A1. Leadership Style:
My leadership style evolved from an autocratic style while serving in the military to a situational style in my current career as a therapy supervisor. My staff consists of sixteen occupational therapists, three occupational therapy assistants, one speech-language pathologist, and ten physical therapists. The staff members are unique individuals with high level of education and various skill levels. Together, they are a highly engaged team. The most senior staff member has thirty-nine years of clinical experience with twenty years as the department supervisor. The most junior staff member has ten months of clinical experience and a strong focus on research. Majority of the staff have over fifteen years of
They also require the followers to trust the leaders to move the team in the correct direction towards task completion. These styles clearly identify the relationship between the leaders and followers.
The three styles also have other similarities and differences in the interactions between the leaders and followers. Situational leadership focuses the leader’s understanding the strengths and weakness of his/her team to achieve team objectives. This style relies on the leader’s ability to empower the followers so that they work towards a common goal. The situational leader supports the followers to develop countermeasures to problems; thus, moving the team towards the objectives. The transformational style also focuses on the leader’s ability to empower the followers. However, the transformational style focuses the skills, vision, and personality of the leader to inspire others. This style relies on the leader’s charisma to motivate the followers often to make drastic changes within an organization. Transformational leadership focuses on changing the culture of the team for the benefit of the organization. Situational leadership and autocratic styles are both focus on the tasks completion to meet objectives. However, the situational leadership adjusts from directing, coaching, supporting, and delegating the staff. This engages the followers to accomplish the mission. At the same time, the autocratic leader relies heavily