In the post right below this I discussed the Situational Leadership Theory developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard. Based on this theory I will recount an instance from the follower perspective and indicate how the “matching” made the instance positive as well as how the “mismatch” made the instance negative.
I serve out at a pool during the summer. The incident I am about to describe happened on a very hot (meaning BUSY) summer afternoon. I was one of two opening servers on this particular day. Around noon we had a call off meaning that we were now under staffed and still just as overwhelmingly busy. At my work, missing meal breaks is taken very seriously. However, when we are working out by the pool it can be difficult to take a break due to how we organize the sections and the rate at which our “tables” turnover. My sixth hour was approaching and I needed to take a break but I had 15+ checks open, nobody to cover my section (because ever server was just as busy) and I couldn’t reach a supervisor on their phone. Our supervisor was nowhere to be found. The window of time that I needed to take my break passed. About an hour later my supervisor showed up as things were beginning to slow down and asked in front of a group of guests if I had taken my break. I replied calmly “No, I was unable to because we were so busy out here.” She literally yelled at me like her five year old child and reprimanded me in front of a co-worker and a group of guests. This can be described as a “mismatch” in Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory. She came into the situation with a much different view on what was happening and addressed it in a manner much different from what I was anticipating. This “mismatch” in leadership styles created an array of negative emotions on both accounts. I was so incredibly shocked that she had yelled at me about not taking a break in front of people. At first I thought she must be joking but soon realized that she was not joking at all. Being a subordinate I tried to stay calm and replied with, “We were extremely busy and there was nobody out here to coordinate sections or help out with breaks. I tried calling you multiple times but you were not answering your phone.” I apologized for missing my break but I had way too many checks out to just walk away and go on break. Things escalated very quickly and I asked if we could take the disagreement to her office to spare the rest of my associates the uncomfortable situation we were creating for everyone. Due to the mismatch of leadership styles used in this situation I lost a lot of respect and trust for this particular supervisor.
After we talked for about half an hour we came to understand each other’s views on this particular situation. Things had calmed down and her style of leadership slowly began to change to match what I had initially anticipated. We were able to communicate on a similar level and resolve the situation. In order to effectively communicate we had to both compromise and adapt to one another. The Situational Theory focuses on the leader transforming their leadership style to the situation and their followers. However, the initial response and behavior to this situation would definitely be an example of a mismatch that created very negative responses.
I serve out at a pool during the summer. The incident I am about to describe happened on a very hot (meaning BUSY) summer afternoon. I was one of two opening servers on this particular day. Around noon we had a call off meaning that we were now under staffed and still just as overwhelmingly busy. At my work, missing meal breaks is taken very seriously. However, when we are working out by the pool it can be difficult to take a break due to how we organize the sections and the rate at which our “tables” turnover. My sixth hour was approaching and I needed to take a break but I had 15+ checks open, nobody to cover my section (because ever server was just as busy) and I couldn’t reach a supervisor on their phone. Our supervisor was nowhere to be found. The window of time that I needed to take my break passed. About an hour later my supervisor showed up as things were beginning to slow down and asked in front of a group of guests if I had taken my break. I replied calmly “No, I was unable to because we were so busy out here.” She literally yelled at me like her five year old child and reprimanded me in front of a co-worker and a group of guests. This can be described as a “mismatch” in Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory. She came into the situation with a much different view on what was happening and addressed it in a manner much different from what I was anticipating. This “mismatch” in leadership styles created an array of negative emotions on both accounts. I was so incredibly shocked that she had yelled at me about not taking a break in front of people. At first I thought she must be joking but soon realized that she was not joking at all. Being a subordinate I tried to stay calm and replied with, “We were extremely busy and there was nobody out here to coordinate sections or help out with breaks. I tried calling you multiple times but you were not answering your phone.” I apologized for missing my break but I had way too many checks out to just walk away and go on break. Things escalated very quickly and I asked if we could take the disagreement to her office to spare the rest of my associates the uncomfortable situation we were creating for everyone. Due to the mismatch of leadership styles used in this situation I lost a lot of respect and trust for this particular supervisor.
After we talked for about half an hour we came to understand each other’s views on this particular situation. Things had calmed down and her style of leadership slowly began to change to match what I had initially anticipated. We were able to communicate on a similar level and resolve the situation. In order to effectively communicate we had to both compromise and adapt to one another. The Situational Theory focuses on the leader transforming their leadership style to the situation and their followers. However, the initial response and behavior to this situation would definitely be an example of a mismatch that created very negative responses.
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