Situational Leadership Theory: Kristy Vigilante

 

Situational Leadership Theory- leadership style is situational; can and should change with the situation.

§  Most closely associated with Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard, American management experts.

Ø  Frequently used in training business executives.

Ø  Blanchard’s situational leadership (SL) II model training has been used in 318 of the current Fortune 500 companies.

A.   Dual-axis model; X-axis (“directive behavior”) depicts task orientation. Y-axis (“supportive behavior”) depicts the relationship orientation.

B.   Four quadrants; leadership styles (Ss) and the employees’ developmental or maturity levels (Ds) are equivalent to quadrants (Qs) 1-4:

ü  Quadrant 1 (Q1), S1, “directing behaviors”: leadership style that is high directive (high task orientation) and low supportive (low relationship orientation).

o   Behaviors stress how the job is to be accomplished, the importance of achieving the organizational goals, and frequently monitoring progress.

ü  Q2, S2, “coaching behaviors”: leadership style that is high directive and high supportive.

o   Behaviors emphasize meeting organizational goals while also encouraging and supporting team collegiality.

ü  Q3, S3, “supporting behaviors”: leadership style that is low directive (task) and high supportive (relationship).

o   Behaviors emphasize listening, sustaining, encouraging teamwork, seeking group input, and providing recognition.

ü  Q4, S4, “delegating behaviors”: leadership style characterized by low directive (task) and low supportive (relationship) behaviors.

 

Ø  There is no one correct leadership style as it depends on the situation.

A.   Deciding under what situations to use each of these leadership styles involves assessing the individual’s or group’s maturity or developmental level.

B.   Developmental level is the degree to which an individual or group has the competence (ability) and commitment (willingness) to accomplish the task

C.   Four developmental levels (D1-D4) math the four leadership styles (S1-S4) of this model:

ü  D1: low in competence and low in commitment; new teachers fresh out of college.

ü  D2: somewhat competent and low in commitment; teacher with job mastery but motivation to excel has worn off.

ü  D3: moderately high to high levels of competence and somewhat lower on commitment level; veteran teachers nearing retirement but need active and ongoing support to boost their willingness to perform at their best.

ü  D4: competent to complete the task and exhibit a high level of commitment to the task; master teacher who continues to inspire younger teachers with his or her classroom expertise and enthusiastic talk about education’s many benefits to society.

Situational Theory in Practice

§  Matches the leader’s behaviors to the employee’s developmental level.

§  Researched for more than 40 years in doctoral dissertations.