SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP RESEARCH PAPER

Work 29 (2007) 351–356 351 IOS Press

Situational leadership and persons with disabilities

Christopher G. Cubero Department of Rehabilitation Studies, School of Allied Health Sciences, Health Science Building, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858-4353, USA E-mail: [email protected]

Received 19 July 2006

Accepted 28 September 2006

Abstract. Does situational leadership style impact workers with disabilities? Situational leadership as a model and style of organizational management is defined. With a concentration on workers with disabilities, employer and employee perceptions of the workplace environment are analyzed as a contributing factor to the choice of leadership styles. Leadership style and its potential impact on workers with disabilities are included. Advantages of situational leadership style as an organizational model for managers that matches the intricate needs of workers with disabilities are argued. Methods for increasing awareness of the needs of persons with disabilities in the workplace and improving leadership models are discussed. Implications and potential outcomes for workers with disabilities based on the use of situational leadership by managers are discussed.

1. Introduction

Leadership style in the workplace influences all workers as well as workers with disabilities. Managers and organizational leaders seek to gain perspective on their workers. Leadership style is an important com- ponent of leaders’ abilities to understand a worker with a disability. Managers are confronted with making the choice of a personal leadership style as more employ- ees with disabilities enter the workforce. An analysis of situational leadership theory and factors that affect persons with disabilities in the workplace provides ad- vantages to managers when dealing with persons with disabilities in the workforce. Implications for future research in this area and the potential benefits of a sit- uational leadership approach used with workers with disabilities are discussed.

2. Situational leadership

Before the development of situational leadership, leadership styles were scrutinized primarily through an examination of the traits of the leader. Effective lead-

ers were chosen based on “. . . proper physical, intel- lectual and personality traits” [8, p. 124] and then these traits were used in employee hiring and training prac- tices. Questions arose as researchers began to exam- ine organizational management beyond leader traits. Burke [6] sought to study more than what a leader brings to the job, but also how a leader meets the needs of the many situations that are faced in organizational management. In a discussion of the challenges in man- agement, Carlisle [7] implied that there is no one cer- tain leadership style for every situation that a manager might face. In addition, Champy [8] provided advice for meeting the demands of organizational change and concluded that an organization that is adaptable and re- lies on multiple means for organizational improvement will have the best chance at survival. It can be argued that the trait theory models of leadership of old were too simplistic to meet the ever-changing demands of organizational management issues.

According to Hersey and Johnson [14], situational leadership combines three major features: leader di- rection to subordinates, affective support to the orga- nizational milieu (relational concerns), and the moti- vational level andreadiness of subordinates when per-

1051-9815/07/$17.00 2007 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved

352 C.G. Cubero / Situational leadership

forming specific tasks. A useful grid of the interac- tions of the situational leadership model was developed by Hersey and Blanchard [2,3,13,14,18]. The model shows measurements of leader behavior based on re- lationship and task behaviors that were broken down into quadrants (delegating, participating, selling, and telling) and then related to styles of decision making with four levels mixingleader and follower-defined de- cisions [18]. Each quadrant characterizes the leader- ship styles that could be applied to various situations.

Readiness of the employee to perform specific tasks appeared in the situational leadership model and was “ . . . the most important situational factor” [18, p. 172]. Guest, Hersey and Blanchard [13] define maturity (e.g. readiness) as “. . . the capacity to set high but at- tainable goals. . . willingness and ability to take re- sponsibility, and education and/or experience of an in- dividual or a group” [p. 19]. Readiness of subordinates was separated into four divisions based on confidence and motivational factors of the individual (willingness) and knowledge and skill factors that related to a per- son’sability. Appropriate leadership styles were then matched with specific developmental levels in subor- dinates to be used as a leadership guide that could be used for any number of organizational situations [2].

Leadership style has an impact on subordinate per- ceptions. How a manager’s leadership style is per- ceived by employees is perhaps more important than the manager’s opinion. Guest et al. [13] assessed that “leadership style is not how leaders think they behave in a situation but how others (most importantly, their followers) perceive their behavior” [p. 30]. Clearly leadership style has implications for the type of work- ers in an organization (e.g. persons with disabilities) and situational leadership provides depth and flexibil- ity to capture the needs of the organization’s workers. The need for flexibility in a leadership style becomes apparent in a discussion of the attitudes toward persons with disabilities [15,27].

