SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP ®

Relevant T h e n, Relevant Now

SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP®: is based on the relationship between leaders and followers
and serves as a framework to analyze each situation
RELEVANT THEN, RELEVANT NOW based on:
At its core, leadership is influence. Regardless of position,
a leader is anyone who is able to influence others. • The amount of guidance and direction (task behavior)
Effective leadership is necessary to create and sustain a a leader gives
high-performing organization. Poor leadership can create a
host of issues that undermine a company’s performance, • The amount of socioemotional support (relationship
including mismanagement of resources, high turnover behavior) a leader provides
rates and diminished returns on investment. • The Performance Readiness® Level that
followers exhibit in performing a specific task,
With so much at stake in today’s competitive business function or objective
environment, organizations cannot ignore the importance
of developing their leaders and the impact it can have on
the business. Companies must equip their leaders with Situational leaders learn to demonstrate four core,
the tools and resources they need to skillfully navigate common and critical leadership competencies:
the demands of an increasingly diverse workforce and
evolving global marketplace. And that starts with effective
DIAGNOSE:
leadership development.
Understand the nuances of the specific situation
they are trying to influence
The Situational Leadership® Model transcends cultural
and generational differences and equips leaders around
ADAPT:
the globe with the skills necessary to drive behavior
Adjust their behavior in response to the
change and increase productivity. For more than 45 years,
contingences of the situation
the Situational Leadership® Model has enabled leaders
at all levels of the organization to more effectively
influence others. COMMUNICATE:
Interact with others in a manner they can
understand and accept

ADVANCE:
Manage the movement toward higher performance
Situational Leadership® helps leaders
Situational Leadership®, which stresses flexibility and
learn how to think, before it teaches simplicity in execution, prepares leaders to address
them what to do. the most pressing challenges pervasive in today’s
work environment.

Dr. Sam Shriver

ORIGINAL SITUATIONAL
HISTORY & BACKGROUND LEADERSHIP® RESEARCH
By definition, a model is a repeatable process. To add
Developed by Dr. Paul Hersey in the late 1960s, Situational value, that model has to be leveraged on a consistent
Leadership®is frequently referred to as “organized common basis. And to be used consistently, it has to be practical
sense.” Dr. Hersey’s original Situational Leadership®Model and simple – without being simplistic.

Copyright © 2017, Leadership Studies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2

The concepts, procedures, actions and outcomes derived disconnected, isolated and dispersed. Frederick Winslow
from the Situational Leadership® Model are based on Taylor’s findings with Scientific Management (1911) were
tested methodologies that are hands-on, real-world and in direct contrast with the conclusions reached by Elton
easy to apply. Dr. Hersey synthesized 50 years of research Mayo in the 1930s at the Hawthorne Electric Plant (Human
on the behavior of leaders and followers to develop the Relations Theory). Concurrent research at Ohio State
Situational Leadership® Model. The model provides a (Ralph Stogdill, 1948) and Michigan (Coch-French, 1948)
framework for leaders to match their behaviors with the produced four-box configurations that identified a leader’s
performance needs of the individual or group that they are approach as a function of providing some combination
attempting to influence. It is about adapting the directive of structure and/or support. Douglas McGregor’s (1957)
and supportive behaviors that leaders use to match the research suggested the assumptions a leader made about
Performance Readiness® of others to perform specific followers was the driving force behind leader behavior
tasks or functions. (Theory X, Theory Y), while Abraham Maslow (1954), Chris
Argyris (1964) and Frederick Herzberg (1966) focused
It seems odd to think about in this day and age, but the their attention on the factors that contributed to human
first 50 years of research on organizational behavior in motivation and development.
general and leadership development in particular were

FIGURE 1

Situational Leadership®
Influence Behaviors
Situational Leadership® changed
the way I managed people.
HIGH

ng
Retired Senior Vice President, Biotechnology Industry
i
at

Se
cip

lli n g
Relationship Behavior

Parti
Supportive Behavior

S3 S2
These various (and often juxtaposing) conclusions
contributed to the foundational research that Dr. Hersey
S4 S1
used to develop the Situational Leadership® Model, first
published in 1969. After seeing this model create positive
ng

results for real-world leaders, Dr. Hersey concluded that

Te
ati

ll
eg

there’s no such thing as a bad leadership style, they all

i ng
el

D work! Leadership is about learning when to use each style

to effectively influence others.
LOW

LOW HIGH
Task Behavior
Directive Behavior HOW IT WORKS
In essence, leaders using the Situational Leadership®
Model (see Figure 1) start with the task and the person
Performance Readiness® responsible to perform it, then ask:
HIGH MODERATE LOW
R4 R3 R2 R1 • How much task-specific knowledge, experience or skill
Situational Leadership® and Performance Readiness® are registered trademarks of
does this person bring to the table?
Leadership Studies, Inc. Copyright © 1972 - 2017. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2017, Leadership Studies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3

• Is this individual confident, committed and motivated to depending upon the assessment of Performance
perform this task? Readiness® for the task in question:

Answers to these simple questions produce four

combinations of ability and willingness (Performance
S1
Readiness®) that the leader can use as a starting point: Telling or guiding:
The leader leverages his or her base of
experience to make decisions, provide
R1
direction and create movement.
“I need clear structure and direction.”

