What is Situational Leadership?
The term and concept of Situational Leadership comes up frequently when speaking to leaders. Many people are aware of the need to lead situationally, but may not fully understand the theory behind true Situational Leadership. This concept in leading people is about more than taking the environment people find themselves in and leading differently. It is more about how to provide direction and support effectively to team members based on their level of ability and confidence around specific projects and circumstances.
Where did Situational Leadership come from?
The theory or model of Situational Leadership was developed in the late 1960s by Paul Hershey and Ken Blanchard. I know that sounds like a long time ago, and it is. The first question you might have is, ‘is this still relevant?’ Fair question. Let’s explore more about its origins. Both Hershey and Blanchard continued to develop this model and began to diverge slightly as the process evolved during the 1980s. Hershey continued his approach under the Situational Leadership Theory: the Situational Leadership Model. And, Blanchard continued his development of the Situational Leadership II model. The foundation of both largely remained the same, and still do today. The core of Situational Leadership (either model) is that there is not one single best style of leadership.
The most effective forms of leadership come from being able to adapt based on the context of each project or activity that is presented to others. Leaders who know their people, the environment, the culture, and urgency of the business at hand will be best positioned to provide the correct style of leadership to their team, both at the macro and individual level. Understanding and leveraging the model from Situational Leadership can be an excellent approach to leading your team.
As we begin to dive in deeper into what Situational Leadership is, how it is used, and its different components, for ease, I am going to utilize language and process developed from the SLII model or the version developed by Ken Blanchard. I will provide resources and links to both versions below and throughout this series of articles on Situational Leadership.
Situational Leadership framework
The model of Situational Leadership is built on matching leadership style to employee needs. These can and should be used when projects and environments change, as well as the individual’s specific development progresses. The same person can have different leadership needs based on the context of the activity or the situation. I am cautious here to generalize the term ‘situation’, as I want to avoid implying that it is only environmental. Meaning, if you are in a store, and a customer is frustrated with the service levels, that could be considered a ‘situation’. Understanding the parameters after the fact to coach effectively can be a part of Situational Leadership, but in this case, I don’t want it to be interpreted as such a microcosm of the larger picture. A better example of context for applying Situational Leadership would be promoting a new leader into a Store Manager role of a challenging location. The team is under performing, it is high volume, and the customer base has high demands. That provides the context in which you would lead differently. And, in this example, it applies to both you as the multi-unit leader as well as that newly promoted Store Manager. They, too, will need to apply the principles of Situational Leadership with their team.
The Situation Leadership Model is built on two elements, the development level of the employee and the leadership style used by the leader.
Development Levels
From the employee perspective, there are four levels that are used.
D1 or Enthusiastic Beginner
D2 or Disillusioned Learner
D3 or Capable but Cautious
D4 or Self-Reliant Achiever
These are designated based on an employee’s ability or competence and their confidence or commitment level for the specific project.
Leadership Styles
From the leader perspective, there are four matching leadership levels that are used.
S1 or Directing
S2 or Coaching
S3 or Supporting
S4 or Delegating
These are driven by the employee’s development level, allowing the most applicable leadership style to be used for that person’s situation. You can begin to get a feel for how this can work, based on the names for each level. You should also be able to sense right away how quickly something could get out of alignment if you applied a mismatched leadership style to an employee’s development level. Image what could happen if you continued to apply an ‘delegating’ leadership style to an ‘enthusiastic beginner.’
We’ll dive into what each of these look like in the next article, so we can get a full understanding of how you can match a leadership style to the developmental need of the team member.
The remainder of this series on Situational Leadership will explore, as mentioned above, how to apply leadership styles to developmental needs, what Situational Leadership looks like in action, the qualities that embody a Situational Leader, and exploring the benefits of utilizing this model of leadership.
It is important to consider that Situational Leadership is a model and one that can be useful as a framework for your own approach to effectively leading your team. As with any model or theory, there are pros and cons, and any extreme to which they are applied will usually result in sub-par results in practice. I encourage you to use the information and overview I provide in this series, and then continue your own research to make these concepts your own. I have been familiar with Situational Leadership for more than two decades now and utilize many components of its principles. However, I do not use all aspects of it and certainly would not consider myself a purist of the practice. There are many practical applications for matching developmental needs with how one is led, and not all of those fit neatly into these models. Rather, having a framework from which to start from makes it considerably easier to immediately have an impact on those you serve in your leadership.
What are your initial impressions of Situational Leadership? How did you experience it as a learner or leader in your past?
More Resources:
Paul Hershey – Center for Leadership Studies
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