Login Form
No need to sign up if you have Facebook!
FULL COURSE PACKAGES
MINI COURSE PACKAGES
![]() |
Communication Skills |
![]() |
Motivating People |
![]() |
Professional Business Writing |
![]() |
Professional Sales Questioning |
![]() |
Sales Forecasting |
![]() |
Ten Best Practice Customer Service Techniques |
COMPLETE PACKAGES
![]() |
Retail Excellence series® |
![]() |
Customer Service Excellence series® |
![]() |
Communication Excellence series® |
![]() |
Sales Excellence series® |
![]() |
Call Center Excellence series® |
![]() |
The Presenter-Trainer Package |

Why buy our training course material packages
|
Great value for a small investment |
![]() |
100% customizable |
|
Standalone modules can easily be added to enliven your training material |
|
Get new ideas for activities, exercises and games |
Fun, competitive review game to end on a high note! |
|
|
Download and get it immediately |
My self assessment results
QUIZ NAME | POINTS |
- Last Updated: Saturday, 03 October 2015 18:50
Blanchard – Hersey Model
What is Situational Leadership?
The Situational Leadership method from Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey holds that managers must use different leadership styles depending on the situation. The model allows you to analyze the needs of the situation you're in, and then use the most appropriate leadership style. Depending on employees' competences in their task areas and commitment to their tasks, your leadership style should vary from one person to another. You may even lead the same person one way sometimes, and another way at other times.
Blanchard and Hersey characterized leadership styles in terms of the amount of direction and of support that the leader gives to his or her followers, and so created a simple matrix as follows :
Situtional Leadership Model Blanchard - Hersey
The Leader’s Behavioral Leadership
• S1 - Telling / Directing - High task focus, low relationship focus - leaders define the roles and tasks of the 'follower', and supervise them closely. Decisions are made by the leader and announced, so communication is largely one-way. For people who lack competence but are enthusiastic and committed. They need direction and supervision to get them started.
• S2 - Selling / Coaching - High task focus, high relationship focus - leaders still define roles and tasks, but seeks ideas and suggestions from the follower. Decisions remain the leader's prerogative, but communication is much more two-way. For people who have some competence but lack commitment. They need direction and supervision because they are still relatively inexperienced. They also need support and praise to build their self-esteem, and involvement in decision-making to restore their commitment.
• S3 - Participating / Supporting - Low task focus, high relationship focus - leaders pass day-to-day decisions, such as task allocation and processes, to the follower. The leader facilitates and takes part in decisions, but control is with the follower. For people who have competence, but lack confidence or motivation. They do not need much direction because of their skills, but support is necessary to bolster their confidence and motivation.
• S4 - Delegating - Low task focus, low relationship focus - leaders are still involved in decisions and problem-solving, but control is with the follower. The follower decides when and how the leader will be involved. For people who have both competence and commitment. They are able and willing to work on a project by themselves with little supervision or support.
Effective leaders are versatile in being able to move around the matrix according to the situation, so there is no style that is always right. However, we tend to have a preferred style, and in applying Situational Leadership you need to know which one that is for you. Likewise, the competence and commitment of the follower can also be distinguished in 4 quadrants.
Development Level of the Follower
• D4 - High Competence, High Commitment - Experienced at the job, and comfortable with their own ability to do it well. May even be more skilled than the leader.
• D3 - High Competence, Variable Commitment - Experienced and capable, but may lack the confidence to go it alone, or the motivation to do it well / quickly.
• D2 - Some Competence, Low Commitment - May have some relevant skills, but won't be able to do the job without help. The task or the situation may be new to them.
• D1 - Low Competence, High Commitment - Generally lacking the specific skills required for the job in hand, but has the confidence and / or motivation to tackle it.
Similar to the leadership styles, the development levels are also situational. A person could be skilled, confident and motivated for one part of his his job, but could be less competent for another part of the job.
Blanchard and Hersey said that the Leadership Style (S1 - S4) of the leader must correspond to the Development level (D1 - D4) of the follower - and it's the leader who adapts. By adopting the right style to suit the follower's development level, work gets done, relationships are built up, and most importantly, the follower's development level will rise to D4, to everyone's benefit.