S2
R2 Selling or explaining:
“I am inexperienced, but The leader clarifies decisions and
highly motivated, so I need both recognizes the enthusiasm of the follower
encouragement and direction.” in an effort to ensure understanding.

R3 S3
“I have a good understanding of Participating or involving:
what to do, but I need support.” The leader and follower brainstorms
alternatives in an effort to mutually
establish alignment.
R4
“I am motivated, competent
and confident.” S4
Delegating or entrusting:
The leader trusts the follower to
leverage his or her base of experience
The leader then determines leadership style to complete the task.
as a function of:

TASK OR DIRECTIVE BEHAVIOR:

The extent to which a leader engages in defining roles, Leadership effectiveness depends on a leader’s ability to
structuring activity and providing the what, where, when, assess the Performance Readiness® of an individual and
how and, if more than one person is involved, who is to use the appropriate leadership style for the situation. For
do what for a particular task. example, a new hire with little knowledge and experience
to perform a task would require more direction than
RELATIONSHIP OR SUPPORTIVE BEHAVIOR: an employee who has several years of experience. If a
The extent to which a leader engages in two-way leader entrusts a new employee to perform the task with
communication, facilitates interaction and little guidance, then the employee will likely exhibit poor
actively listens. performance and ultimately feel frustrated and lost. But
if a leader provides proper detail and instruction, then
Various combinations of task and relationship behavior the employee will feel empowered with the knowledge
define four leadership styles the leader can employ to effectively perform the task. However, a leader cannot

Copyright © 2017, Leadership Studies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 4

simply provide direction without also providing some are equally important to leading younger workers. This
level of support. How much is some? It truly depends research has shown that both leaders and followers see
on the situation, which is precisely what the Situational influence as a primary driver of goal-directed behavior, from
Leadership® Model helps leaders to determine. a freshly-hired millennial to a nearly-retired baby boomer.

Situational Leadership® considers the entire lifecycle

BENEFITS OF SITUATIONAL of a typical employee – from a new hire who needs
direction and support to learn new skills to a seasoned
LEADERSHIP® employee performing tasks he or she has mastered
At its core, Situational Leadership® provides leaders long ago. Regardless of an employee’s age or skill level,
with an understanding of the relationship between an the Situational Leadership® Model provides leaders
effective style of leadership and the level of Performance with a framework to appropriately engage and influence
Readiness® that followers exhibit for a specific task. follower behavior.

With application across organizational leaders, first-

line managers, individual contributors and even teams, INFLUENCE ACROSS
Situational Leadership® utilizes task specificity to serve
as a mechanism through which leaders maximize their CULTURAL DIVIDES
influence-related impact. Situational Leadership®has been proven to upskill leaders
around the world, according to research conducted by
BENEFITS OF SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP®: Advantis Research and Consulting. Whether a leader is
based in North America, South America, Europe, or Asia,
• Is a multidirectional model that can be the benefits of Situational Leadership®remain consistent.
leveraged for influencing up, down and across Whether we’re talking about a manager in Brazil, Taiwan, or
the organization Belgium, the leadership competencies gained by practicing
• Creates a common language of performance
• Accelerates the pace and quality of
employee development
• Is a repeatable process that your leaders can leverage
to effectively influence the behavior of others As the baby boomer generation
• Utilizes task specificity to serve as a is exiting the workforce through
mechanism through which leaders maximize their retirement, Situational Leadership®
influence-related impact
has given our new and emerging
• Addresses situations where people are developing
or regressing
leaders filling those roles an effective
and efficient tool and thinking strategy
that has decreased learning curves
INFLUENCE ACROSS GENERATIONS
and improved our training processes.
While there has been speculation that millennials have
significantly different motivations in the workplace
compared to older workers, research by The Center for
Manager of Technical Training, Manufacturing Industry
Leadership Studies and Training Industry, Inc. reveals
that the fundamental tenets of Situational Leadership®

