Situational Leadership
(Blanchard Hersey)

Adopting different leadership styles depending on the situation. Explanation of Situational Leadership Model of Blanchard and Hersey. ('68)

What is Situational Leadership? Description

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.

Likewise, the competence and commitment of the follower can also be distinguished in 4 quadrants.

Development Level of the Follower

D4 - High Competence, High Commitment - Experienced at the job, and comfortable with their own ability to do it well. May even be more skilled than the leader.
D3 - High Competence, Variable Commitment - Experienced and capable, but may lack the confidence to go it alone, or the motivation to do it well / quickly.
D2 - Some Competence, Low Commitment - May have some relevant skills, but won't be able to do the job without help. The task or the situation may be new to them.
D1 - Low Competence, High Commitment - Generally lacking the specific skills required for the job in hand, but has the confidence and / or motivation to tackle it.

Similar to the leadership styles, the development levels are also situational. A person could be skilled, confident and motivated for one part of his his job, but could be less competent for another part of the job.

Blanchard and Hersey said that the Leadership Style (S1 - S4) of the leader must correspond to the Development level (D1 - D4) of the follower - and it's the leader who adapts. By adopting the right style to suit the follower's development level, work gets done, relationships are built up, and most importantly, the follower's development level will rise to D4, to everyone's benefit.

Steps in Situational Leadership. Process

Make an overview per employee of his/her tasks
Assess the employee on each task (D1...D4)
Decide on the leadership (management) style per task (S1...S4)
Discuss the situation with the employee
Make a joint plan
Follow-up, check and correct

Strengths of the Situational Leadership model. Benefits

Easy to understand
Easy to use

Limitations of the Situational Leadership model. Disadvantages

Model fails to distinguish between leadership and management. What is called leadership style is really management style. Compare also: Leadership Pipeline
Leadership is not primarily about making decisions anyway - it is about inspiring people to change direction.
Leaders may indeed vary the way they inspire people to change. But this is when they have already decided on the need to change. Hence leadership style does not reduce to decision making style.
Focuses too exclusively on what the person in charge does.
Of course both leaders and managers have to behave differently in different situations. But that is just a trivial fact of life, rather than anything profound in terms of our basic understanding of what it means to lead or manage.

Assumptions of Situational Leadership. Conditions

Leaders should adapt their style to follower 'maturity', based on how ready and willing the follower is to perform required tasks (that is, their competence and motivation).
There are four leadership styles that match the four combinations of high/low readiness and willingness.
The four styles suggest that leaders should put greater or less focus on the task in question and/or the relationship between the leader and the follower.
Presumes that leadership is about how the boss makes decisions.

Book: Paul Hersey, Kenneth H. Blanchard, Dewey E. Johnson - Management of Organizational Behavior: Leading -

Situational Leadership Forum (24)

Using Situational Leadership II to Identify & Quantify Skill Levels
"Situational Leadership (SL II) is a very good tool to identify and quantify the skill level of a person and coach appropriately."

Situational Social Communication Styles
"Every person has a specific social communication style, and therefor reacts different to any goal setting by management. The insight a manager has on the social communication style of his/her employee is essential for motivating people."

Is Situational Leadership Innate in Good Leaders?
"Before I discovered that someone had put a name to this technique, I thought it was one of the things in the kit bag of a good manager. It just makes such basic common sense that I'd be surprised if every successful manager hasn't used it to a greater or lesser degree during their career - perhaps like me without knowing there was a label for it."

Leading a New Institution
"My comment is a question seeking some guidance: here is my challenge and need some perspectives on. I am part of a new institution where everything is being done form scratch. The team has agreed on some core values in line with the established mission and vision statements. What is the role of the CEO and what style of management should be used in trying to build this organization around those core values?"

Using Situational Leadership to Map and Support Business Units
"I was looking for a methodology to use to help map 6 business units to determine the level of support to provide each business unit. This situational leadership approach is great is providing some framework to help me accomplish this."

Approaching Different People Differently
"I can fully agree with your statements. While I do not consider myself a "seasoned" leader, I have found that I need to approach different people differently in order to get them motivated and have the work accomplished. A leader really needs to realize that each employee is different and each situation can be different. While some may consider this a management style, I feel it is leadership because it addresses motivation and speaks to working relationships."

We Naturally Regress to our Dominant Leadership Style!
"It may be "... just a trivial fact of life that leaders have to behave differently in different situations".
But another "trivial" fact is that we "naturally" regress to our dominant style without constant vigilance to treat every situation as a unique encounter that will not be served by a "one size fits all" method."