Steps in the Situational Leadership Process
1. Make an overview per employee of his/her tasks
2. Assess the employee on each task (D1...D4)
3. Decide on the leadership (management) style per task (S1...S4)
4. Discuss the situation with the employee
5. Make a joint plan
6. Follow-up, check and correct
Strengths (Advantages) of the Situational Leadership model.
• Easy to understand
• Easy to use
Limitations (Disadvantages) of the Situational Leadership model.
- Model fails to distinguish between leadership and management. What is called leadership style is really management style.
- Leadership is not primarily about making decisions anyway - it is about inspiring people to change direction.
- Leaders may indeed vary the way they inspire people to change. But this is when they have already decided on the need to change. Hence leadership style does not reduce to decision making style.
- Focuses too exclusively on what the person in charge does.
Of course both leaders and managers have to behave differently in different situations. But that is just a trivial fact of life, rather than anything profound in terms of our basic understanding of what it means to lead or manage.
Assumptions/Conditions of Situational Leadership.
Leaders should adapt their style to follower 'maturity', based on how ready and willing the follower is to perform required tasks (that is, their competence and motivation).
There are four leadership styles that match the four combinations of high/low readiness and willingness. The four styles suggest that leaders should put greater or less focus on the task in question and/or the relationship between the leader and the follower. Presumes that leadership is about how the boss makes decisions.
Related articles
Communication skills
Rapport = ResultsRapport is the key to success and influence in both your personal and professional life. It's about appreciating and working with differences. Behavioral StylesUnderstanding ...
2013-02-10 13:56:23
Behavior styles
Understanding behavior styles will help you understand your style of behavior and the style of others. It will help you manage relationships in your workplace AND at home. These Behavior Styles are ...
2012-02-02 19:55:11
Giving Proper Feedback
The magic word that helps make feedback easier and creates the best setting for giving difficult feedback is Rapport. If you have good rapport with the person you need to give feedback to, this makes ...
2012-01-31 12:00:35
Overcoming Barriers to communication
Overcoming Barriers to communication There are a number of things you can do to overcome the common barriers to effective communication;1. Think before you speak2. Check understanding3. ...
2012-02-11 10:33:45
Communicate Assertively
Passive Agressive Passive-Agressive Assertive Assertiveness is all about your rights and other people’s rights as well. Developing one’s ...
2012-02-15 12:48:12
Rapport = Results
Rapport = Results Rapport is the key to success and influence in both your personal and professional life. It's about appreciating and working with differences. Rapport makes getting things done ...
2012-02-01 21:18:16
Asking Questions
Asking Questions Questioning allows us to gather information from others. When done skilfully this enables us to really get to the heart of things very quickly. It develops understanding and ...
2012-02-11 11:19:54
Barriers to good communication
Barriers to good communication When the response from the receiver is not what you expected then some of the following barriers may have got in the way of the message. In the Sender• Not ...
2012-02-11 10:16:44
No need to sign up if you have Facebook!
How it works?
|
Choose your training package |
|
Add to shopping cart |
|
Pay using any major debit or credit card or using paypal |
|
You will be taken to a download page to instantly download your purchase (You will also receive your download links by email) |
|
Unzip the file/s and get all your documents in MS office format
|
Training Articles
Professional sales skills & ...
Selling to different personality stylesOne feature of modern, relationship selling is ...
Read detailsPractical presentation ...
Appearance, Attitude & Body Language Usually when we meet a smartly and ...
Read detailsCross-selling & Up-selling
Successful sales people always Cross & Up sell to increase sales AND give the ...
Read detailsGet all available programs and save !!
For only $2995.95
![]() |
+ | ![]() |
30 Full Courses | 6 Mini Courses |
Most Popular Articles
Professional sales skills & ...
Selling to different personality stylesOne feature of modern, relationship selling is ...
Read detailsPractical presentation ...
Appearance, Attitude & Body Language Usually when we meet a smartly and ...
Read detailsCross-selling & Up-selling
Successful sales people always Cross & Up sell to increase sales AND give the ...
Read details