Project.

-Create a presentation on how your leadership style as an "S (Steadiness)" would respond to the following scenario - this should be a powerpoint presentation. Answer the discussion questions on how You had to adapt your leadership style in response to the scenario.

Scenario

"Case Study: Situational Leadership and Local Health Agency Accreditation. The movement toward public health agency accreditation received a significant boost from the Institute of Medicine's 2002 report titled The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century, which led to the creation of the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) and the development of standards and measures for voluntary national accreditation in 2011. The accreditation process is based on setting standards for public health services and evaluating performance against those standards, and it has proved to be a useful tool for improving the quality of services provided to the public. The PHAB accreditation process has seven steps: (1) preapplication, (2) application, (3) documentation selection and submission, (4) site visit, (5) accreditation decision, (6) reports, and (7) reaccreditation. A local public health agency was serving as a beta test site for the accreditation program. The agency director determined that leadership was a key element for accreditation success and that commitment to the processboth from employees and from members of the local board of healthwas essential. The agency decided to apply situational leader-ship principles to the process. Early on, agency staff members were unfamiliar with the accreditation process and occupied the D1 follower developmental level, which necessitated that the director engage in leader-directed activities of the S1 approach. The director informed agency staff of the requirements and processes of accreditation and used task behaviors to answer the question, What is public health accreditation? As agency staff learned the value of accreditation, understood their roles in the process, and became familiar with the documents necessary for review, they transitioned to the D2 level of development. In response, the director shifted to the S2 style of leadership. Highly directive behavior continued, but relationship behavior increased. Taking on a coaching role, the director raised the question, Why is accreditation important to our agency? By the time the agency reached the beta test site-visit phase, the staff had reached a D3 level of development. As a result, the director shifted to the more follower-directed activities of the S3 leadership style, which is high in supportive behavior but lower in directive behavior. Leadership behaviors revolved around encouraging and championing the efforts of highly participatory agency staff. By the conclusion of the beta test, when mock accreditation feedback was provided, the agency staff members had reached a D4 level of development. The staff members were able, willing, and confident with respect to accreditation. As a result, the leader's style shifted to the low task and low relationship approach of S4. The director successfully delegated tasks to an accreditation coordinator, thus becoming an engaged mentor. As a result of the commitment and preparation exhibited by the staff, the agency was awarded five-year accreditation status in 2013.

Discussion and Application Questions

1. How did the agency director demonstrate effective public health leadership?

2. How can situational leadership be applied to other issues faced by local public health agencies?

3. Are there personal and professional issues that you face where the application of situational leadership might be useful or effective?