3. Attitudes towards persons with disabilities in the workplace

Attitudes toward persons with disabilities in the workplace continue to be a concern. Kennedy [15] described employment opportunities for those with se- vere disabilities. Kennedy examined the inherent prob- lems people with severe disabilities face with employ- ment and brought to light, for the benefit of rehabili- tation/vocational counselors, less apparent attitudinal-

based realities that affect a person’s integration into the workplace and discussed ways to improve employment placements. Furthermore, Unger [27] summarized em- ployer attitudes toward persons with disabilities and stated that workforce inclusion is affected by: severi- ty of disability; employer preferences for dependabil- ity over quality and performance of work; employers’ concerns about work potentials linked to mispercep- tions; increased emphasis on diversity within the work- place by employers; and employers’ previous experi- ence with persons with disabilities connected to posi- tive employer attitudes. Unger asserts, perceptions of employers seem to be an important component of the employability of workers with disabilities.

3.1. Perceptions of employers

According to Millington, Szymanski and Hanley- Maxwell [22], employee selection remains a potential barrier for persons with disabilities who try to enter the workforce. Millington et al. analyzed how persons labeled as mentally retarded affected employer percep- tions on employment selection of entry-level workers. The researchers concluded employers were most con- cerned with worker: dependability; ability to meet or- ganizational demands; and skill sets and knowledge bases [22]. Similarly, Millington and Reed [21] found importance in knowledge, skill sets, and dependability on employment selection.

Another study focused on hiring and retention com- ponents that influence employer decisions [12] provid- ed evidence based on a sample of 643 employers who had employed a person with a disability within a 2-year period (1996–1998). It was found that worker reliabil- ity and productivity issues were the most pronounced factors of employer requirements. Furthermore, the researchers defined values of employers and indicated that matching a person to a job and worker performance were more important than how the employee dealt with social pressures and reactions of others [12]. Moreover, Smith, Webber, Graffam, and Wilson [25] examined employer satisfaction compared with employee percep- tions of job match, and found that positively perceived job match was related to employer hiring intentions. Thus, if a positively perceived job match occurred for a person with a disability, then the employer was more likely to hire other employees with disabilities in the future [12,25].

Additional examples of employer perceptions came from Bordieri and Drehmer [4] who combined con- clusions about employer perceptions and perceptions

C.G. Cubero / Situational leadership 353

of workers with disabilities with respect to promoting workers with disabilities. Due to some employer per- ceptions that persons with disabilities lack skills and knowledge [21,22] it was reported that persons with disabilities had diminished advancement potential [4]. Specifically, persons with depression or obesity re- ceived the least favorability for promotion when worker qualifications were equalized [4]. In addition, employ- ees with physical disabilities (e.g. facial burns or am- putee) and other invisible disabilities [e.g. diabetes or colon cancer received equal favorability “. . . in terms of promotion recommendations and organizational val- ue” [4, p. 187]. Implications for perceptions of per- sons with disabilities were highlighted by Bordieri and Drehmer and will be included in the next section.

3.2. Perceptions of workers with disabilities

Perceptions of persons with disabilities can provide insight into the workplace milieu and manager leader- ship styles. Snead and Davis [26] examined the atti- tudes of persons with traumatic brain injuries and found a relationship between acceptance of a personal dis- ability and positive attitude toward the self and others with disabilities. Similar to the results of personal at- titudes for a person with disablement [26] are percep- tions of stigma and the associated negative ramifica- tions to a person’s mental stability [10]. Ertugrul and Ulug [10] explored the affects of perceived stigma on persons with schizophrenia, and indicated that persons with more perceived stigmatization had more severe symptoms than those with less perceived stigmatiza- tion. They proposed that disrupting stigma messages could lead to increased adaptability and lessened dis- ability [10]. Decreasing stigma toward persons with disabilities carries implications to the workplace.

Madaus, Foley, McGuire and Ruban [19] linked workplace perceptions of those with disabilities to self- disclosure while on the job. Findings indicated that a majority (90%) of the respondents (post-graduate per- sons with learning disabilities) knew that their disabili- ty affected work performance, but only a fraction (30%) of the respondents disclosed this knowledge to their employer. Nearly fifty percent of those respondents did not self-disclose to employers and “. . . cited a per- ceived fear for their job security or a concern about negatively affecting relationships with co-workers or supervisors” [19, p. 368]. In a qualitative analysis that followed the career development of nine persons with undergraduate degrees and physical and sensory dis- abilities, perspectives on career advancement concerns,

worker self-concept, and embarking on a career were highlighted [9]. Numerous obstacles at socio-political and structure-of-work levels were delineated and in- cluded a lack of: financial incentives, early work expo- sure opportunities, encouragement from providers of service, supports that helped to maintain employment, and insufficient availability of resource information [9]. Can the structure of organizations be improved (e.g. manager leadership style) through knowledge of the issues facing persons with disabilities?

