Situational leadership is a leadership style that has been developed and studied by Kenneth

Blanchard and Paul Hersey. Situational leadership refers to when the leader or manager of an
organization must adjust his style to fit the development level of the followers he is trying to
influence. With situational leadership, it is up to the leader to change his style, not the follower to
adapt to the leader’s style. In situational leadership, the style may change continually to meet the
needs of others in the organization based on the situation.

Telling And Directing

In telling/directing, the leader of the organization is the one making the decisions and informing
others in the organization of the decision. This style of leadership may also be referred to as micro-
management as the leader is very involved and closely supervises the people who are working. With
this style of leadership, it is a very top-down approach and the employees simply do exactly what
they are told.

Selling And Coaching

With the selling and coaching style of leadership, the leader is still very involved in the day-to-day
activities. The decisions still ultimately lie with the leader, however, input is requested from the
employees before the decision is implemented. With this style of situational leadership, employees
are still supervised but it is in more of a coaching manner rather than a management manner. This
style typically works well with those who are inexperienced and still learning. It involves direct praise
to increase their confidence and self-esteem.

Participating And Supporting

The participating and supporting style of situational leadership passes more responsibility to the
employers or followers. While the leader still provides some direction, the decisions ultimately lie
with the follower. The leader is there to provide feedback and to increase their confidence and
motivation with praise and feedback for the tasks completed. Those who work well under this style of
situational leadership have the necessary skills but lack the confidence or motivation to achieve
them.

Delegating to Employees

Delegating is the situational leadership style where the leader is involved the least amount with the
employees. The employees are responsible for choosing the tasks and the directions they will take.
Although the leader may still be involved for direction or feedback purposes, it is on a much lower
level than with other situational leadership styles. With this style of leadership, the employees know
their role and perform it with little supervision required.

Considering Development Level

The development level of the follower determines the situational leadership style of the leader.
Blanchard and Hersey have developed a matrix so that leaders can easily determine the leadership
style needed by the employee based on their development level. For those with high needs and little
experience, the directing style will be necessary whereas with those with low needs and high
competence, the delegating style can be used.

Criticisms
Despite its intuitive appeal, several studies do not support the prescriptions offered by situational
leadership theory.[7][8] To determine the validity of the prescriptions suggested by the Hersey and
Blanchard approach, Vecchio (1987)[8] conducted a study of more than 300 high school teachers and
their principals. He found that newly hired teachers were more satisfied and performed better under
principals who had highly structured leadership styles, but the performance of more experienced and
mature teachers was unrelated to the style their principals exhibited. In essence, the Vecchio
findings suggest that in terms of situational leadership, it is appropriate to match a highly structured
S1 style of leadership with immature subordinates, but it is not clear whether it is appropriate to
match S2, S3, or S4, respectively, with more mature subordinates. In a replication study using
University employees, Fernandez and Vecchio (1997)[7] found similar results. Taken together, these
studies fail to support the basic recommendations suggested by the situational leadership model.
A 2009 study [9] found the 2007 revised theory was a poorer predictor of subordinate performance
and attitudes than the original version from 1972. Survey data collected from 357 banking
employees and 80 supervisors, sampled from 10 Norwegian financial institutions, were analyzed for
predicted interactions.

Managerial Grid
The managerial grid model (1964) is a style leadership model developed by Robert R.
Blake and Jane Mouton.
This model originally identified five different leadership styles based on the concern for people and
the concern for production.
The optimal leadership style in this model is based on Theory Y.
The grid theory has continued to evolve and develop. The theory was updated with two additional
leadership styles and with a new element, resilience.
In 1999, the grid managerial seminar began using a new text, The Power to Change.
The model is represented as a grid with concern for production as the x-axis and concern for
people as the y-axis; each axis ranges from 1 (Low) to 9 (High). The resulting leadership styles are
as follows:

