The situational approach to leadership follows the concept that leaders are more effective if they can adapt their leadership style according to the competence and commitment of their followers (Northouse, 2016, p. 94). This approach has been popular among leadership training programs because it is easy to understand and it provides clear direction on how a leader should behave in different situations (Northouse, 2016, p. 99). Given the popularity, it could be assumed that this approach has been accepted as a valid method of providing leadership guidance. However, there is not enough research with empirical data that can prove the actual effectiveness of this approach to leadership (Northouse, 2016, p.101). Although the validity is unclear, I still believe that the situational approach to leadership can provide some useful insight into the effectiveness of situationally adaptive leaders. Albeit, the usefulness of this theory is more applicable to an individual and not to a group.
Using the Situational Leadership® II (SLII®) model created by Blanchard et al. (2003), a leader’s supportive and directive behavior can be matched with the developmental level of their followers (as cited in Northouse, 2016, p. 95). The directed leadership styles in this model are defined in four different categories, which are distinguished by the combination of different levels of supportive and directive behavior (Northouse, 2016, p. 94). The leadership style categories are then matched with the developmental level of the followers, which is also separated into four unique categories. Each of the developmental levels are classified by a varying level of follower commitment and competency (Northouse, 2016, p. 96).
Applying the SLII® model to my current job position will help to highlight the usefulness of this approach. I currently work at an Army aviation training organization. We instruct different aviation courses to different ranking soldiers with different levels of experience, at varying points in their careers. One of the first courses I taught at this training organization was a basic aviation maintenance course. The soldiers in this course were typically within the first few years of their service in the military and had no experience in the aviation field.
At the start of this ten week aviation maintenance course, I would classify most of the soldiers as a level D1 according to the SLII® model. The D1 level describes followers who are new to the task or goal, but have a high level of motivation and interest (Northouse, 2016, p. 96). Matching this follower level to the appropriate leadership style in the SLII® model, I can see that I should mirror the behaviors contained in the S1 style of leadership. The S1 style of leadership directs me to provide a high directive – low supportive role when guiding and instructing the D1 level followers (Northouse, 2016, p.96). When providing instruction to these inexperienced Soldiers, I was required to provide a specific task and explain how each step of the task was to be performed. I would then carefully supervisor each step throughout the completion of the task.
As I expanded my capabilities within the training organization, I began teaching other advanced courses. While instructing the advanced and senior leadership courses for the enlisted Soldiers within the aviation field, I noticed that I needed to take a different approach to instructing. These Soldiers were experienced and held a higher rank then the Soldiers in the basic maintenance course. They were considered experienced in the technical aspects of the job, but typically were unsure of their leadership ability. If I strictly dictated their actions, then they would view me as overbearing and forceful, often taking little interest in the information I provided. To ensure these Soldiers were open and accepting of the information I presented, I needed to take on a more supportive role.
Developing problem solving skills and critical thinking are a key aspect to these leadership courses. To allow this type of development, I needed to provide more social support to the Soldiers while still allowing them to complete a task in their own way. This approach encouraged the Soldiers to take responsibility for their actions, while still allowing me to observe and provide support when necessary.
When comparing this situation to the SLII® model, I can see that most of the followers fit the D3 level, a moderate to high competence and a variable commitment (Northouse, 2016, p. 95). The SLII® model would then direct me to apply an S3 style to my leadership, displaying a high supportive and low directive behavior (Northouse, 2016, p.95). The more supportive and less directive style allowed them to use their own experiences to help develop themselves, while still having the ability to seek the necessary feedback to improve their process.
What I experienced as an instructor demonstrated that using a different style of leadership for varying degrees of experience among followers could be an effective method for development. However, I had to be cognizant of the needs of the soldiers on an individual level. Through the use of end of course critiques, which are feedback reports required by all graduating soldiers, I could see that one style of leadership was not meeting the satisfaction of every soldier in training. Most of the attending soldiers would fit the developmental category that I generalized for each course. However, soldiers with the same rank and relatively same time in service did not equate to the same experience level. Some of the soldiers in the leadership courses did not come with the same advanced level of competence and therefore required more direction than the other individuals in the course. As noted by Northouse (2016), leaders must remain flexible because the developmental level of followers can and will change continuously (p. 98). Following this same principle, I would have to carefully analyze each individual student and adjust my leadership style to his or her unique developmental category.
