Leadership is one of the most frequently researched topics with regard to organizations and management. Contingency approach to leadership started evolving since the middle of the 20th century. The comprehensive model by F.Fiedler addresses three major dimensions of contingent leadership. Firstly, leader-member relationships need to be developed, so that a leader is both accepted and respected by followers (Mind Tools, 2015). As it stems from the leader’s answers, her role model Klerk, working in Disneyland Shanghai, managed to build up solid relationships with his followers. Secondly, contingency presupposes an emphasis on structured nature of a task. Importantly, the third dimension is constituted by the leadership position power (Mind Tools, 2015). Despite the importance of structured tasks and leadership position power, the interviewed leader emphasizes only leader-follower relations and an opportunity to share experiences, when describing what influenced her leadership.
The Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership theory is based on two major factors, such as leadership style and the maturity of followers. In turn, leadership style is considered as an aggregate of several behaviours, such as telling, selling, participating and delegating (Leadership Central, 2015). The group’s maturity levels range from the lack of both competence and willingness to complete a task to the situation of high competence and high commitment (Leadership Central, 2015). The practical application of the theory lies in the fact that it allows estimating the state of leadership in a specific situation. In her answer, the interviewed leader indirectly mentions an importance of using different leadership styles, dependent on a situation, and followers’ engagement.
References
Leadership Central (2015). Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership theory. Retrieved 19 February 2016 from http://www.leadership-central.com/situational-leadership-theory.html#axzz40bRWS4xU
Mind Tools (2015). Fiedler’s contingency model. Matching leadership style to a situation. Retrieved 19 February 2016 from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/fiedler.htm