 The indifferent (previously called impoverished) style (1,1): evade and elude. In this style,
managers have low concern for both people and production. Managers use this style to preserve
job and job seniority, protecting themselves by avoiding getting into trouble. The main concern
 for the manager is not to be held responsible for any mistakes, which results in
less innovationdecisions.
 The accommodating (previously, country club) style (1,9): yield and comply. This style has a
high concern for people and a low concern for production. Managers using this style pay much
attention to the security and comfort of the employees, in hopes that this will
increase performance. The resulting atmosphere is usually friendly, but not necessarily very
productive.
 The dictatorial (previously, produce or perish) style (9,1): control and dominate. With a high
concern for production, and a low concern for people, managers using this style find employee
needs unimportant; they provide their employees with money and expect performance in return.
Managers using this style also pressure their employees through rules and punishments to
achieve the company goals. This dictatorial style is based on Theory X of Douglas McGregor,
and is commonly applied by companies on the edge of real or perceived failure. This style is
often used in cases of crisis management.
 The status quo (previously, middle-of-the-road) style (5,5): balance and compromise. Managers
using this style try to balance between company goals and workers' needs. By giving some
concern to both people and production, managers who use this style hope to achieve suitable
performance but doing so gives away a bit of each concern so that neither production nor people
needs are met.
 The sound (previously, team) style (9,9): contribute and commit. In this style, high concern is
paid both to people and production. As suggested by the propositions of Theory Y, managers
choosing to use this style encourage teamwork and commitment among employees. This
method relies heavily on making employees feel themselves to be constructive parts of the
company.
 The opportunistic style: exploit and manipulate. Individuals using this style, which was added to
the grid theory before 1999, do not have a fixed location on the grid. They adopt whichever
behaviour offers the greatest personal benefit.
 The paternalistic style: prescribe and guide. This style was added to the grid theory before
1999. In The Power to Change, it was redefined to alternate between the (1,9) and (9,1)
locations on the grid. Managers using this style praise and support, but discourage challenges to
their thinking.

Theory of leadership

Leadership theories seek to explain how and why certain people become leaders. Such theories often
focus on the characteristics of leaders, but some attempt to identify the behaviors that people can
adopt to improve their own leadership abilities in different situations.Early debates on the
psychology of leadership often suggested that such skills were simply abilities that people were born
with. Some more recent theories propose that possessing certain traits may help make people nature
leaders, but that experience and situational variables also play a critical role.

1. "Great Man" Theories

Have you ever heard someone described as "born to lead?" According to this point of view, great
leaders are simply born with the necessary internal characteristics such as charisma, confidence,
intelligence, and social skills that make them natural-born leaders.Great man theories assume that the
capacity for leadership is inherent – that great leaders are born, not made. These theories often
portray great leaders as heroic, mythic and destined to rise to leadership when needed. The term
"Great Man" was used because, at the time, leadership was thought of primarily as a male quality,
especially in terms of military leadership.
2. Trait Theories

Similar in some ways to Great Man theories, trait theories assume that people inherit certain qualities
and traits that make them better suited to leadership. Trait theories often identify a particular
personality or behavioral characteristics shared by leaders. For example, traits like extroversion, self-
confidence, and courage are all traits that could potentially be linked to great leaders.

If particular traits are key features of leadership, then how do we explain people who possess those
qualities but are not leaders? This question is one of the difficulties in using trait theories to explain
leadership. There are plenty of people who possess the personality traits associated with leadership,
yet many of these people never seek out positions of leadership.

3. Contingency Theories

Contingency theories of leadership focus on particular variables related to the environment that might
determine which particular style of leadership is best suited for the situation.

According to this theory, no leadership style is best in all situations.

Leadership researchers White and Hodgson suggest that truly effective leadership is not just about
the qualities of the leader, it is about striking the right balance between behaviors, needs, and context.
Good leaders are able to assess the needs of their followers, take stock of the situation, and then
adjust their behaviors accordingly. Success depends on a number of variables including the
leadership style, qualities of the followers and aspects of the situation.

4. Situational Theories

Situational theories propose that leaders choose the best course of action based upon situational
variables.

Different styles of leadership may be more appropriate for certain types of decision-making. For
example, in a situation where the leader is the most knowledgeable and experienced member of a
group, an authoritarian style might be most appropriate. In other instances where group members are
skilled experts, a democratic stylewould be more effective.

5. Behavioral Theories

Behavioral theories of leadership are based upon the belief that great leaders are made, not born.
Consider it the flip-side of the Great Man theories. Rooted in behaviorism, this leadership theory
focuses on the actions of leaders, not on mental qualities or internal states. According to this theory,
people can learn to become leaders through teaching and observation.

6. Participative Theories

Participative leadership theories suggest that the ideal leadership style is one that takes the input of
others into account. These leaders encourage participation and contributions from group members
and help group members feel more relevant and committed to the decision-making process. In
participative theories, however, the leader retains the right to allow the input of others.

7. Management Theories

Management theories, also known as transactional theories, focus on the role of supervision,
organization and group performance. These theories base leadership on a system of rewards and
punishments. Managerial theories are often used in business; when employees are successful, they
are rewarded; when they fail, they are reprimanded or punished. Learn more about theories
of transactional leadership.

8. Relationship Theories

Relationship theories, also known as transformational theories, focus upon the connections formed
between leaders and followers. Transformational leadersmotivate and inspire people by helping
group members see the importance and higher good of the task. These leaders are focused on the
performance of group members, but also want each person to fulfill his or her potential. Leaders with
this style often have high ethical and moral standards.