Situational Leadership Theory

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Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership theory contends that leaders should adapt their style to the maturity level of the subordinate. Thus, the leader develops a relationship with each individual follower based on the needs of the follower. The leader can use developmental interventions to influence the maturity level of the individual allowing the leader and follower to negotiate duties and accomplishing responsibilities. This type of negotiation between the leader and follower is similar to the role-making method found in leader-member exchange (LMX) theory (Yukl, 2006). The theory was introduced as the Life Cycle of Leadership but was later changed to Situational Leadership Theory (Graeff, 1997). The theory suffers from conceptual weaknesses resulting in a lack of measurable success in research studies on the theory (Graeff, 1997; Yukl, 2006). The theory does offer an excellent view of leadership as fluid in nature, where the leader must adapt to the needs of each individual subordinate (Yukl, 2006). ...