Recently, I have changed organizational positions. Im still with the same organization, however, in recognition for hard work, superior leadership skill, and technical proficiency, I have been moved to an advisory role. My work center is responsible for the training and certification of newly formed groups in highly specialized missions while deploying overseas. The position I filled is widely considered an honor to hold, and some people in my organization are envious.
To be honest, this job is incredibly boring to me. I am used to a very high tempo, high stress position and this job is everything but that. In the turnover I received from the person I took over from, I realized that there is not a lot of specific tasks that need to be completed daily. To top it off, most of the administration that I am used to needing to do is no longer that prevalent because the staff I have are only 2 Sailors, both of which are just as worthy of the honor of serving in this capacity as I am.
Understanding that my staff, while technically lower in rank and paygrade, are extremely technically proficient and have more experience than myself in the operating of this position, I realized that I no longer needed to adopt the highly directive style of leadership I am used to. The Situational Leadership Two (SLII) Model as introduced by Blanchard et al. (2013) breaks down what leadership styles should be adopted during specific situations ( as cited in Northouse, 2016). While this is not backed by significant empirical research, the theory does resonate with a lot of personnel since it gives specific instances where certain types of leadership are required. For instance, the highly directive leadership I am used to, according to this model, is because typically the majority of my junior personnel are highly dedicated to their new jobs but are still technically unaccustomed to one of three things; the Navy in general, Operational Billets such as being stationed with Marine’s, or Medical care. Therefore, since they were clearly in the D1 stage of development, I had to be highly directive in my leadership to ensure they learned the proper way to do things.
Now that may staff is much more intimate, and much more technically skilled, they are either in D3 or D4. Therefore I must look deeper into my juniors to find what situations I face. Are my guys less dedicated to the Navy or some other aspect of my organization? Is there still a high level of commitment? The answers to these two questions would change the methods necessary to properly lead these Sailors from either Supporting if the dedication is lacking to Delegating if they are highly committed (Northouse, 2016).
The biggest challenge I face however, since it seems so far that I must start delegating, is to let go and let my Sailors lead themselves with minor adjustments from me. It’s almost like they don’t need me, but want me. I just need to be prepared to, once they find a situation they are not used to, switch my leadership style to fit that situation.
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. (7th ed.). Sage Publications: Los Angeles
Megan Augusta Horner says
It’s interesting to see how your leadership styles in the different roles do not match up to the developmental levels of your subordinates in each role. It’s interesting to see a real life example of how you are learning to be flexible in your leadership behaviors.
The Situational Approach is the approach that is all about changing your leadership style to fit the needs of your followers (Northouse, 2016). It’s about being flexible as a leader. As you stated your experiences as a leader in the past have proven that a high directive leadership style is most effective. However, when your developmental level of followers changed it’s apparent that a less directive style is needed.
Delegating is the most effective style in the current situation based on your evaluation of your followers developmental styles. Delegating is associated with low directive behaviors and low supportive behaviors (Northouse, 2016). It’s basically like you said, just being there to be their leader. They don’t need too much from you, but need you there to keep the team together.
It’s interesting to see how your situation and thus leadership style compares to others. For example my boyfriend is currently working for a terminal in which he must provide high support and high directive behaviors because the large majority of his employees or followers are in the developmental level 2. The developmental level 2 is described as a state in which the follower is both unable and unwilling to complete the task (Northouse, 2016). His followers are consistently making mistakes and consistently butting heads with him and each other. Maybe the cause for this is just his company, his terminal, or maybe the trucking industry in general. A coaching style is needed from him in this situation in order to be an effective leader however in his past he has always employed a delegating style much like the one you are placed in in this position.
References:
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership:Theory and Practice. (7th ed.). Sage Publications. Los Angeles.
Ryan J Soule says
As a fellow military man myself (Air Force), I can confirm that the military is very big into Situational Leadership model (Northouse, 2016). Like you stated by moving into a new job, you then gained a different level of subordinate by having them highly motivated and skilled. If one was to use a Directing Approach with them, they would end up being very upset because you would come across as a micromanager. On the same flip side when you were dealing with newer Sailors in the fleet, you would have to use the Directing Approach because they were low skilled and may not have a lot of motivation due to being new to the Navy.
I myself am transitioning into the more of a “white collar” part of the Enlisted Corps of the Air Force. It’s very hard to do the transition from being down in the trenches with the troops, to making managerial decisions that affect the troops. Part of me still yearns to be down there with them, but I’m starting to realize that I’m training my replacements one day. By training them, I have to make sure that I am always able to shift my approach to the right situation with the individual so I give them useful conversations and the quality of the leadership that I provide.
Here’s a video from Ken & Scott Blanchard about Situational Leadership:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1uyU3YSqes
References
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. (7th ed.). Sage Publications: Los Angeles