In this lesson you'll learn that leadership is a very complex art that is essential to the success of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) mission. In fact, your knowledge of effective leadership principles and concepts coupled with their application in your duties will prove to be rewarding both professionally and personally.

Let’s start off with a simple definition of leadership. Leadership is the process of influencing an organized group towards a common goal. Sounds easy, but the application can provide a real challenge.

We’ll start with a discussion of the different styles of leadership with a primary emphasis on the Situational Leadership II Model, and conclude with the basic principles that influence leadership using the Leadership Equation Pie Diagram.

Your goal as a leader in the Civil Air Patrol is to do the best job you can at influencing your people towards a common goal. Since you are dealing with a very diverse group of people, it is important to understand the different approaches to motivate them to meet their goals.

Over the years numerous models have been developed to analyze the different styles of leadership. You may remember from your initial training in CAP the discussion on authoritarian, democratic, and laissez faire styles of leadership. In this lesson we will talk about a more comprehensive model developed by Dr. Ken Blanchard. This model integrates styles of leadership with the situation and the development of the follower. Its straightforward approach will provide you with an excellent tool for your leadership toolkit. Click on the different sections of the model for a brief description and a practical example.

Reprinted by permission of Blanchard Training and Development, Inc. Copyright Ó 1990 by Blanchard Training and Development, Inc.; all rights reserved.

Leadership style is the pattern of behaviors you use when you are trying to influence the behaviors of those you are trying to lead. Each leadership style can be identified with a different approach to problem solving and decision-making.

The key to using the Situational Leadership II Model is understanding what developmental level your followers are in for a given situation. If you find yourself leading a group of people that are at a level of  D1 then you will be much more involved in guiding and directing them. If, however, the group (or individual) is in D3 you can allow them more freedom to do their job.

Possessing a better understanding of the various leadership styles and their respective developmental levels will help you match a given style for a specific situation. The challenge is to master the ability to change your leadership style for a given situation as the person's development level changes.

How do you help your followers increase their development level? Here are some practical ideas:

1. Explain to them what you want done.

2. Provide any guidance they might need before they start.

3. Give them the opportunity to complete the task on their own.

4. Give them a lot of positive encouragement.

Your goal should be to help your followers increase their competence and commitment to independently accomplish the tasks assigned to them, so that gradually you can begin to use less time-consuming styles (S3 and S4) and still get high quality results. The remainder of the lesson will look at the basic elements of leadership using a simple model called the Leadership Equation Pie Diagram.

Reprinted by permission of Headquarters Air Force Officer Accessions Training School.

The Leadership Equation is not all-inclusive, but does encompass most of the factors you need to consider in your situation, in order to make your leadership more effective. Additionally, leadership traits, such as integrity, loyalty, commitment, energy, decisiveness, and selflessness are critical for successful leaders.

Conclusion

Your organization depends on positive, effective leaders at all levels to perform the mission. There is no single leadership style that is appropriate in every situation; therefore, for you to be effective leaders you need to learn to understand your environment, your situation and the circumstances to help you act accordingly. Remember, your success as a leader will depend on your assessment of the situation and your ability to communicate what you want in such a way that others will do as you wish - that is the art of leadership.