What I concluded through my duties as a military instructor was that the situational approach to leadership can be useful for identifying effective leadership styles. When instructing different courses, the audience’s developmental levels need to be considered to be effective. However, when applying the situational approach to leadership, it is important to understand that this is most useful when applied to an individual and not to a group as whole.
Reference
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Connie Li says
Hi Nicholas,
I sincerely enjoyed reading your blog, and admire your flexible coaching ability. There’s no better way to serve our country than teaching soldiers leadership. Thank you for your service.
Your analysis of the situational approach is very accurate. An effective leader should be able to modify supportive and/or directive behaviors according followers’ competence and commitment (Northouse, 2016). After effectively applying the Situational Leadership® II (SLII®) model to different classes, you have realized that you can adapt different behaviors based on the students’ competence and their needs for support. However, you conclude that each follower’s situation may be different. Therefore, leaders should pay more attention to individual’s needs and situation when using the situational approach.
Your conclusion reminds me of the video of Ken and Scott Blanchard Situational Leadership II (PSUWC, n.d.). The speakers make three key points on how to use this leadership approach. First, after a leader diagnoses an appropriate leadership style for an individual, the leader should help the follower to understand his or her needs. The leader and follower can work together as partners when they both acknowledge the situation and the individual’s shortcomings. Second, the situational leadership approach can help leaders increase the quality of their conversations with followers. After evaluating a follower’s competence and commitment, an effective leader should modify the leader-follower conversations based the subordinate’s needs. For example, if a follower had high competency and low motivation, a leader should use more supportive words than directive comments when introducing a new task to the follower. The key is to increase the efficiency of leader-follower communication, which would improve the effectiveness of the leadership. Most importantly, the situational approach is about creating functional and personal leader-follower relationships based on individuals’ needs. Leaders can then assist followers in making goals and overcoming their weaknesses. Therefore, I agree with you that the situational leadership approach is more effective at a personal level and serving individual followers, not in a group setting.
Sincerely,
Connie
Reference:
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (Producer). (n.d.). Ken and Scott Blanchard Situational Leadership II [Motion picture]. United State: Pennsylvania State University World Campus.
Terumi says
Hi Nicholas,
I enjoyed your post. As you mentioned I believe situational leadership is an effective and necessary approach to go along with the development levels of employees. You have applied situational approach to your leadership as a trainer and organizer for training programs. You mentioned that you would start from classification of soldiers based on their experience. I believe that it is the first necessary thing for the application of the “Situational Leadership II (SLII®) model” (Northouse, 2016, p. 93). According to Northouse (2016), the SLII® model is based on “directive and supportive dimension and that each has to be applied appropriately in a given situation” (p. 93). By using your job situation, you described well about both directive and supportive dimensions based on the experiences of your followers. Also, you mentioned an important point; one style of leadership does not meet the satisfaction of every follower and great attention has to be paid to individual needs.
You also stated that situational approach is most useful when applied to individual and not to a group. I still think that the approach can be used for a group effectively. If there are a few people who cannot reach to the next level, for instance from D1 to D2, those people still stay in D1 and the rest can move onto D2. However, as you said, you can use this approach to cater the needs of each person with detailed attentions. The nice thing about SLII® is that leaders can adjust his leadership style based on the development levels of followers and their level of directive and supportive behaviors as shown in the models of “S1 to S4” (Northouse, 2016, p. 95). The levels of supportive behaviors change in a bell-curve shape along with the development levels of employees. It shows that when employees become fully competent and committed, it is encouraging to give the followers autonomy for performing their jobs (Northouse, 2016, p. 96).
In addition, the PSU WC lesson commentary (2017) states a couple of interesting issues about situational approach. One of them is that there is no evidence to the connection between the model’s prescription and subordinates’ successful performance. Secondly, it is unknown how situational leadership influence the leader-follower relationship among certain demographic characteristics such as education and gender. When new findings surrounding these issues emerge, we can effectively use the approach with more details.
References:
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice. Seventh Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Pennsylvania University World Campus (2017). PSYCH485. Lesson 5: Style & Situational Approaches. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1834746/modules/items/21755100