Kregel [16] discussed a filing to the Equal Employ- ment Opportunity Commission that provided clues into the experiences of a person with a disability. The sce- nario depicted a person with a disability getting fired on the spot during a spontaneous visit from a general man- ager, despite the employee’s immediate supervisor’s at- tempts to convince the general manager to allow the employee to keep his job [16]. This case highlighted another area where a person with a disability was not given the opportunity to grow within his employment position based on the discriminatory act of a manag- er [16]. Similarly, Bodieri and Drehmer [4] illuminat- ed the perceptions that persons with obesity and/or de- pression related to decreased potential for employment promotion. Persons with disabilities continue to have the potential to be discriminated against both in and outside the workplace.

The structure of organizations may impact per- ceptions of those with disabilities. Geyer and Schroedel [11] studied how employer and employee at- tributes affected accommodation availability for work- ers who were deaf. The results demonstrated that avail- ability of accommodations varied with respect to em- ployer types (e.g. size of companies) and employee needs such as level of education [11]. Specific findings related to employee perceptions were that employees of smaller companies (15 staff or less) and those in the private sector received the least amount of accommo- dation availability [11].

There are a number of potential workplace barriers for persons with disabilities that have a lasting and sig- nificant affect on perceptions of employees and em- ployers alike. Before a concentration on leadership qualities can be studied in-depth, attention needs to re- main in the area of decreasing discrimination toward persons with disabilities in the workplace.

Since stereotypes are the most harmful things to foster when leading a diverse workforce, managers must try not to judge employees too quickly and too harshly. By forming judgments about their em- ployees, they are forming stereotypes, which are all too often unwarranted and unjust [17, p. 205].

354 C.G. Cubero / Situational leadership

It is hoped that acknowledging the potential for dis- crimination in the workplace through analysis of em- ployer and employee perceptions regarding those with disabilities can contribute to improved organizational structuring. With effective restructuring focused work can continue to bolster equality in the workplace.

How much of the potential discrimination can be at- tributed to the leadership styles of managers remains to be investigated. If the leadership style of managers contributes to positive and negative atmospheres for employees, could situational leadership models be in- dicated for organizations that employ persons with dis- abilities?

4. Situational leadership and persons with disabilities

With its attention to functionality such as worker psychological and job maturity [14] situational lead- ership benefits the needs of persons with disabilities and creates the opportunity for an effective working relationship. According to Hersey and Johnson knowl- edge of worker function allows the manager to vary levels of involvement based on relationship and task concerns within the worker/manager relationship. In a sense the relationship between worker and manag- er becomes individualized under a situational leader- ship model, which leads to the potential for improved equality in the workplace. In addition, perceptions of employees with disabilities could be improved.

Guest et al. [13] discussed the importance of the per- ception of leaders’ styles by subordinates. Perspectives in situational leadership style are favorably positioned to match functional approaches used in the assessment of need for persons with disabilities as they move to- ward independent lives [23, p. 120]. Persons with dis- abilities might find comfort in the functional approach of leader’srelationship andtask behavior [18] that is a major component of situational leadership. Thus, em- ployer and managerial attention to the functional capa- bilities of the workforce can be matched with a situa- tional leadership approach to meet the specific needs of persons with disabilities and improve employee per- ceptions.

Another area of advantage that situational leader- ship offers those with disabilities is the focus on the readiness of the subordinate to complete certain work- related tasks [2,13,14]. Situational leadership allowed the leader to adjust to meet the needs of individuals based on the workersconfidence and/orinsecurity and

provides more or less support depending on the given situation [2,18]. The adjustability of the leader em- ploying a situational style has tremendous implications for workers with disabilities that need on the job auton- omy and/or specific guidance depending of their level of readiness to meet employer task assignments.

The nature of a theory that looks beyond leader traits and into specific organizational occurrences speaks to situational leadership’s ability to meet specific needs of workers with disabilities. Other theories that do not allow the leader to be fluid enough to meet the needs of the many changes that can occur in an organization (e.g. workforce) such as “. . . the tasks performed, the technological complexity of the tasks, the training, the background, attitudes, and needs of the workers, the organizational climate, and the time constraints placed on the organization” [7, p. 15] do not seem to match with the needs of persons with disabilities. As leaders come to know the intricacies of having workers with disabilities on staff, the better they will be equipped to lead organizations into future success. Situational leadership is one of the tools available to create leaders who effectively manage persons with disabilities in the workplace.

