journal of Diversity Management (JDM), 13(2), 7-14.
Wright, E. S. (2017). Dialogic development in the situational leadership style. Performance Improvement, 56(9), 27–31.
Ibrahim, A. U., & Daniel, C. O. (2019). Impact of leadership on organizational performance. International Journal of Business, Management, and Social Research, 6(2), 367-374.
Walls, E. (2019). The value of situational leadership. Community practitioner: the Community Practitioners’& Health Visitors’ Association journal, 92(2), 31–33.
Tabrizi, S., & Rideout, G. (2019). Exploring Situational Leadership in the Education System: Practices for Multicultural Societies. International Journal of Innovative Business Strategies, 5(1), 234–244.
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