Mark Testa + HTM490

When trying to apply situational leadership to one of my experiences I thought of my HTM490 class with Mark Testa. In this case he was the leader and I was the follower along with the rest of my classmates. He changed his leadership style depending on the mood , environment, and ability of the classroom.

For example:

On the very first day of class, he sensed a high task, high relationship style so he used the “selling style” to lead the classroom. At the very beginning, we were willing and confident to take on the project and assignments of the class but we were unable because we hadn’t learned anything.  Testa kept on explaining and clarifying the project and most importantly communicating the rewards of the winning team in order for us to “buy in” to the project.

"DO NOT FOLLOW WHERE THE PATH MAY LEAD,
GO INSTEAD WHERE THERE IS NO PATH AND LEAVE A TRAIL"

He then kind of switched his leadership style to “delegating” as the semester went along and the class was starting to create ideas of their own.  We now where ready to make our own groups and as a group, make our own decisions and take whichever path we felt was needed in order to successfully complete the project.

Then, the class sort of hit a “dead end” where we weren’t exactly sure what was expected of us. Testa sensed this and started directing us and fully explaining exactly “what, why, and how” we needed to do things.

By the end of the semester, the maturity level of the class was very high and there was a high relationship / low task leader behavior. This meaning that both the teacher and the groups made important decisions together such as what reward should the winning group receive, the time frame of the presentation, and things like that.

I think he is a good example of a leader that follows a situational leadership style.