Situational and Behavioral Theory

In class this past week, I was taught the concepts of both situational and behavioral theory.  Situational theory suggests that each situation that a leader encounters is handled differently. The difference in leadership is based on several variables, such as the type of follower being addressed and/or the type of situation that is occurring at the time. Behavioral theory suggests that a person can learn the behaviors are needed to succeed in higher leadership positions, one such behavioral example being public speaking . Both of these theories are present in everyday society, including the television shows we watch every day.

After learning about situational theory, I decided to relax myself by watching an episode of House, a show about a doctor named House and his team, all of whom research bizarre and interesting cases that come into their hospital. I realized that House treats each individual he works with differently based off of his relationship to that individual. For example, Cuddy, who is his supervisor at the hospital as well as his girlfriend, is treated with some respect and with less rude remarks than Martha Masters, who is a young and gifted graduate student on House’s team, hoping to gain some experience as a doctor before earning her doctorate at a local university. Perhaps House feels that he has to treat Cuddy with more respect because she is his boss/ girlfriend or feels that, as a newbie, Masters must learn to deal with House’s sarcastic and hurtful remarks, to become a better future doctor. Either way, House has exemplified the situational theory. By treating Cuddy different from Masters, and his patients different than his staff, House has incorporated the concept of situational theory into his workplace.

After watching an interesting episode of House, I decided to procrastinate by watching the newest episode of the Biggest Loser, a game show that encourages overweight people to lose their extra pounds by offering a jackpot to the person who has lost the most body fat in a given number of weeks. In this game show, they teach contestants how to count their caloric intake and how to effectively exercise to lose the most amount of weight possible. In a way, they are teaching them the behaviors needed to have a healthy body and a healthy lifestyle. In order to insure a healthy life, one must eat foods that are nutritious for the body as well as get in at least a half hour of exercise each day. Bob and Jillian, the two main trainers on the Biggest Loser, teach contestants on the show how to do these things, as well as how to get the extra body fat off and keep it off. I believe that they incorporate the behavioral theory into their training program. The trainers believe that overweight people can learn certain behaviors to later get them onto a healthier lifestyle. By their belief in this motto, one can assume that the trainers believe in the idea that behaviors can be taught, which, in short, describes the behavioral theory.