Situational Leadership | Relevant Then, Relevant
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP® R e l e v a n t T h e n, R e l e v a n t N o w SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP®: is based on the relationship between leaders and followers and serves as a framework to analyze each situation RELEVANT THEN, RELEVANT NOW based on: At its core, leadership is influence. Regardless of position, a leader is anyone who is able to influence others. • The amount of guidance and direction (task behavior) Effective leadership is necessary to create and sustain a a leader gives high-performing organization. Poor leadership can create a host of issues that undermine a company’s performance, • The amount of socioemotional support (relationship including mismanagement of resources, high turnover behavior) a leader provides rates and diminished returns on investment. • The Performance Readiness® Level that followers exhibit in performing a specific task, With so much at stake in today’s competitive business function or objective environment, organizations cannot ignore the importance of developing their leaders and the impact it can have on the business. Companies must equip their leaders with Situational leaders learn to demonstrate four core, the tools and resources they need to skillfully navigate common and critical leadership competencies: the demands of an increasingly diverse workforce and evolving global marketplace. And that starts with effective DIAGNOSE: leadership development. Understand the nuances of the specific situation they are trying to influence The Situational Leadership® Model transcends cultural and generational differences and equips leaders around ADAPT: the globe with the skills necessary to drive behavior Adjust their behavior in response to the change and increase productivity. For more than 45 years, contingences of the situation the Situational Leadership® Model has enabled leaders at all levels of the organization to more effectively influence others. COMMUNICATE: Interact with others in a manner they can understand and accept ADVANCE: Manage the movement toward higher performance Situational Leadership® helps leaders Situational Leadership®, which stresses flexibility and learn how to think, before it teaches simplicity in execution, prepares leaders to address them what to do. the most pressing challenges pervasive in today’s work environment. Dr. Sam Shriver ORIGINAL SITUATIONAL HISTORY & BACKGROUND LEADERSHIP® RESEARCH By definition, a model is a repeatable process. To add Developed by Dr. Paul Hersey in the late 1960s, Situational value, that model has to be leveraged on a consistent Leadership® is frequently referred to as “organized common basis. And to be used consistently, it has to be practical sense.” Dr. Hersey’s original Situational Leadership® Model and simple – without being simplistic. Copyright © 2017, Leadership Studies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2 The concepts, procedures, actions and outcomes derived disconnected, isolated and dispersed. Frederick Winslow from the Situational Leadership® Model are based on Taylor’s findings with Scientific Management (1911) were tested methodologies that are hands-on, real-world and in direct contrast with the conclusions reached by Elton easy to apply. Dr. Hersey synthesized 50 years of research Mayo in the 1930s at the Hawthorne Electric Plant (Human on the behavior of leaders and followers to develop the Relations Theory). Concurrent research at Ohio State Situational Leadership® Model. The model provides a (Ralph Stogdill, 1948) and Michigan (Coch-French, 1948) framework for leaders to match their behaviors with the produced four-box configurations that identified a leader’s performance needs of the individual or group that they are approach as a function of providing some combination attempting to influence. It is about adapting the directive of structure and/or support. Douglas McGregor’s (1957) and supportive behaviors that leaders use to match the research suggested the assumptions a leader made about Performance Readiness® of others to perform specific followers was the driving force behind leader behavior tasks or functions. (Theory X, Theory Y), while Abraham Maslow (1954), Chris Argyris (1964) and Frederick Herzberg (1966) focused It seems odd to think about in this day and age, but the their attention on the factors that contributed to human first 50 years of research on organizational behavior in motivation and development. general and leadership development in particular were FIGURE 1 Situational Leadership® Inuence Behaviors Situational Leadership® changed the way I managed people. HIGH g n ti S Retired Senior Vice President, Biotechnology Industry a e p l i l i c n i t g r a P These various (and often juxtaposing) conclusions S3 S2 contributed to the foundational research that Dr. Hersey S4 S1 used to develop the Situational Leadership® Model, first g published in 1969. After seeing this model create positive n T i e Supportive Behavior t l results for real-world leaders, Dr. Hersey concluded that Relationship Behavior a l i g n le g there’s no such thing as a bad leadership style, they all e D work! Leadership is about learning when to use each style to effectively influence others. LOW LOW HIGH Task Behavior Directive Behavior HOW IT WORKS In essence, leaders using the Situational Leadership® Model (see Figure 1) start with the task and the person Performance Readiness® responsible to perform it, then ask: HIGH MODERATE LOW R4 R3 R2 R1 • How much task-specific knowledge, experience or skill does this person bring to the table? Situational Leadership® and Performance Readiness® are registered trademarks of Leadership Studies, Inc. Copyright © 1972 - 2017. All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2017, Leadership Studies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3 • Is this individual confident, committed and motivated to depending upon the assessment of Performance perform this task? Readiness® for the task in question: Answers to these simple questions produce four combinations of ability and willingness (Performance S1 Readiness®) that the leader can use as a starting point: Telling or guiding: The leader leverages his or her base of R1 experience to make decisions, provide direction and create movement. “I need clear structure and direction.” S2 R2 Selling or explaining: “I am inexperienced, but The leader clarifies decisions and highly motivated, so I need both recognizes the enthusiasm of the follower encouragement and direction.” in an effort to ensure understanding. R3 S3 “I have a good understanding of Participating or involving: what to do, but I need support.” The leader and follower brainstorms alternatives in an effort to mutually establish alignment. R4 “I am motivated, competent and confident.” S4 Delegating or entrusting: The leader trusts the follower to leverage his or her base of experience The leader then determines leadership style to complete the task. as a function of: TASK OR DIRECTIVE BEHAVIOR: The extent to which a leader engages in defining roles, Leadership effectiveness depends on a leader’s ability to structuring activity and providing the what, where, when, assess the Performance Readiness® of an individual and how and, if more than one person is involved, who is to use the appropriate leadership style for the situation. For do what for a particular task. example, a new hire with little knowledge and experience to perform a task would require more direction than RELATIONSHIP OR SUPPORTIVE BEHAVIOR: an employee who has several years of experience. If a The extent to which a leader engages in two-way leader entrusts a new employee to perform the task with communication, facilitates interaction and little guidance, then the employee will likely exhibit poor actively listens. performance and ultimately feel frustrated and lost. But if a leader provides proper detail and instruction, then Various combinations of task and relationship behavior the employee will feel empowered with the knowledge define four leadership styles the leader can employ to effectively perform the task. However, a leader cannot Copyright © 2017, Leadership Studies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 4 simply provide direction without also providing some are equally important to leading younger workers. This level of support. How much is some? It truly depends research has shown that both leaders and followers see on the situation, which is precisely what the Situational influence as a primary driver of goal-directed behavior, from Leadership® Model helps leaders to determine. a freshly-hired millennial to a nearly-retired baby boomer. Situational Leadership® considers the entire lifecycle BENEFITS OF SITUATIONAL of a typical employee – from a new hire who needs direction and support to learn new skills to a seasoned LEADERSHIP® employee performing tasks he or she has mastered At its core, Situational Leadership® provides leaders long ago. Regardless of an employee’s age or skill level, with an understanding of the relationship between an the Situational Leadership® Model provides leaders effective style of leadership and the level of Performance with a framework to appropriately engage and influence Readiness® that followers exhibit for a specific task. follower behavior. With application across organizational leaders, first- line managers, individual contributors and even teams, INFLUENCE ACROSS Situational Leadership® utilizes task specificity to serve as a mechanism through which leaders maximize their CULTURAL DIVIDES influence-related impact. Situational Leadership® has been proven to upskill leaders around the world, according to research conducted