Situational leadership theory might be in line with the needs of many persons with disabilities including those who have received services from vocational re- habilitation. If there was a marriage between more of the functional assessment approaches used by rehabil- itation counselors as a complement to situational lead- ership models, there could be better outcomes for work organizations, much like the positive job placement outcomes that rehabilitation counselors seek for their consumers. With a framework of a situational leader- ship style, managers might increase their knowledge of accommodations as described by Brodwin, Parker, and DeLaGarza [5] and effectively attend to the specific needs of workers with disabilities, therefore improving organizational functioning.

4.1. Potential benefits for the employer

Discussion of situational leadership’s use with per- sons with disabilities brings about potential benefits for the employer. Use of situational leadership with work- ers could allow managers to acknowledge personal bi- ases toward persons with disabilities and provide an av- enue for correction. Use of a situational leadership style could allow managers to individualize management to workers with disabilities despite a potential bias. Due to its focus on specific tasks of workers and the formu-

C.G. Cubero / Situational leadership 355

lation of effective relationships with workers [2,13,14], situational leadership creates a framework to meet the specific needs of workers and how they are managed.

Perhaps research that combines the leadership style of managers with the perceptions of employees will lead to more understanding in the workplace, which has the potential to thwart negative biases and/or workplace discrimination against those with disabilities. In addi- tion, employers could evaluate managerial use of situ- ational leadership to enhance organizational outcomes. Through valid and reliable evaluation tools employers could measure how well or poorly a manager is using situation leadership style with workers, which would have additional implications to a manager’s position in the organization.

4.2. Potential benefits for the worker with a disability

With situational leadership style as a framework, having a manager that recognizes individual work ca- pacities could provide comfort and a level of under- standing between manager and worker that might not be reached in alternative work environments. Improved worker/managerial relationships and enhanced work environments could lead to lower potentials for worker burnout and higher potentials for worker promotion for those with disabilities. In addition, employee willing- ness to work as discussed by Hersey and Johnson [14] could be improved and have further implications toward enhanced organizational outcomes.

With the choice of leadership style comes the po- tential for improved work environments and enhanced worker retention and promotion. There are implica- tions in choosing an appropriate leadership style for workers with disabilities who are promoted to posi- tions of authority, which were brought to light by Bing- ham’s [1] innovative work. In the end, research on the applicability of situational leadership pertaining to the needs of persons with disabilities can begin to unravel the intricate relationship established between employ- ees and supervisors.

5. Implications for future research

One implication for future research could be to com- pare effectiveness of situational leadership with oth- er leadership styles. Research by Blank, Weitzel and Green [3] contradicted the basic theoretical elements of situational leadership and indicated further consid- eration of leadership theories, which led to addition-

al research. One style that holds promise for further- ing leadership that connects with the needs of persons with disabilities is thecontextual supervision (CS) mod- el [24], which is based on premises of situational lead- ership but takes a closer look at developmental lev- els of workers. Empirically sound research comparing the effectiveness of situational leadership and CS could benefit the research and employment communities.

Another potential research direction could be to com- pare the effectiveness of situational leadership theory to contingency theory. Hersey and Johnson [14] stated situational leadership is focused on the leadership be- haviors and willingness of subordinates given certain tasks. However contingency theory [18,20] examined tasks and the worker more intently and “. . . suggests that the effective supervisor will consider all relevant factors in the worker, the situation, and her or his own style preferences and strengths when deciding how to work with a particular subordinate” [18]. A study of situational and contingency theories that both seem to strive to individualize management of workers could be productive for organizations and workers with dis- abilities alike.

Finally, combinations of existing theories such as CS and contingency theories with situational leader- ship could lead to potential directions of study. Fu- ture research could provide organizations with manage- ment training modules that universally provide optimal management environments to workers. As a growing number of people become employed, it is critical that proposals to improve leadership for organizations in- clude a concentration that attempts to meet the diverse needs of all workers including those of persons with disabilities.

References

[1] E.G. Bingham, A study of perceived leadership: Practices of persons with visible disabilities,Dissertation Abstracts Inter- national 60(12-A) (2000), 4598, (UMI No. AAI9955346).

[2] K. Blanchard, P. Zigarmi and D. Zigarmi,Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing Effectiveness through Situational Leadership, William Morrow and Company Inc., New York, 1985.

[3] W. Blank, J.R. Weitzel and S.G. Green, A test of the situational leadership theory,Personnel Psychology 43(3) (1990), 579– 597.

