Tuesday, May 22, 2007

WHAT IS SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP?


After reading the "One minute manager" of Kenneth Blanchard i found this paragraph one of the most interesting,...


The Situational Leadership method from Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey holds that managers must use different leadership styles depending on the situation. The model allows you to analyze the needs of the situation you're in, and then use the most appropriate leadership style. Depending on employees' competences in their task areas and commitment to their tasks, your leadership style should vary from one person to another. You may even lead the same person one way sometimes, and another way at other times. Blanchard and Hersey characterized leadership style in terms of the amount of direction and of support that the leader gives to his or her followers, and so created a simple matrix (figure).

Leadership Behavior of the Leader
· S1 - Telling / Directing
- High task focus, low relationship focus - leaders define the roles and tasks of the 'follower', and supervise them closely. Decisions are made by the leader and announced, so communication is largely one-way. For people who lack competence but are enthusiastic and committed. They need direction and supervision to get them started.

· S2 - Selling / Coaching
- High task focus, high relationship focus - leaders still define roles and tasks, but seeks ideas and suggestions from the follower. Decisions remain the leader's prerogative, but communication is much more two-way. For people who have some competence but lack commitment. They need direction and supervision because they are still relatively inexperienced. They also need support and praise to build their self-esteem, and involvement in decision-making to restore their commitment.

· S3 - Participating / Supporting
- Low task focus, high relationship focus - leaders pass day-to-day decisions, such as task allocation and processes, to the follower. The leader facilitates and takes part in decisions, but control is with the follower. For people who have competence, but lack confidence or motivation. They do not need much direction because of their skills, but support is necessary to bolster their confidence and motivation.

· S4 - Delegating
- Low task focus, low relationship focus - leaders are still involved in decisions and problem-solving, but control is with the follower. The follower decides when and how the leader will be involved. For people who have both competence and commitment. They are able and willing to work on a project by themselves with little supervision or support.

Effective leaders are versatile in being able to move around the matrix according to the situation, so there is no style that is always right. However, we tend to have a preferred style, and in applying Situational Leadership you need to know which one that is for you.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Indeed a great book. This is parallel (based on?) with the teams life cycle.
invented by Bruce Tuckman (1965) Forming, storming, norming perfoming
Everytime something changes to a team, they are back at forming (S1)
but once a team has been in a previous quadrant, it will go much quicker back to that position.
(By the way it is simular to what happens with a person.)

cv said...

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maddy said...
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salesroles said...

Thanks for a interesting read
relevant

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Blanchard Research & Training India said...
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