Which leadership style suggests that managers and leaders should change and adapt their style to different circumstances?

Fabio Moioli

Fabio Moioli

Industry Solutions Partners Leader for Western Europe @Microsoft | Forbes Technology Council | Faculty @Harvard BR, SingularityU, MIP, UniMi |…

Published Feb 24, 2020

Situational variables can exert powerful influences over human behavior, more so that we recognize or acknowledge. We know that leadership is very much related to change. As the pace of change accelerates, there is naturally a greater need for effective leadership. No single leadership style is always the best. Instead, it all depends on the situation at hand and which type of leadership and strategies are best-suited to the task. For all these reasons, the most effective leaders are those that are able to adapt their style to the situation and look at cues such as the type of task, the nature of the group, and other factors that might contribute to getting the job done.

Situational leadership theory is often referred to as the Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory, after its developers, Dr. Paul Hersey, author of "The Situational Leader," and Kenneth Blanchard, author of "One-Minute Manager." Hersey and Blanchard suggested that there are four primary leadership styles:

• Telling (S1): In this leadership style, the leader tells people what to do and how to do it.
• Selling (S2): This style involves more back-and-forth between leaders and followers. Leaders "sell" their ideas and message to get group members to buy into the process.
• Participating (S3): In this approach, the leader offers less direction and allows members of the group to take a more active role in coming up with ideas and making decisions.
• Delegating (S4): This style is characterized by a less involved, hands-off approach to leadership. Group members tend to make most of the decisions and take most of the responsibility for what happens.

The right style of leadership depends on many things, including the maturity level (i.e., the level of knowledge and competence) of the individuals or group, where Hersey and Blanchard's theory identifies four different levels of maturity:

• M1: Group members lack the knowledge, skills, and willingness to complete the task.
• M2: Group members are willing and enthusiastic, but lack the ability.
• M3: Group members have the skills and capability to complete the task, but are unwilling to take responsibility.
• M4: Group members are highly skilled and willing to complete the task.

The Hersey-Blanchard model suggests that the following leadership styles are the most appropriate for these maturity levels:

• Low Maturity (M1)—Telling (S1)
• Medium Maturity (M2)—Selling (S2)
• Medium Maturity (M3)—Participating (S3)
• High Maturity (M4)—Delegating (S4)

You can find here a great overview of Hersey and Blanchard’s Leadership Styles frameworks.

Although I strongly appreciate this model, I personally think that there are many other contextual factors that leaders must be aware of when assessing the situation. Leaders need to consider the relationship between the leaders and the members of the group. As a matter of facts, social and interpersonal factors can play a role in determining which approach is best.

In addition, the leader needs to consider the task itself. Tasks can range from simple to complex, but the leader needs to have a clear idea of exactly what the task entails in order to determine if it has been successfully and competently accomplished. Finally, the level of authority the leader has over group members should also be considered, together with the level of maturity of each individual group member and many other people-, task-, and context- related variables.

At the end, leadership is an opportunity to serve, and if we want to serve at best, we must always begin with the people we are serving… i.e. our team.

Eventually, the objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better. Leadership is about movement. Leadership moves people from the known to the unknown.