Situational Approach
The situational approach as an explanation of leadership in general
Wright (2017) states that in the global environment, leadership is an essential element that enables the managers to understand the individual within the workplace and the external working environment. Due to the fast-moving competitive world, advances in technology, and changes in the workplaces, leaders must use the best style of leadership to adapt to the new situations (Wright, 2017).The author states that there are many styles of leadership, but the most leadership style that is commonly used is the situational leadership model. The model was established by Herse and Blanchard in 1979, and these researchers stressed that leaders manage different situations. In every situation, leaders must address the needs required by that particular situation. This means that one needs to adjust his or her leadership style to meet the needs of the situation (Wright, 2017).The author asserts that for leaders to effectively fit in every situation, they must have the adaptability. Adaptability means that when changes occur, such as culture changes, competition changes, market changes, and more, they must adapt to these new conditions. In all situation, they must have insight, flexibility, trust, and apply new ways of thinking (Wright, 2017). An important point to note is that situational leaders pass through dialogic development or four areas of development. For example, situational leaders are acquisitive- they develop knowledge and focus on career growth. They are autonomous- show goal-directed behavior, they are networked- they form an inter-organization relationship, and they are dialogic- leaders like new ideas and discussion and interpret situations using a different perspective (Wright, 2017). The author states that modern global enterprises are using situational leadership to serve the needs of employees in different situations.
According to Thompson & Glasø (2018) employees go through different development levels. Leaders must understand all these levels or situations and apply the best style to ensure that the workers adapt to the situations. For example, followers may feel helpless and demotivated. The leaders should direct the followers on how to do the task. Other followers may be capable do the work but may have insufficient commitment. Leaders must consider these situations as different, and thus, they should employ different approaches, that is; directive and supportive approaches. The article states that supportiveness and directives are important elements as they lead to employee satisfaction and leadership effectiveness (Thompson & Glasø, 2018). The author introduces an important thing known as in-agreement assessments. This means that in situational leadership, the followers and the leader must agree. The agreement is based on whether the follower's competence is good or poor (Thompson & Glasø, 2018). The agreement or congruence will help both the follower and the leader recognize the developmental level, and the leader will provide the appropriate direction or support.
The situational approach within the Criminal Justice System
First of all, it is important to understand that the role of community policing is to identify the real problems in the community and use community resources to provide solutions. Both citizens and police should cooperate to achieve positive results. They should work together to identify crime, report crime, conduct investigation, develop solutions, and work together to create prevention programs (Vinzant & Crothers, 1994). Police should shift from the traditional policing and street-level leadership. This means that police should know that in community policing, they are subjected to various pressures and therefore they should understand the context so that they can address the issues at hand. In carrying out official duties, police should know that the duty does not only entail task completion, but it also requires broader responsibilities (Vinzant & Crothers, 1994). For example, apart from focusing on the task, police need to ask themselves which type of approach to employ in a specific situation, and factors to consider. Note that police interact with citizens and adhere to the standards of public policies. However, the article asserts that some public policies and rules do not adequately address some problems or situations. Therefore, police need to apply coping mechanism so that they can adjust to the specific circumstance and meet the citizens' needs (Vinzant & Crothers, 1994). In other words, the street-level leadership involves the use of situational approach where police use their judgment in different situations to maximize the welfare of the citizens. Note that in community policing, police focus on making a difference in people's life. Thus, police can adjust the policy, make an informed choice, understand the specific situation, and address the problems.
References
Thompson, G., & Glasø, L. (2018). Situational leadership theory: a test from a leader-follower
congruence approach. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 39(5), 574-591.
Wright, E. S. (2017). Dialogic development in the situational leadership style. Performance
Improvement, 56(9), 27-31.
Vinzant, J., & Crothers, L. (1994). Street-level leadership: The role of patrol officers in
community policing. Criminal Justice Review, 19(2), 189-211.
