Culturally diverse organizations: An analysis of situational leadership theory on follower readiness

The purpose of the nonexperimental quantitative research study was to evaluate effective leadership characteristics in a multicultural military organization by focusing on the impact of situational leadership on follower readiness. Independent leadership styles were examined as either adaptive or directive, relative to follower readiness. To establish the leadership style of the participating leader, and the participating followers' perceived leadership style of their leader, the commercial Leadership Effectiveness Adaptability Description (LEAD) survey was appropriate. A sample of 62 surveys comprised the data for analysis. A factor analysis took place to evaluate the individual results of the survey data. Based on the results of the factor analysis, due to the small sample size, not all of the constructs factored as expected. A Spearman's rho correlation analysis, Kruskal-Wallis test, and a McNemar test were utilized to test the factors from the factor analysis against the independent variable leadership style, the dependent variable follower readiness adaptability, and possible co-variant demographics to reveal differences. The results indicated a significant difference between leadership styles and follower readiness levels. No significant difference emerged between leadership styles and demographics.