| The focus of this research is an analysis in a distribution corporation of supervisors and managers in a third party logistics company. Specific goals of the study were to (a) determine the primary leadership style, (b) to determine the secondary leadership style, (c) determine the style adaptability levels compared to the support and operations groups, (d) determine the style adaptability and compare to the leader vs. the his/hers peers, subordinates and superiors, and (e) to determine style adaptability compared with subordinates in the two groups, support and operations.; The LEAD Self (Hersey & Blanchard, 1996) was used to measure self-perception of four aspects of leader behavior, (a) primary style, (b) secondary style, (c) style range, and (d) style adaptability. The LEAD-Others was used to measure the others-perception of four aspects of leader behavior (a) primary style, (b) secondary style, (c) style range, and (d) style adaptability as perceived by the leaders peers, subordinates, and superiors.; There were 160 LEAD Other surveys issued to subordinates, peers, and superiors. There were 41 LEAD Self surveys, issued to the leaders (13 managers and 28 supervisors). There were seven managers and 11 supervisors from the support function, and six managers and 17 supervisors from the operation group. The findings of the survey show that over 75% of the personnel surveyed fell into the two categories.; According to Situational Leadership Theory, leaders whose scores place the majority of their responses in Styles 1 and 2 tend to be able to raise and lower their relationship behavior but often feel uncomfortable unless they are “calling the shots.” These leaders often project in interviews that “no one can do things as well as I can,” which often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leader style profiles 1 and 2 make use of both task and relationship behavior. The style profile 1 and 2 tends to be effective with low-to-moderate levels of readiness. It often is an effective style for people engaged in manufacturing and production, where managers have real pressures to produce, as well as with leaders in crisis situations, where time is an extremely scarce resource. |