Copyright © 2017, Leadership Studies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 5

the Situational Leadership® Model have been proven to that involve a high degree of person-to-person interaction
drive business results such as market share, revenues, both inside and outside the organization. While influence
employee engagement and retention. training can benefit all functional areas across the
organization, influence skills are especially important to
HR, sales, customer service and marketing departments.
The reason behind this versatility is because Situational
With so much at stake in today’s competitive business
Leadership® utilizes a common leadership language that
environment, organizations need to ensure employees
can be applied across any boundary. Implementing the
have effective leadership skills when interacting with
model requires a leader to establish objectives, assess
customers, clients and vendors.
Performance Readiness® and determine the appropriate
leadership style within the context of a given situation and
work environment. Even when attempting to influence the Across multiple studies, research by The Center for
behavior of international employees, where interactions Leadership Studies and Training Industry, Inc. has found
may be impacted by differences in culture or language, a that influence is important to leading employees across a
leader can apply Situational Leadership® to navigate any range of industries, job roles and working arrangements,
given situation or interaction. as well as across the full spectrum of knowledge workers.
Whether a follower is employed in a highly complex job and
working remotely, or in a relatively basic job and part of a
tightly knit team, Situational Leadership® is universal—
and universally effective.

As our organizations are becoming DRIVING BEHAVIOR CHANGE

flatter and flatter, we see the A leader does not merely impact the behavior of an
employee through one or two interactions. Rather, having
importance of influence standing positive influence is a continuous process, requiring
out more and more. The informal thoughtful application of influence-related strategy on
a consistent basis over time. Situational Leadership®
network is key to getting things done recognizes that an effective leader, at any level, must
in many organizations and ours is no be able to vary behavior not only as it applies to the
successful completion of the task at hand, but also to
different. There are many instances encourage employees to seize upon new challenges and
where influence is what can drive the development opportunities.
business faster and more efficiently
Research by leadership expert Jim Collins suggests that
than hierarchy. great leaders understand the importance of motivating
the right people the right way to seize opportunities and
build organizational momentum. By identifying the most
Director of Leadership Development, Biotechnology Industry appropriate way to influence each individual, a leader
can elevate the performance of the entire company, one
employee at a time.

INFLUENCE ACROSS THE BUSINESS But what about when the company is going
When analyzing influence across functional business units, through change? According to The Center for
leadership skills are most frequently used in positions Leadership Studies and Training Industry, Inc.

Copyright © 2017, Leadership Studies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6

 INCREASING ENGAGEMENT
Although influencing behavior is the essential outcome of
Situational Leadership®, it is certainly not the only one.
Given the high risk in decision making The Center for Leadership Studies and Training Industry,
in our industry, the Situational Inc. recently revalidated research has shown that when
the task or directive behavior of a leader is matched with
Leadership®Model provided our the needs of a follower, the follower is likely to experience
emerging leaders with a much more higher levels of satisfaction with their job, higher levels of
meaningfulness of the work he or she does, and improved
heightened sense of awareness of their work-family balance. While supportive behavior is also
role in these decisions. The model has important to follower engagement, it was most critical to
ensure a follower is receiving an appropriate amount of
served as a template for talent selection, formal and informal recognition.
talent management, and day-to-day
communications between managers and Furthermore, research by Marcus Buckingham and Curt
Coffman suggests that good managers create and sustain
employees. There is less ‘winging it’ thanks employee satisfaction. Their research reveals that the
in part to this structure. best managers treat every employee as an individual
and choose to focus on employee strengths instead of
weaknesses – which is exactly what our research has
shown with respect to how followers respond to the
Director of Talent Acquisition and Talent Development, influence attempts of an effective leader.
Pharmaceutical Industry

Situational Leadership® approaches performance as

situation-specific, requiring leaders to assess performance
based on a specific task and work climate. Leaders should
research, the following sources of organizational
frequently reassess the performance of individuals to
power are the most critical: continue meeting their needs, in terms of both direction
and support. As employees progress, leadership practices
REFERENT POWER: should evolve and reflect that progression – as what was
The leader displays behavior over time that earns once the appropriate amount of task guidance can become
employee trust and respect a source of dissatisfaction as employees mature and
become increasingly familiar with their role, responsibilities
EXPERT POWER: and tasks. Failing to alter leadership styles can negatively
The leader has accumulated relevant subject matter impact employee engagement and performance.
related knowledge and experience

LEGITIMATE POWER:
The leader has the ability to reward, sanction and make FACTORING IN MOTIVATION
appropriate decisions relative to their position or title Employees are unique. What motivates one may demotivate
another. Situational Leadership® acknowledges these
differences and reflects that the task-specific willingness
Ultimately, leadership is the primary mechanism that of each employee will be different. Pulling from decades
drives change and organizational power is the fuel that of scientific research on human motivation, Daniel Pink
enables leadership. suggests that the secret to high performance and job

