What’s the best way to lead a group?
If you’re like most people, your answer is likely to be…
“It depends.”
And it does.
The best leaders analyze the situation and adjust their leadership style accordingly.
One of the most popular of the “it depends” leadership theories was developed in the 1970’s,
which is Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory, or SLT for
short.
That’s what this video will focus on.
The Situational Leadership Model was originally designed to help managers in organizations
and, for this explanation, I’m going to apply it to a supervisor and employee setting,
but you can see how it can apply to a variety of other group situations.
Later Hersey and Blanchard split off to craft their own versions of the model, so this discussion
tries to address the original model with some nods to the differences.
So I may use some terms interchangeably or differently than others, but I believe the
fundamental concepts are the same.
The underlying premise is that you, as a leader, need to adapt your leadership style—or how
you interact with people—based on their needs, not your preferred style.
Three variables come into play here, the first being how much emphasis needs to be put on
the task.
Sometimes it is vitally important that the task get done, get done in a particular way,
get done at a specific time, and so on.
And, sometimes, it doesn’t matter as much: it may not be important or the work is meant
to be a learning experience.
And, sometimes, people can get the work done without much help from you.
So the question is, how much emphasis do you, as a leader, need to place on the task?
The more important the task is, the more likely you are to be actively involved in directing,
or teaching, or guiding.
The second variable is the socio-emotional one: How much relationship support do you
need to provide?
Does the individual, or group of individuals, need your help to get along with each other,
feel good about what they are doing, or feel good about themselves?
The third variable, the Readiness Level, may be the most important, as this is the primary
reason for this approach: The level of readiness that individuals demonstrate in performing
a specific task, function, or objective.
This is sometimes called the Maturity or Development level.
In fact the entire model starts with this third variable of Follower Readiness.
Essentially, this is how ready a person is to perform a particular task.
For our example, let’s assume that I am working as a barista in a coffee bar and you
are my supervisor or manager.
Now, I may have a lot of skills, but making specialty drinks is not one of them.
So, you’ll need to ask yourself, how “ready” am I?
Readiness is made up of two variables: Competence, originally called “ability,” and Confidence,
originally called “willingness.”
You may also see confidence referred to as “commitment,” under the assumption that,
if I am committed to learn, or committed to the organization, I am confident that—eventually—I
can do the work.
I’ll stick it out.
When you combine these two variables, you come up with four combinations:
I start off as low on competence and also low on confidence.
My first day—maybe even my first week—on the job, where I don’t really know what
I’m doing and lack confidence in my decisions.
I need help, and lots of it.
The longer I’m on the job, the more my skills develop—and I become more comfortable and
confident in my skills and decisions, so the second combination is low to some competence
and low to some confidence, but you still wouldn’t trust me to work alone.
A bit longer on the job, I should be able to froth milk easily, remember orders, and
craft a great coffee, and feel good about myself and working with others in the process.
I would likely be both competent and have confidence in what I’m doing, but still
need more experience to make decisions on my own.
Some consultants estimate that it takes an average of three to six months for an employee
to become competent at their job.
Finally, after I’ve been working as a barista for a long time, chances are I’d be at the
fourth level, having developed both high competence and high confidence.
You probably don’t need to monitor me so much so my work gets delegated to me Experts
estimate that it can take between one and two years for an employee to become fully
productive.
These four levels are labeled D1, D2, D3, and D4.
The D stands for Developing.
You’ll often see these displayed at the bottom of the chart starting with D1, or Low
Competence and Low Confidence, on the right as “developing” and D4, or High Competence
and High Confidence, on the left as “developed.”
In early versions, they were labeled R1 through R4, with the R standing for Readiness.
That leads us to the actual chart which we start by plotting a matrix.
Directive behavior is plotted on the x-axis, from left to right as low directive behavior
to high directive behavior, while Supportive behavior is plotted on the y-axis, from low
supportive behavior on the bottom to high supportive behavior on the top.
You can then divide the chart into four squares, or panes, like a window.
Now we can plot the Readiness levels on the graph.
You can see how an employee, or a group member, progresses through the chart as they learn
on the job and become proficient and more able to work by themselves.
We’ll start on the lower right corner, where it’s HIGH directive and LOW supportive behaviors.
This corresponds with the D1 level in readiness: a new employee who isn’t skilled yet (low
competence) and unsure of what she is doing (low confidence)—my first few days brewing
java for a living.
You should use a Directing leadership style with me, sometimes called the Telling style.
It’s more of an authoritative teaching style: Do this, this way.
Move up one pane to the upper right corner, where it is HIGH directive and HIGH Supportive
behaviors, which corresponds to the D2 readiness level: an employee who has been on the job
for a little while so has developed some skills and stronger confidence—my first couple
of months working the coffee machine.
Now you have to work a little more on my skills and boost my confidence, so you would be Coaching
or, as it is sometimes called, the Selling style.
Moving to the upper left for LOW Directive and HIGH supportive behaviors, corresponding
to the D3 Readiness level: an employee who has developed their skills to the point that
they no longer need to be told what to do and feels confident in what they are doing,
but can’t completely operate on their own, so you should be Supporting me, keeping me
motivated and encouraging me.
This is sometimes called, Participating, as the manager is actively participating with
the employee.
The final pane is the lower left corner: Low Directive and Low Supportive behavior.
This employee’s skills are fully developed so there is little need for more than delegating.
You can tell me what to do and leave me alone, confident that I’ll do my job well, and
maybe come up with some new creative coffee drinks in the process.
Who knows?
I may be in line for a promotion!
Processing time!
Let’s take it out of the coffee shop and into a classroom:
What style would a teacher use with her students on the first day of class?
As students would likely not be proficient or knowledgeable about the subject, the teacher
would use the Directing style: Telling the students what to do without having to worry
so much about how they feel about it, the class, or the teacher.
However, if the class is low-enrolled and the teacher is concerned that the class will
be canceled, there may be some coaching thrown in there as well.
So, again, it depends.
Would someone who has reached the D4 readiness level (high competence and high confidence)
ever need to go back to the D1 readiness level?
(Low competence and low confidence?)
Probably, if they were promoted or given a new task.
Then the supervisor would have to use some Directing behavior.
If you quit working at one coffee bar and started at another, would you automatically
start over at the D1 readiness level?
Probably not.
It might just be a matter of learning new routines and nomenclature, so you might be
starting off at D2 or D3.
How does this work in groups where there is no designated leader, like in a class project?
You can all help each other by developing everyone’s skills and bolstering their confidence.
Keep in mind that all of this is based on the employee, or follower.
Employees grow, change, develop new skill sets and interests, and move to different
jobs.
No two employees or situations are the same, so you will have to adjust to the changing
circumstances.
But, if you can identify someone’s readiness (competence and confidence) and adapt your
leadership style accordingly, you’ll be on your way to being an effective leader.