Development of Effective Leaders: The Need to Consider Situational Specificity Versus Cross-Situational Consistency

摘要

The major thrust of the research conducted under this contract was to refine and test a model of leadership wherein leaders' behaviors toward subordinates are cross-situationally specific. In agreement with dyadic models of leadership, it was predicted that, within a given situational context (e.g., conditionsof high stress), a leader would use different leader behaviors for different subordinates (e.g., provide more influence opportunities of high performing subordinates than to low performing subordinates). However, unlike many current leadership theories, it was not assumed that the leader would maintain a consistent or characteristic leadership style for dealing with subordinates as the situational context changed (e.g., a temporary shift from low to high stress conditions). Rather, it was predicted that leaders would be capable of adjusting their behaviors to differences in situations (i.e., cross-situational specificity) as well as to differences in subordinates. It was necessary to develop a statistical test of homogeneity of regression equations, given repeated measures data, in order to test the research hypothesis of cross-situational specificity of leader behaviors. Transition research was initiated to devise a preliminary plan for conducting research on factors that determine Navy team effectiveness during simulation exercises. The transition research was conducted at the Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Training Center, San Diego. Initial efforts involved the development of an instrument for the assessment of 'team readiness'.