Situational leadership theory suggests that there is no single best style of leadership. Its fundamental principal is that the most effective leader adapts their style of leadership on the basis of current climate of their company and on the development of their employees.
In this way, it is all up to the leader to change the way they approach leading to match the company conditions, not the other way around. Hence by definition, it is literally a situational approach to leadership. And this is why situational leadership training is of great significance for business organizations.
What is Situational Leadership?
Situational leadership had gained grounds because it adapts itself well to the unpredictable business world. In order for companies to stay out of debt today, it is significant that their management style and structure meets the demands of our contemporary commercial culture. This has led to the increased importance of situational leadership training within business organizations.
Today, constant technological advancements, industry trends and challenging competition need a situational leadership model, if the company wants to remain up to date. Situational leadership models are commonly referred to as a ‘contingency approach’ because the effectiveness of a manager’s leadership is contingent on how exactly they pair their style of leadership with the right setting and change it accordingly to suit the situation.
Characteristics of Situational Leadership
Since situational leadership is based on a number of different situations, there are several characteristics that a situational leader possesses. Following are some of the characteristics of situational leadership training:
- Supervising
Situational leadership will be high on the ‘directive’ aspect when juniors are not sufficiently developed and require regular supervision. Here, the leader provides specific guidance about the goals, and exactly how the goals need to be achieved.
- Coaching
If the situation demands so, the leader will also coach the team. This is an extension of the supervising approach, the leader still provides detailed instructions but they also focus on motivating the subordinates, seeking inputs, and explaining as why they have made some decisions.
- Taking Part
The situational leader might try to advice a team to be more independent in performing tasks by enabling them to take the routine choices.
- Delegating
When dealing with highly competent team, the situational leader will slowly and gradually minimize their supervision and involvement in the quotidian activities of the team members.
- Honesty
The situational leader does not change their approach in order to seek advantage of the situation. They simply adapt in a way that is most suitable considering factors like the maturity level of followers, the organizational structure and culture, together with the goals achieved.
- Determination
It requires a lot of courage for any leader to try out different leadership approaches and figure out the perfect one. Most leaders stick on to a particular way of doing things, but situational leadership is courageous enough to take chances and to adopt a completely different leadership style if the situation demands for it.
What are the Advantages of Situational Leadership?
The primary advantage of situational leadership is that the model is easy to understand and use. When leaders effectively adapt their leadership style to their followers’ needs, work gets done, relationships are built up, and basically, the followers’ developmental level rises, to everyone’s advantage.
Situational leadership has become one of the most widely used leadership models in the world because it actually helps improve employee commitment and increase employee retention. Different situations need different types of leadership, even with the same employee. Majority of leaders use only one style of leadership, irrespective of what the situation is.
It is an adjustable model that helps make sure that employees get enough support and encouragement, and don’t feel over-managed. The fundamental objective of every leader should be to boost the advancement, development, and motivation of their team members, and situational leadership helps simplify that process.
Are you ready to conduct situational leadership training in your organization?