Situational Leadership & Performance Rating
"Has anyone used the situational leadership development level definitions as rating scales for a performance management program? If so, please comment."

Situational Leadership Helps you to Focus on Particular Methods
"I am currently doing a L5 Dipl in Management and part of one assignment is to analyze different types/styles of leadership. Having read though all your comments it has really helped me get a full range of perspectives. It is really good to hear the opinions of experienced managers. I do think that Situational Leadership is more of a management than leadership style, however your own leadership style can be developed alongside. How can you chose to deliver the different situational types would reflect this to a certain extent would it not? It is simple to the point of common sense in many ways, as in life everyone behaves differently according to the situation, but it helps to focus on your particular methods enabling you to plan more effectively and consistently."

Leadership Situational Approach
"What precisely is job maturity and psychological maturity?"

Situational Leadership Model works for me
"It's great model and I used it in my management. It works to help the business run smoothly. Very effective in the individual differences as well as in appraising your employee."

Blanchard Leadership Theory is Correct
"Most of the comments on shortcomings of the theory reflect the authors failure to understand the theory. Although the theory is a little simplistic in order to fit into the boxes, it is also essentially correct. Many poor leaders do not fundamentally change their leadership style, and are incapable of doing so. For example, some take charge leaders are unable to turn over responsibility to their capable staff -- they micromanage.
Leadership is not solely about inspiration. Inspiration without decisions accomplishes nothing.
Of course, the book is about management. The point is that good management is actually leadership. Some make a distinction between leadership and management, but that distinction is often made between leadership and poor management.
Of course the theory focuses on what leaders "do." A do nothing leader is worthless. We are only what we do. An unexpressed thought persuades no one. We have do do something to persuade, etc."

Situational Leadership is a Key to Success in Good Governance
"In good governance, one of the key factor of its success is situational leadership, in as much as leader needs to adopt to the present situation in their locality rather than indulge in the previous situation of a former leader. Rather than indulging on a non-productive activity, its better for leaders to discern or find out what causes the problem and learn more in solving such problems.
Situational leadership by Blanchard can be of great help in resolving some leadership issues and anyone can develop one suitable application with regards to his needs."

Model for Teaching Situational Leadership in a College Setting
"Is there a model/materials that I could order that would help me to formulate a method for teaching SL within the structure of a college academic schedule?"

Practical Situational Leadership Examples
"Who can illustrate the use of different styles of leaderships with a simple example? Thanks!"

Leaders must have multiple skills
"Leaders must face different situations which requires different tactics.So they must have multiple skills."

Situational Leadership Board Game
"I remember planning a situational leadership board game in 1976 as a student. Is that game still available? Who has some more information about other situational leadership games?"

Dealing with non-profit Board of Directors
"Question: is there a book/section/something that specifically addresses dealing with a non-profit's board of directors? Or boards of directors in general?"

Commitment in Situational Leadership
"Commitment is variable, it depends upon the job and the management, inconsistant management of staff will cause yo yo commitment. Although simplistic the HB model serves perfectly for the amount of poor managers in the workplace to attempt to get it right."

Leadership vs Management
"Leadership is getting people to do what you want them to do, even when they don't want to do it. Management is the efficient and effective use of resources, including people. Yes, the leader and the manager both have to adapt their ways to get the most from their people, but this model over-categorises - I prefer to think of a spectrum rather than a set of boxes."

Situational Leadership is Situational
"Yes Leadership is many things -but leaders also face different situations which requires different solutions -Hence Situational Leadership! It really is what it says on the tin!!"

Applications of Managerial Grid in Practice
"I have successfully applied the model in many situations.
It allows me to adjust my management style (downward management) to meet the needs of my employees.
It also allows me to adjust my manager's style (upward management) to meet my needs as situations change.
Argue the theory and semantics as you like, it works."

Little Research to Backup Situational Leadership
"The SL model is appealing in its simplicity - hence, probably its attraction as a training model - but there is very little research evidence to support it. The formula it offers managers is a fairly dodgy promise. I would challenge your assertion that leadership is not primaily about decision-making - why isn't it? Read the literature - Vroom, Tannenbaum and Schmidt, Yukl . . . etc. Leadership is many things, it isn't just about inspiring people."

HERSEY BLANCHARD MODEL
"The model follows S3 style in case of high competence& variable commitment. But commitment can never be variable,it is either high or low."

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