JLBC CADET CORPS Leadership Skills & Theories

JLBC CADET CORPS Leadership Skills & Theories

In general, selflessness is good (it is one of our core values.) without bringing in the concept of being a servant. You cannot lead others by serving them; you can only lead by example or by advocating a new direction. (McCrimmon, n.d.) (Burkus, 2010)

B8. Situational Leadership.

(Blanchard, 1985) Situational leadership is a particular model developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard and popularized in the 1970s. Kersey and Blanchard went their ways, and Blanchard continued to develop the model, creating Situational Leadership II in 1985. It is valuable to cadet leaders because it puts the pieces of motivation, ability, and leadership style together and gives a recommended style to employ in given situations. It is based on the premise that leadership must adjust to the situation and that leaders can adjust their leadership style to a style needed for the situation.

There are two critical components to situational leadership:

1. Developmental Levels

2. Leadership Styles

There are four developmental levels in situational leadership. The developmental level is the combination of competence (ability to perform the task well) and commitment (motivation to perform the task well). The leader’s job is to assess the developmental level of his/her followers so that he/she knows what style of leadership to use to be most effective. The developmental levels are:

D1: Low competence and high commitment

D2: Low competence and low commitment

D3: High competence and low/varying commitment D4: High competence and high commitment

Blanchard states that generally, a follower comes to a new situation with low competence (he/she does not know how to do the task) but high commitment (he/she is motivated to do well) (Developmental Level D1). As he/she progresses, task performance slowly builds but stays reasonably low for a while, which lowers the motivation or commitment level (D2). Eventually, competence grows, and commitment varies, likely depending on how well the job is going (D3). Finally, competence level and commitment/motivation are high (D4).

This fits well with Tuckman’s stages of group development (Forming, Storming, Norming, & Performing)