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Situational leadership model developed by Dr. Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard (Hersey & Blanchard, 1977). There is no one “best” style of leadership as it will always depend on the task to be performed as well as the person who performs the task. Situational Leadership is a form of leadership that is to be applied depending on the level of development of the people within the team whereby such level of development will affect the behavior of the leader that showed up against the people. In this context, we have identified four different leadership roles i.e. Delegating (S4), Participating (S3), Selling (S2), and Telling (S1).
First and foremost, Telling (S1) is also known as Directing in some other literature (Whitehead, 2016). This mode of leadership associates with strong directive leadership. The leader makes decisions without consulting the team or the subordinates. The leader of the firm does not actually seek opinion or solution from the followers. The leader often only directs the followers to execute the instruction given due to inexperience on the task allocated. Feedback is not required. The “Telling” style of leadership is applied against followers who are high in their commitment but low in the competency to complete their task. They often do not have any sense of direction in terms of completing their task. Direct command is required in order for them to have the correct steps to complete the job delegated. The degree of leader concerning the task given to them is High while the degree of leader concerning the relationship lesser.
Next, Selling (S2) is another form of leadership in the manner of coaching. When the leader is applying Selling (S2), the leader will be more receptive to input or feedback from the subordinates (Mujtaba & Sungkhawan, 2009). The leader will sell their ideas to the subordinates in order to obtain their cooperation. Selling-style leadership requires the role of coaching and putting questions to the followers in order for the followers to aware about analyzing the situation and doing the right thing in the appropriate circumstances. The “Selling” style of leadership is applied to the followers who often have some competency but with low commitment.
Moreover, the next leadership style is Participating (S3). This leadership style requires the leader to be in a supporting role. Even though the leaders often make decisions but most of the decisions were participate and made together with the followers. Hence, leaders were often playing the “quiet” supportive role while leading the followers are usually well equipped with experience and able to make viable decisions in handling their task. The “Participating” style of leadership is to be applied to the followers who often have High competency but low commitment. As such, applying “Participating” leadership styles is to show low directive behavior but high supportive behavior for them to own up to the results of the task.
Lastly, Delegating (S4) is an important leadership style that allows that leader to provide minimal direction and guidance to their followers. The task will usually be delegated fully to the followers to handle and they are made understood that they are responsible for the outcome of the matter. Absolute authorization is a form of entrusting that is essential for modern corporate leaders in the organization. Especially when the number of Millenials is making up the number of workforces, it is important for us to understand that millennials expect that superiors to provide absolute authority and entrusting them with the liberty to complete the job effectively and efficiently (Gilbert, 2011).
In short, after knowing the four types of situational leadership, such various styles of leadership is not to be applied in isolation. The leader has to be flexible and conscious about the readiness of the followers and their level of commitment. Only by determining the readiness of the followers accurately, the leader will be able to apply the suitable form of leadership in that situation.
References:
1. Gilbert, J. (2011). The Millenials: A new generation of employees, a new sets of engagement policies. Ivey Business Journal. from: https://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/the-millennials-a-new-generation-of-employees-a-new-set-of-engagement-policies/
2. Mujtaba, B. & Sungkhawan, J. (2009). Situational Leadership and Diversity Management Coaching Skills. Journal of Diversity Management (JDM). 4(1). 1-12.
3. Hersey, P. & Blanchard, K. H. (1977). The management of organizational behavior (5th ed.) Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
4. Whitehead, J. (2016). Directing, Coaching, Supporting & Delegating Are What? from: https://johnkwhitehead.ca/situational-leadership/
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