Situational Leadership

1. Situational approach to leadership
 There are many leadership styles that a leader can implement to be more successful
in the workplace.
 One of these styles is situational leadership, which is when a leader adjusts their
type of leadership to best suit a particular situation or task.
 Situational leadership is a leadership style in which a leader adapts their style of
leading to suit the current work environment and/or needs of a team.
 This style of leadership is not dependent on the skills of a leader
 It is based on the leader's ability to adjust to the requirements of a team or
organization to be a better and more effective leader.

2. Situational Leadership Defined in 5 Qualities
Because Situational Leadership is a leadership model, it is best defined by how it is put into action. For example,
organizational leaders make it applicable in their organizations by:
 Analysing: Situational managers focus on identifying and analysing team members’ performance readiness
factors, which helps them adjust their style of leadership.
 Adapting: This type of leader can quickly shift out of the four influencing behaviours. Even if they’re
dealing with more than one person at a time, they can still seamlessly transition based on the needs of those
in the room.
 Influencing: Rather than using authority, those practicing situational management build influence, which
comes from building trust and a safe work environment.
 Serving: The purpose of Situational Leadership is serving others by being flexible with what employees
need from the person guiding them.
 Developing: Followers’ growth is the primary goal of a situational leader. Because of this, they often serve
as a coach who guides their team members through learning experiences and opportunities.

3. Style 1– Telling, Directing or Guiding
 It is characterized by the leader using moderate to high amounts of task behaviour and moderate to low
amounts of relationship behaviour.
 The leader makes decisions surrounding the timely completion of the task and provides the follower with the
benefit of his/her experience in that regard.
 The flow of communication is from the leader to the follower.
 Questions posed by the leader are typically focused on clarity. is a short-term approach intended to create
movement.
 It aligns with followers who have limited (if any) experience or skill performing the task in question and (for
whatever reason) are either insecure or unmotivated to try.

4. Style 2 – Selling, Coaching or Explaining
 It describes a leadership approach that is high on both task and relationship behaviour.
 The leader still maintains decision rights regarding what the follower needs to be doing, how they should be
doing it and when it needs to be completed, but that structure is provided in combination with ample
opportunity for discussion of why the task is important and where it fits into the overall scheme of operation.
 The leader also actively recognizes the enthusiasm, interest, and commitment of the follower for learning
and gaining task-related experience.
 It is intended to create buy-in and understanding. It aligns with followers who have limited (if any)
experience performing the task but exude both confidence and motivation toward the process of leader-
driven skill development.
 .Like Style 1, effective use of this approach depends upon direct observations by the leader, which fuel
focused performance feedback discussions and increased dialog.

5. Style 3 – Participating, Facilitating or Collaborating
 It is fundamentally different from Styles 1 and 2 in that it is “follower driven” as opposed to “leader driven.”
 As such, it depicts an approach that is high on Relationship Behaviour but low on task behaviour.
 In that context (and from the leader’s perspective), the follower can perform the task in question at a
sustained and acceptable level but lacks either the confidence or the motivation/commitment to do so.
 It is to create alignment. If the follower is developing, he/she might have demonstrated task proficiency but
still have some degree of trepidation about performing it on their own.
 . If the follower is regressing, they are aware they can effectively perform but have lost commitment,
motivation (or both) to do so.
 Either way, the leader needs to discuss the follower’s willingness by asking open-ended questions intended
to help the follower recognize the source of the performance challenge and generate a viable solution.

6. Style 4 – Delegating, Empowering or Monitoring
 It is another “follower-driven” leadership approach that is characterized by low amounts of both task and
relationship behaviour.
 The follower can perform the task at a sustained and acceptable level and is both confident and motivated to
do so. is to create/enhance task mastery and autonomy.
 It aligns with followers that have significant experience performing the task at or above expectation, in
combination with a level of intrinsic motivation that drives their ongoing commitment to excellence

7. Criticism to situational approach to leadership
 Situational Leadership theory has its own negatives, too.
 Firstly, it merely instructs the leader/manager to modify his theory according to the parameters of
competence and commitment.
 How viable is these remains to be answered.
 Can employees be judged based on two parameters only?
 Is it always possible for the manager to judge the parameters of the employees?
 What is the yardstick for determining maturity?
 Furthermore, the biggest criticism of this theory is that if there is no consistency in the behaviour of
managers, it will lead to confusion and misunderstanding.
 It leaves room for ambiguity, and whether simply defining the role can be said to be exhaustive in case of
responsibilities of a leader?

8.  The theory ignores interpersonal relationships between leaders and their subordinates.
 Moreover, every situation has different demands.
 The theory simply tells the leader to change his leadership styles according to the parameters given.
However, like any situation, every task is different.
 Every leader, his strategy to lead, his working style, is different. So merely classifying it into 4 models is not
enough.
 This model describes the style of leadership on an individual basis.
 It tells nothing what the leader should do when he has to lead a team to perform the task, each with varying
levels of competencies and commitment.
 Thus, this theory cites different permutation and combinations, wherein you can adopt different strategies
depending on the maturity level and competence of the employee.
 Though it has been met with criticism, it has certainly shed new light on leadership techniques and can be
implemented at some levels.

9. Example 1
 An emergency room has just received a large influx of patients that have been critically injured in a bus
crash.
 With such many patients in the emergency room, the emergency room supervisor must implement a
"telling" style of leadership to direct the emergency room workers in an efficient manner.
 This requires the emergency room supervisor to provide constant supervision and regular direction to all
emergency room staff to ensure that all patients are seen and taken care of in a timely manner.
Example 2
 A manager must oversee the completion of a project with his team.
 The manager's team has ample experience completing all tasks required for the project and the team has
shown confidence and the ability to take responsibility for their work.
 Knowing this, the manager uses a "delegating" style of leadership throughout the duration of the project
and delegates tasks to each team member with minimal supervision.

10. Example 3
 An infant is learning to walk.
 At first, the parent will guide the infant and even help him.
 However, as he grows, the parent must just monitor, and let him choose his path.
 With further progress, the infant learns to walk on his own, and the parent will not need to either direct or
monitor him.
 Of course, it implies that with training and motivation, a subordinate will improve, and according to the
changing situation, the leader can change his style being less directive at every step.
Example 4
 On the other hand, you have an assignment to complete; however, another commitment crops up that
requires you to be present.
 You choose to assign that task to an equally competent associate of yours.
 In this case, you need to ‘delegate’ the work, and show complete trust, without interfering in his/her style of
working.