Situational Leadership

The theory of situational leadership is typically associated with the work of Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard. The basic principle underlying situational leadership is that the leader adapts her leadership behavior to followers’ “maturity,” based on their willingness and ability to perform a specific task. Four leadership styles match high and low willingness and ability to perform a task:

• When followers are unable and unwilling to perform a given task, the leader directs the followers’ actions without much concern for personal relationships. This style is referred to as high task–low relationship focus, or the “telling” style.

• When followers are unable but willing to perform the task, the leader interacts with followers in a friendly manner but still provides concrete direction and guidance. This style is referred to as high task–high relationship focus, or the “participating” style.

• When followers are able but unwilling to perform the task, the leader does not have to provide much direction or guidance but must persuade followers to engage in the task. This style is referred to as low task–low relationship focus, or the “selling” style.

• When followers are able and willing to perform the task, the leader leaves the execution of the task to the followers with little or no interference, basically trusting followers to accomplish the task on their own. This style is referred to as low task–high relationship focus, or the “delegating” style.

The effective leader is skilled in all four styles and knows the ability level of followers along with their willingness to perform specific tasks. The effective leader realizes that no one leadership style is appropriate for all followers and all situations and accurately discerns which styles are appropriate for which followers in which situations.