Final answer:
The statement about the Hersey-Blanchard situational leadership model is true, inclusive of the four leadership styles telling, selling, participating, and delegating. It's important to understand the context in which different leadership styles like democratic, laissez-faire, and authoritarian can be effective. Transformational leadership approaches are generally found to be more effective than transactional ones according to research.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement about the Hersey-Blanchard situational leadership model is true. This model does identify the following four leadership styles: telling, selling, participating, and delegating. Each style corresponds to a specific level of task behavior and relationship behavior, which a leader should apply depending on the maturity level of the individuals or group they are leading.
Comparing this to other leadership styles, democratic leadership involves group participation in decision-making, is common in settings that require consensus, and can be slow due to the need for consensus-building.
Laissez-faire leadership, on the other hand, is hands-off, allowing individuals to self-manage, and is suitable for highly motivated groups with clear goals but carries a risk of group dissolution and lack of progress if not managed well.
Authoritarian leadership involves clear directions and task assignments, can be effective in certain situations but risks alienating team members if overused.
Other leadership theories include transactional leadership, which focuses on supervision and organizational goals through a system of rewards and punishments, and transformational leadership, where leaders are charismatic, inspirational, intellectually stimulating, and considerate. Research, such as that by Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt, & van Engen (2003), has found transformational approaches to be more effective than transactional ones.