The situational leadership theory,is a leadership theory developed by Paul Hersey, professor
and author of the book Situational Leader, and Ken Blanchard, leadership guru and author
of The One Minute Manager, while working on the first edition of Management of Organizational
Behavior. The theory was first introduced as "Life Cycle Theory of Leadership". During
the mid-1970s, "Life Cycle Theory of Leadership" was renamed "Situational Leadership theory".
In the late 1970s/early 1980s, the authors both developed their own models using the
situational leadership theory; Hersey - Situational Leadership Model and Blanchard et al. Situational
Leadership II Model. The fundamental underpinning of the situational
leadership theory is that there is no single "best" style of leadership. Effective leadership
is task-relevant, and the most successful leaders are those that adapt their leadership
style to the maturity of the individual or group they are attempting to lead or influence.
Effective leadership varies, not only with the person or group that is being influenced,
but it also depends on the task, job or function that needs to be accomplished.
The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Model rests on two fundamental concepts; leadership
style and the individual or group's maturity level.
Leadership styles Hersey and Blanchard characterized leadership
style in terms of the amount of Task Behavior and Relationship Behavior that the leader
provides to their followers. They categorized all leadership styles into four behavior types,
which they named S1 to S4: S1: Telling - is characterized by one-way
communication in which the leader defines the roles of the individual or group and provides
the what, how, why, when and where to do the task;
S2: Selling - while the leader is still providing the direction, he or she is now using two-way
communication and providing the socio-emotional support that will allow the individual or
group being influenced to buy into the process; S3: Participating - this is how shared decision-making
about aspects of how the task is accomplished and the leader is providing less task behaviours
while maintaining high relationship behavior; S4: Delegating - the leader is still involved
in decisions; however, the process and responsibility has been passed to the individual or group.
The leader stays involved to monitor progress. Of these, no one style is considered optimal
for all leaders to use all the time. Effective leaders need to be flexible, and must adapt
themselves according to the situation. Maturity Levels
The right leadership style will depend on the person or group being led. The Hersey-Blanchard
Situational Leadership Theory identified four levels of Maturity M1 through M4:
M1 - They still lack the specific skills required for the job in hand and are unable and unwilling
to do or to take responsibility for this job or task.
M2 - They are unable to take on responsibility for the task being done; however, they are
willing to work at the task. They are novice but enthusiastic.
M3 - They are experienced and able to do the task but lack the confidence or the willingness
to take on responsibility. M4 - They are experienced at the task, and
comfortable with their own ability to do it well. They are able and willing to not only
do the task, but to take responsibility for the task.
Maturity Levels are also task-specific. A person might be generally skilled, confident
and motivated in their job, but would still have a maturity level M1 when asked to perform
a task requiring skills they don't possess. Developing people and self-motivation
A good leader develops “the competence and commitment of their people so they’re self-motivated
rather than dependent on others for direction and guidance.” According to Hersey's "the
situational book," the leader’s high, realistic expectation causes high performance of followers;
the leader’s low expectations lead to low performance of followers. According to Ken
Blanchard, "Four combinations of competence and commitment make up what we call 'development
level.'" D1 - Low competence and high commitment
D2 - Low competence and low commitment D3 - High competence and low/variable commitment
D4 - High competence and high commitment
In order to make an effective cycle, a leader needs to motivate followers properly.
Situational Leadership II Hersey and Blanchard continued to iterate
on the original theory until 1977 when they mutually agreed to run their respective companies.
In the late 1970s, Hersey changed the name from Situational Leadership Theory to Situational
Leadership and Blanchard offered Situational Leadership Theory as A Situational Approach
to Managing People. Blanchard and his colleagues continued to iterate and revise A Situational
Approach to Managing People, and in 1985 introduced Situational Leadership II.
In 1979, Ken Blanchard founded Blanchard Training & Development, Inc., together with his wife
Margie Blanchard and a board of founding associates. Over time, this group made changes to the
concepts of the original Situational Leadership Theory in several key areas, which included
the research base, the leadership style labels, and the individual’s development level continuum.
Research The Situational Leadership II Model acknowledged
the existing research of the Situational Leadership Theory and revised the concepts based on feedback
from clients, practicing managers, and the work of several leading researchers in the
field of group development. The primary sources included:
• Malcolm Knowles’ research in the area of adult learning theory and individual development
stages, where he asserted that learning and growth are based on changes in self-concept,
experience, readiness to learn, and orientation to learning.
• Kanfer and Ackerman’s study of motivation and cognitive abilities and the difference
between commitment and confidence, task knowledge and transferable skills.
• Bruce Tuckman’s research in the field of group development, which compiled the results
of 50 studies on group development and identified four stages of development: Forming, Storming,
Norming, and Performing. Tuckman’s later work identified a fifth stage of development
called “Termination.” Tuckman found that when individuals are new to the team or task
they are motivated but are usually relatively uninformed of the issues and objectives of
the team. Tuckman felt that in the initial stage supervisors of the team need to be directive.
Stage two, Storming, is characterized by conflict and polarization around interpersonal issues
and how best to approach the task. These behaviors serve as resistance to group influence and
task requirements and can cause performance to drop. As the team moves through the stages
of development, performance and productivity increase. Lacoursiere’s research in the
1980s, which synthesized the findings from 238 groups. Until Lacoursiere’s work in
1980, most research had studied non-work groups; Lacoursiere’s work validated the findings
produced by Tuckman in regard to the five stages of group development.
• Susan Wheelan’s 10-year study, published in 1990 and titled Creating Effective Teams,
which confirmed the five stages of group development in Tuckman’s work.
Development Levels Blanchard’s Situational Leadership II Model
uses the terms “competence” and “commitment” to describe different levels of development.
The Situational Leadership II Model tends to view development as an evolutionary progression
meaning that when individuals approach a new task for the first time, they start out with
little or no knowledge, ability or skills, but with high enthusiasm, motivation, and
commitment. Blanchard views development as a process as the individual moves from developing
to developed, in this viewpoint it is still incumbent upon the leader to diagnose development
level and then use the appropriate leadership style.
In the Blanchard SLII Model, the belief is that an individual comes to a new task or
role with low competence but high commitment. As the individual gains experience and is
appropriately supported and directed by their leader they reach Development Level 2 and
gain some competence, but their commitment drops because the task may be more complex
than the individual had originally perceived when they began the task. With the direction
and support of their leader, the individual moves to Development Level 3 where competence
can still be variable—fluctuating between moderate to high knowledge, ability and transferable
skills and variable commitment as they continue to gain mastery of the task or role. Finally,
the individual moves to Development Level 4 where competence and commitment are high.
See also Contingency theory
Three Levels of Leadership model Trait Leadership
Resources Hersey, P. and Blanchard, K. H.. Management
of Organizational Behavior: Utilizing Human Resources New Jersey/Prentice Hall
Hersey, P. and Blanchard, K. H.. Management of Organizational Behavior: Utilizing Human
Resources New Jersey/Prentice Hall References
External links Situational.com
kenblanchard.com One Leadership Group- Situational Leadership
II