MM 36 Situational Leadership

In the 1930s, Kurt Lewin formulated his three classic leadership styles, laying the foundation for what is now a highly significant part of management theory. Specialization, digitalization, division of labor, and globalization mean that management theorists must constantly question older models, and thus, a whole host of different leadership styles have emerged. In 1967, in A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness, Fred Edward Fiedler (1922-2017) first linked successful leadership behavior to the underlying conditions, thus shaping contingency theory. According to this theory, leadership behavior cannot be chosen without considering the relationship between management and employees, the task structure, and the positional power of the supervisor.

Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard developed Edward Fiedler's approach into a more comprehensive theory in 1969 in Management of Organizational Behavior. They initially distinguished between relationship and task orientation. Relationship-oriented leadership, they argued, involves a leader praising and helping their employees, while task-oriented management involves delegating, directing, and giving precise work instructions. The leader must decide on the type and extent of orientation based on the employees' level of maturity, which is determined by their professional competence and contribution.

As in group-oriented leadership (M34), for example, the overarching task of management is to actively observe their employees and determine their level of maturity. Furthermore, when new areas of responsibility are delegated, it is often the case that employees are simultaneously very mature in their familiar area, but still completely immature in the new area. Here, it is important to carefully balance personal interactions with one another.

In the context of:

Q: Q01, Q02, Q04, Q05, Q12

E: E01