[4] J.E. Bordieri and D.E. Drehmer, Work life for employees with disabilities: Recommendations for promotion,Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin 40(3) (1997), 181–191.

[5] M. Brodwin, R.M. Parker and D. DeLaGarza, Disability and accommodation, in:Work and Disability: Issues and Strate- gies in Career Development and Job Placement, E.M. Szy- manski and R.M. Parker, eds, Pro Ed, Austin, Texas, 1996, pp. 181–207.

356 C.G. Cubero / Situational leadership

[6] W.W. Burke, Leadership behavior as a function of the leader, the follower, and the situation,Journal of Personality 33(1) (1965), 60–81.

[7] H.M. Carlisle, Situational Management: A Contingency Ap- proach to Leadership, AMACOM, New York, 1973.

[8] J.A. Champy, Preparing for organizational change, in:The Or- ganization of the Future, F. Hesselbein, M. Goldsmith and R. Beckhard, eds, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, California, 1997, pp. 9–16.

[9] L.M. Conyers, L.C. Koch and E.M. Szymanski, Life-span per- spectives on disability and work: A qualitative study,Reha- bilitation Counseling Bulletin 42(1) (1998), 51–75.

[10] A. Ertugrul and B. Ulug, Perception of stigma among patients with schizophrenia,Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemi- ology 39 (2004), 73–77.

[11] P.D. Geyer and J.G. Schroedel, Conditions influencing the availability of accommodations for workers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing,Journal of Rehabilitation 65(2) (1999), 42– 50.

[12] J. Graffam, A. Shinkfield, K. Smith and U. Polzin, Factors that influence employer decisions in hiring and retaining an em- ployee with a disability,Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 17(3) (2002), 175–180.

[13] R.H. Guest, P. Hersey and K. Blanchard,Organizational Change through Effective Leadership (2nd ed.), Prentice-Hall, Engelwood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1986.

[14] P. Hersey and D.E. Johnson, Situational leadership in the mul- ticultural organization, in:The Organization of the Future, F. Hesselbein, M. Goldsmith and R. Beckhard, eds, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, California, 1997, pp. 265–274.

[15] B. Kennedy, Constricted employment opportunities encoun- tered by people with severe disabilities,Journal of Rehabili- tation 59(4) (1993), 51–54.

[16] J. Kregel, Why it pays to hire workers with developmental disabilities, Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Dis- abilities 14(3) (1999), 130–132, 139.

[17] P.J. Lecca, I. Quervalu, J.V. Nunes and H. Gonzales,Cultural Competency in Health, Social, and Human Services: Direc- tions for the Twenty-First Century, Garland, New York, 1998.

[18] J.A. Lewis, M.D. Lewis, T. Packard and F. Souflee, Jr.Man- agement of Human Service Programs, (3rd ed.), Brooks/Cole, Belmont, California, 2001.

[19] J.W. Madaus, T.E. Foley, J.M. McGuire and L.M. Ruban, Employment self-disclosure of postsecondary graduates with learning disabilities: Rates and rationales,Journal of Learning Disabilities 35(4) (2002), 364–369.

[20] T.J. McMahon, The contingency theory: Logic and method revisited,Personnel Psychology 25 (1972), 697–710.

[21] M.J. Millington and C.A. Reed, Employment expectations in rehabilitation counseling: Factors of employment selection, Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin 40(3) (1997), 215–227.

[22] M.J. Millington, E.M. Szymanski and C. Hanley-Maxwell, Effect of the label of mental retardation on employer con- cerns and selection,Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin 38(1) (1994), 27–43.

[23] M.A. Nosek, Independent living, in:Rehabilitation Counsel- ing: Basics and Beyond, R.M. Parker and E.M. Szymanski eds, Pro Ed, Austin, Texas, 1998, pp. 107–142.

[24] E.G. Ralph, Enhancing managers’ supervisory effectiveness: A promising model,Journal of Management Development 24(3) (2005), 267–284.

[25] K. Smith, L. Webber, J. Graffam and C. Wilson, Employer satisfaction, job-match and future hiring intentions for em- ployees with a disability,Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 21(3) (2004), 165–173.

[26] S.L. Snead and J.R. Davis, Attitudes of individuals with ac- quired brain injury towards disability,Brain Injury 16(11) (2002), 947–953.

[27] D.D. Unger, Employers’ attitudes toward persons with disabil- ities in the workforce: Myths or realities?Focus on Autism & Other Developmental Disabilities 17(1) (2002), 2–10.