What is a leadership Situation?
Early in 2017, I was reviewing some resources to further develop myself in the area of public speaking when I stumbled on the concept of the rhetorical situation. In case you are wondering what rhetoric is, public speaking is basically rhetoric. A rhetorical situation is “the context of a rhetorical act, made up (at a minimum) of a speaker (or writer), an issue (topic), a medium such as a speech (or a written text), and an audience.” The rhetorical situation has a huge influence on the kind of speech that would be effective and even the kind of speaker that would be effective for that rhetorical situation. A few days later, as I was writing a leadership article on the differences between a boss and a leader, it hit me that just like we have a rhetorical situation, we also have a leadership situation.
The Power of a Leadership Situation
The leadership situation or context determines the kind of person who can succeed as a leader in that situation and the kind of leadership style that person must have to succeed.
The success of a leader depends on the quality of the people he is given to lead and the circumstances and environment which he is put in. A leader could hit it out of the park and be amazing in one leadership situation and fail miserably in another leadership situation.
Choosing a Leadership Situation That Will Help You Succeed
Understanding this truth tells us that if you are a leader, you want to choose a leadership situation that aligns with who you are and so will help you become a successful leader there. You shouldn’t simply try to take any leadership job that pays the highest salary and benefits. If you are on the recruiting committee for an organization, it’s important to assess potential leaders for fit within your prevailing leadership situation.
All successful leaders know the power of the leadership situation. When a new president is elected, he comes in with his own cabinet. He or she doesn’t simply take over the help. He recruits new team members because he knows that this new team will become a key component of his leadership situation. He cannot succeed without a leadership situation that is aligned with who he is. The same thing happens when a new CEO takes over the helm at a company. There is usually a shakeup in the leadership structure.
Creating an Ideal Leadership Situation Through Recruitment
Every great leader is careful about recruiting the best candidates possible for his situation because he knows that recruiting the right kind of people is how you create the ideal leadership situation for the entire company.
Leadership Situations Change
Successful leaders also know that leadership situations change over time and may require leadership change if the current leadership doesn’t have the foresight to anticipate and prepare for future changes in their leadership situation.