Copyright © 2017, Leadership Studies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 7

satisfaction is largely intrinsic – stemming from our need growing demand for leaders at all levels. In this complex
to be self-directed, to learn and master new skills, and to and evolving workplace culture, we are all leaders. And
do something meaningful. we all hold the power to motivate and inspire others to
take action. Now more than ever, we need leaders with
Situational Leadership® takes the motivational level of the skills to successfully collaborate across the business.
employees into consideration when selecting a leadership
style. For example, a motivated and willing employee will In fact, leadership expert John Maxwell suggests, “99% of
require less coaching than an unmotivated individual. all leadership occurs not from the top but from the middle
Since motivation largely comes from within the individual, of an organization… all of us can lead effectively, even if
leaders must understand what motivates their employees we’re not the VP or CEO.” To put this in context, leadership
– or risk diminishing engagement and productivity. is the cumulative impact of an individual’s attempts to
influence up, down and across the organization, ultimately
impacting business results by driving authentic behavior
THE POWER OF TRUST change in every direction.
Earning the trust of others is an investment that leaders
need to make every day. It cannot be gained through Situational Leadership®can provide leaders and managers
a training course, promotion or raise. Leaders must with the tools necessary to influence others and to help
continuously be mindful of their words and behavior them appropriately cultivate and exercise their power to
because all that hard-earned trust can be burned in one influence and affect change. As organizations strive to
single action (or inaction). be more nimble and respond to changes at the speed of
business, leaders are essential. While power often gets a
Trust and credibility are the core principles of effective bad rap in business, it can be a positive driver of influence.
leadership. Employees must have confidence in their
leaders’ ability to deliver results. Distrust, on the other Whether it’s up, down or across the organization, effective
hand, can create a breeding ground for discontent, poor influence skills can enable leaders to positively influence
performance and employee turnover – all of which can the behavior of others, make strategic decisions, manage
negatively impact an organization’s bottom line. Building conflict, and affect change. Leadership training on influence
and sustaining a strong foundation of referent power helps can be a powerful way to equip leaders with the tools to
leaders build trust with those they attempt to influence. better understand why their own attempts to direct behavior
Without trust, leaders will not be able to effectively succeed or fail. Armed with this knowledge, leaders can
manage change. more effectively collaborate across the business and
move the needle on organizational performance.
Furthermore, management theorist Simon Sinek suggests
a great leader is someone who makes their employees
feel safe and secure. Humans have an evolutionary need
to feel safe. When we feel safe, the natural reaction is to
trust and cooperate. By being supportive of employees no
matter where they fall on the continuum of Performance
Readiness®, leaders are building a culture of trust that
breeds employees who are willing to go above and beyond.

INFLUENCE TODAY
Today’s workplace is in a constant state of change. As
organizations shift from a structured top-down hierarchy to
a more collaborative and team-centric dynamic, there is a

Copyright © 2017, Leadership Studies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 8

REFERENCES
Buckingham, M., & Coffman, C. (1999). First, break Sinek, S. (2014, March). Simon Sinek: Why good leaders
all the rules: What the world's greatest managers do make you feel safe. [Video file]. Available at https://
differently. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_why_good_leaders_
make_you_feel_safe/up-next
Collins, J. C. (2001). Good to Great: Why some
companies make the leap… And others don’t. New York, The Center for Leadership Studies & Training Industry,
NY: HarperBusiness. Inc. (2016). Infographic. Building situational leaders.
Available at https://www.trainingindustry.com/articles/
French, J. R. P., Jr., & Raven, B. H. (1959). The bases leadership/building-situational-leaders/
of social power. In D. Cartwright (Ed.), Studies in Social
Power (pp. 150–167). Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social The Center for Leadership Studies &Training Industry,
Research. Inc. (2015). Influence in leadership development: bases
of power in modern organizations. Available at https://
Hersey, P., Blanchard, K. & Johnson, D.E. (2001). www.trainingindustry.com/research/leadership/influence-
Management of organizational behavior (8th ed.). in-leadership-development-bases-of-power-in-modern-
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. organizations/

Hersey, P., Blanchard, K.H., & Natemeyer, W.E. (1979). The Center for Leadership Studies & Training Industry,
Situational leadership, perception and the impact of Inc. (2016). Influenced by others: bases of power
power. Group and Organizational Studies, 4(4), 418-428. across employee generations. Available at https://www.
trainingindustry.com/research/leadership/influenced-by-
Maxwell, J. C. (2005). The 360-degree leader: others-bases-of-power-across-generations/
Developing your influence from anywhere in the
organization. Nashville, TN: Nelson Business.

Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about

what motivates us. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.

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