Situational Leadership - Anthony Bates

This week's lecture was given by Anthony Bates and he presented six different leadership styles that, supposedly, The Wall Street Journal published in its Guide to Management. These six leadership styles were: affiliative, coaching, commanding, democratic, pace-setting, and visionary. To quickly summarize each different style, the affiliative leadership style emphasized good relations among the members of the organization in order to bring about a better environment for accomplishment. The coaching leadership style had a greater focus on the individual. It is a one-on-one approach to help a struggling member of the group to provide greater group stimulus. The commanding leadership style is a style that replaces praise with criticism. It is appropriate only in situations when urgent action is required, such as a crises or any military operation. A democratic style employs the skills and knowledge of the members of the group, giving the reins to the group as a whole to deal with. A pace-setting style involves the team leader setting the bar for high performance and expecting the whole group to follow. A visionary style sets a clear and positive image of the future for the group, giving the group a clear and concise goal to work towards.

In my current leadership role as one who wants his roommates to succeed in all aspects of life, there are some things that I have been doing well, some things I have been doing but can do better, and some things that I haven't done but should employ. I try to preserve harmony in the group by making sure every once in a while we have opportunities to talk and bond. I crack jokes and try to bring about an atmosphere of comfort and openness. I bring in topics that are always good fun for us - girls. We all have a girl, or girls, whom we think are alright. Talking about them while cracking fun at each other allow us to relax after the rush of the day and kind of bring us back to realize that we are good friends, not just strangers who just happen to live together. Instead of "coaching" someone, I do take time to sit down one on one with a roommate to talk about things. Every now and then, I sit down and ask them if there are any problems or dilemmas that I can help them with. Being the wonderful, friendly people they are, my roommates crack fun at me telling me that I am too "friendly" with them. As for the commanding style, I don't think I've ever used that because there has never been a crisis in our home, but I sometimes bark at my roommates when there is somewhere we have to get to in a very short amount of time. This usually gets them moving and the task gets accomplished, but there have never been any bad feelings about it. As for democratic, we are always talking to each other about problems and keeping each other afloat. There are not any specific projects we are all trying to finish, but we make sure to keep each other going strong. One of the best ways I feel satisfies many important roles in my life is the leadership style of pace-setting. By setting the pace for working extra hard, I get much of my work done, and the example of my hardworking self is much greater motivation to those who watch me than when I am lazy and indolent. These days, I go home early instead of socializing with my friends and sleep early, then I wake up early and I am out of the house even before any of my roommates wake up. It is a wonderful feeling because I find that I can focus much better in the morning. I know that my roommates will see this lifestyle change in me and they will soon start to recognize the great things that come of it. They will remember that and try it for themselves. That is not to say that my roommates are not working hard. By my working hard, I know that they will get greater strength from my example. One thing I need to do more is employing the leadership style of visionary. I realized that I have a vision for myself and for my friends, but I have not shared that vision. My roommates are not in the know of where I want to go with all the hard work that I put into progressing. Perhaps if I were to share my vision with them and create a vision in their minds of a glowing, successful us, they would work even harder in their lives to get better grades, to treat others with love and respect, and to serve honorable missions as worthy young men.