Blanchard’s developmental models
Blanchard developed the above original model further with his Situational Leadership II, or SLII model. In the revised look of the theory, he suggests there are four developmental models within the situational leadership model. According to him, employees in organisations pass through a development cycle, as experience or changes in roles increase maturity and skillset of the employee.
As employee’s developmental levels vary, the leader must be able to understand these subtle differences and apply the right kind of management to ensure the employee can perform the tasks to the best of his or her ability and develop further.
The developmental model is similar to the maturity level of the employee, as they both
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The styles have the following characteristics:
Directing behaviours Supporting behaviours
• Providing specific instructions
• Controlling the behaviour of subordinates • Encouraging subordinates
• Listening subordinates
• Offering recognition and providing feedback
In terms of the four leadership styles:
• Directing is high on directing behaviour, but low on supporting behaviour
• Coaching is high on both directing and supporting behaviour
• Supporting is low on directing behaviour, but high on supporting behaviour
• Delegating is low on both directing and supporting behaviour
Again, the revised look at these different styles acknowledges there’s no superior style. Instead, the leader must match his or her leadership style to the developmental skill of the subordinate and the task being accomplished.
3 The qualities of a situational leader
Keeping in mind the above, what makes a good situational leader? Situational leadership requires the leader to possess a variety of traits and skills, as the leader has to be able to adapt to different situations and to respond to the subordinate’s needs.
Hersey’s four common leadership
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You need to be able to understand the situation you are trying to influence in order to pick out the best leadership style for the specific situation. In essence, you need the skills for identifying two core aspects:
• The task at hand and the requirements for completing it
• The maturity and development level of the subordinates responsible for the completion of the task
In order to improve your ability to diagnose and analyse the situation, you need to continue learning. Self-improvement is the key to situational leadership success and it involves anything from gaining more understanding of the industry, the organisation and of leadership theories and styles in general. If you continue to improve and enhance your own understanding of things, the better you’ll become in diagnosis and analysis.
Adaptation
You also need to showcase adaptability as a situational leader. An effective leader must adjust their behaviour depending on the requirements of the situation. Adaptation can be improved by enhanced knowledge, but you should also focus your energy on broadening your horizon. Instead of directing all the time, ask more questions and listening to your subordinate’s opinions. Asking and listening doesn’t mean you must do as you are told, but accepting different perspectives can improve your ability to adapt to
Some leaders have natural capabilities but even they have to cultivate and develop their skills to achieve success. Individuals who do not have natural instincts for leadership communication can develop them if they have the energy and desire to do so. Developing these skills involve learning one’s self and capabilities. During this process a lot of information emerges and a lot of introspection is needed. While doing this self-evaluation areas such as image, dealing with the feelings of others, and various communication dynamics must be examined. This process can be time consuming and effective, it is worth the time and effort that is required in order to be successful. The process will reveal those areas that need improvement and areas where a person can excel. Once these areas are noted an improvement plan with goals can be created in order to work on becoming a successful and effective leader. It is a gradual process which if done seriously and efficiently could have outstanding results for the leader and his or her group.
According to the developmental model, there are markers the supervisor should be aware of as the supervisee continues to grow. Level one, the supervisee will feel unsure of
Hersey, P. & Blanchard, K. (n.d.) Situational Leadership. In Wren, J.T. (Ed.). (1995). The Leader’s Companion (pp. 207-211). New York: Simon & Schuster.
8. (a) Situational Leadership is a model of leadership that selects from four different leadership styles that adapted their ability to be more effective for the employee’s task behavior and relationship behavior. (b)The stages of situational leadership are telling, selling, delegating, participating. Telling is the leader 's concern highly on task and don’t have any relationship
The leadership model of Hersey-Blanchard also has a view of the situation in leadership. This model postulates states that the levels of development of subordinates one of the leaders play the most important role in determining leadership styles (leader behaviors) are most appropriate. His theory is based on the amount of direction (task behavior) and socio-emotional support (relationship behavior) a leader must provide given the situation and has the "maturity" of the followers.
The author guided up readers by matching appropriate leadership style with each development level by summing four developments models with four leadership styles as
Situational leadership is a theory which was designed in 1969 by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard. The “contingency theories of leadership” states that a leader’s effectiveness is dependent on their behaviours in relation to different situational factors. Thus, situational leadership theory, relates to how a leader 's effectiveness is depend on their ability to adjust their leadership behaviour to the required level of the “followers” capability or if the situation is modified.
The second leadership style is transformation leadership in which the leader will employ any tactic to engage the employee fully in the task and achieve the common goal. Transformation leaders according to Giltinane (2013) have charisma thus possess the ability to influence their followers and build loyalty. Transformation leaders express their vision, expectation and goal clearly to their subordinates and empower employees to take ownership of the task.
The situational leadership theory states that leaders use different styles and strategies depending on the situation. There are two models that support this theory. The Fiedler’s Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness states that an “effective leadership occurs only when there is an ideal match between the leader’s style and the group’s work situation” (pg
Situational Leadership takes into account worker maturity; maturity is defined as the capacity to set high but attainable goals, the willingness to take responsibility, and the education and/or experience of the individual or the group. As the maturity level of followers develops from immaturity to maturity, the appropriate style of leadership moves in a corresponding way (Hersey and Blanchard,
At this level in the pipeline the leader must hold a high level of maturity as a leader. This maturity can be characterized by the leader’s ability to have empathy, good judgment and should develop strong listening skills with the ability to interpret all the information they receive (Ram Charan). Additionally, these leaders must be able to see things in the long run as well as appreciate the short term objectives. Moreover, the level of maturity needed at this management level requires the individual to think, not like a functional member of the organization, but as a businessman (Ram Charan). These leaders must view all the decisions they make in a holistic way and seek out a strategic
Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory (SLT) asserts that a leader’s effectiveness is dependent upon the readiness, or ability and willingness, of the leader’s followers to complete a task. This leadership style is an amalgamation of task-oriented and relationship-oriented characteristics that are employed depending upon the situation and the followers involved. According to the SLT, as followers increase in readiness the leader’s style is to adapt accordingly (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009).
In Erickson’s Stages of Development a child in middle childhood, (or children from age six to age eleven), move through the industry versus inferiority stage. This stage is marked by the child working to gain new skills and in general just being productive (Click P. M., Parker J., 2002, p. 89). A child who is successful in their attempts will gain confidence in themselves and move on into adolescence firmly on the industrious side. A child who is not successful in acquiring the skills they try will move on to the adolescent stage with the mindset that they are inferior to their peers.
In order to be a good leader, one must have self-confidence, communication skills, charisma and integrity. These are the fundamental skills that make a good leader. Self-confidence is the attitude that one possesses in which one is not afraid to make decisions based on their ideas. Communication skills allow a leader to convey his or her ideas or thoughts carefully. Charisma is what makes a leader appealing to the public, and integrity is what allows the public to trust and have faith in the leader. Without these skills, a leader would just be mediocre, and not great.
Probably the most difficult part of leadership is to know what leadership style is best to use, by carefully evaluating their own skills and the situation a good leader can adjust the leadership style as needed to be effective as possible. This requires the leader to be flexible and adapt as needed to maximize the