Situational leadership.
Know how to be; know to be.
Ken Blanchard, one of the parents of situational leadership, says, “The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.”
Although these words today are quite obvious today, many are still discussing an ideal style of leadership locked in a unique and static stereotype. This type of leadership, whose ideologues were Ken Blanchard – the author quoted at the beginning – and Paul Hersey, contemplates certain competencies that every leader should have, but focuses, above all, on the idea of adapting the styles of leadership to the needs of development or maturity level of the organization and employees.
Now, what do they talk about when they talk about maturity? Obviously, they do not refer to it in terms of age or emotional stability; Instead, they use it to define / measure employees’ desire for achievement, their ability, their experience, and their willingness to accept responsibilities. According to the level of these variables and depending on the task to be performed, the leader adapts their behaviors and defines their participation.
This model became very popular over time because it is easy to understand and because it works in most workplaces and with most people. And let me add, because it is the most realistic. In addition, it applies not only to those with specific leadership positions; we can all be leaders within a team, but also in the family, with friends and / or in a social group.
However, it will be useful to explain in a little more detail the situational leadership model; behaviors, leadership styles and levels of team development depending on the task to be performed.
The types of behavior of a leader are two:
Manager: focused on the development of the task. Determine functions, tasks and controls the results.
Support: focused on team development. The leader encourages participation and cohesion; supports and motivates the team and each member.
The leader can employ both types of behavior to a greater or lesser extent resulting in four leadership styles.
Control: high level of managerial behavior and low support. Leaders define roles, tasks, and make decisions.
Supervision: high level of managerial behavior. Share, accept ideas and suggestions from the team and recognize the evolution and improvements.
Advice: high level of support behavior and low managerial. The leader and team are part of the decision-making process and control is exercised jointly.
Delegation: low levels of managerial and support behavior. The presence of the leader diminishes and the responsibility is fully of the team.
Each of these styles will be adapted to the different levels of maturity or development and to the different situations through which a work team will have to spend to perform a task.
Let’s see what they are:
Level of maturity 1: the leader controls. Low competition and commitment. Lack of skills to perform the task and low level of motivation to tackle it.
Level of maturity 2: the leader supervises. Average competence and low commitment. Despite some relevant skills, the team is not able to perform the job without help.
Level of maturity 3: the leader adviser. High competition and unstable compromise. Despite having experience and ability, the team lacks a bit of confidence to carry out the task without help, or motivation to meet deadlines and quality.
Level of maturity 4: the leader delegates. High competition and high commitment. Wide and good experience, confidence and security of team members.
Of course there is an abyss between this structuring that we have done (to simplify the understanding of the model), with the flexibility involved in the application of this type of leadership. One theme is the theory – detailed and structured – and the other is dynamic and flexible practice.
I mean, a situational leader does not program what style of leadership he or she will develop by day, week, or month; in fact, one of the most notable advantages is that its high adaptability allows it to energize the equipment; assign different functions to the project or task. In a way, people also feel recognized and committed when punctual work requires their capacity and knowledge.
Now, as we have stated before, the situational leader’s characteristic is that he is not limited to applying only within the walls of a company. It is also outside, in every relational field that we carry forward in our lives.
Now that we know a little more about what it is, let’s consider a hypothesis:
As a parent, you recognize that your son is a great student in mathematics, but he does not give him any good literature; he has difficulty concentrating, he likes the subject very little, although you know that int