SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP (Your first-ever Business e-Coach)

Two Postulates of Situational Leadership

Leadership activities should be tailored to the readiness of those being led
It is desirable for the leader and the business to develop people toward the objective of doing their work independently.

Competence and Commitment Defined¹

Competence is a function of knowledge and skills, which can be gained from education, training and/or experience.
Commitment is a combination of confidence and self-motivation. Confidence is a measure of a person�s self-assuredness � a feeling of being able to do a task without much supervision, whereas motivation is a person�s interest in and enthusiasm for doing a task well.

Leader's Behavior¹

Directive Behavior involves: clearly telling people what to do, how to do it, and when to do it, and then closely supervising their performance.
Supportive Behavior involves: listening to people, providing support and encouragement for their efforts, and then facilitating their involvement in problem-solving and decision-making.

Leadership Styles¹

Directing Style is for people who lack competence but are enthusiastic and committed. They need direction and supervision to get them started.
Coaching Style is 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.
Supporting Style is for people who have competence, but lack confidence of motivation. They do not need much direction because of their skills, but support is necessary to bolster their confidence and motivation.
Delegating Style is 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.

Your leadership style is how you behave when you are trying to influence the performance of others. It is the way you supervise or work with someone.

Depending on your employees' competences in their task areas and commitment to them, your leadership style may vary from one person to another. You may also lead the same person one way sometimes and another way at other times. Use a variety of leadership styles in directing and supporting the work of others and make them a second nature to you in your roles as a manager and as a parent.

If you assigned a task to someone and the job does not quite get done well enough, one of the most likely reasons is that:

Consequently, whether you are managing, or leading, or coaching, it is critical to match your style of interaction with the coachee's readiness for the task. The Skill/Will Matrix will help you do this...More

There are four SL styles: telling, selling, participating and delegating. Telling is appropriate for those least ready to work independently and delegating for those most ready. As those who are being led grow towards independence, the leader must progress through all of the SL levels. Leaders who do not match their style to that of those being led make it impossible for those being led to grow towards independence.

Leaders are also challenged to deal with the possibility that their leadership may be perceived in a negative light. A leader who ignores either the possibility of negative perceptions, the actual occurrence of negative perceptions or the justification for negative perceptions is living in denial. The leader who lives in this denial is climbing out on a limb; the longer the denial goes on, then the further out on that limb the leader climbs. Eventually the limb may break and down will come the leader. This approach is risky and not recommended.

In summary, SL describes how leaders interact with those being led. This interaction depends on the readiness of those being led, which changes. Thus it is essential that leaders monitor the readiness of those being led and adjust their leadership style accordingly.

Misunderstandings may occur and must be dealt with. This always means an adjustment on the leader�s part.

Last, people are sensitive about a leader�s priority � is the primary focus of the work for the benefit of those led or is it for that of the leader. When the primary focus is perceived to be first for the benefit of the leader, many undesirable negative behaviors are energized on the part of those led and further growth toward independence suspended.

On the other hand, when the primary focus of the work is perceived to be first for the benefit of those led, the greatest energy is given to the work and growth towards independence. This then frees up the leader to do other work and thus to become an even more effective leader.

Situational Leadership Perceived Positively and Negatively

by J. Kenneth Boggs

People can perceive your different situational leadership styles both positively (focus on others and their benefits) and negatively (focus on self and for the benefit of self)...More