Situational Leadership Source Ken Blanchard Paul Hersey Overview

Situational Leadership Source: Ken Blanchard & Paul Hersey

Overview � What is Situational Leadership? � Leadership � Why Model History is it popular among managers? � Leadership Behaviors & Styles � Development � Practical Levels Examples and Application

What is Situational Leadership? � This is a term that can be applied generically to a style of leadership, but that also refers to a recognized, and useful, leadership model. � In simple terms, a situational leader is one who can adopt different leadership styles depending on the situation.

Activity Situational Leadership Self-Assessment

Leadership Model History � Ken Blanchard and Paul Hersey created a model for Situational Leadership in the late 1960's that allows you to analyze the needs of the situation you're dealing with, and then adopt the most appropriate leadership style.

Why is it popular? � It's proved popular with managers over the years because it passes the two basic tests of such models: it's simple to understand, and it works in most environments for most people. � The model doesn't just apply to people in leadership or management positions: we all lead others at work and at home.

Leadership Behavior � Blanchard and Hersey characterized leadership style in terms of the amount of Direction and of Support that the leader gives to his or her followers, and so created a simple grid Supportive Behavior High S 3: Supporting Praise, Listen, Facilitate For people who have: S 2: Coaching Direct and Support For people who have: • High Competence • Variable Commitment • Able but Unwilling or Insecure D 3 D 2 • Some Competence • Some Commitment • Unable but Willing and/or Motivated S 4: Delegating Turning over responsibility for day-to-day decision making For people who have: S 1: Directing Structure, Control, Supervise For people who have: D 4 D 1 • Low Competence • High Commitment • Unable and Unwilling and/or Insecure • High Competence • High Commitment • Able and Willing and/or Motivated Low Directive Behavior High

S 1: Directing � Directing 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. Structure, Control and Supervise

S 2: Coaching � Coaching 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. Direct and Support

S 3: Supporting � 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. Praise, Listen and Facilitate

S 4: Delegating � Delegating 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. Turning over responsibility for day-to-day decision making

Finding The Right Style � Effective leaders are versatile in being able to move around the grid according to the situation, so there is no one right style. � However, we tend to have a preferred style, and in applying Situational Leadership you need to know which one that is for you.

Developmental Level: The Follower � Clearly the right leadership style will depend very much on the person being led - the follower. � The leader's style should be driven by the Competence and Commitment of the follower based on four levels:

D 4: 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. Able and Willing and/or Motivated

D 3: High Competence - Variable Commitment � Experienced and capable, but may lack the confidence to go it alone, or the motivation to do it well / quickly Able but Unwilling or Insecure

D 2: 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. Unable but Willing and/or Motivated

D 1: Low Competence - Low Commitment � Generally lacking the specific skills required for the job in hand, and lacks any confidence and / or motivation to tackle it. Unable and Unwilling and/or Insecure

Development Levels are Situational Too �I might be generally skilled, confident and motivated in my job, but would still drop into Level D 1 when faced, say, with a task requiring skills I don't possess. � For example, lots of managers are D 4 when dealing with the day-to-day running of their department, but move to D 1 or D 2 when dealing with a sensitive employee issue.

Another Way to look at Follower Development is Readiness 1. Ability § Knowledge § Experience § Skills 2. Willingness § Confidence § Commitment § Motivation 19

Four Levels of Readiness R 1 - Unable and Unwilling or Insecure. R 2 - Unable but Willing or Confident. R 3 - Able but Unwilling or Insecure. R 4 - Able and Willing and Confident. 20

Activity Self-Assessment Scoring

Situational Leadership Types: Examples from Film �Six video clips: �What type of Follower Development / Readiness / Willingness do you see? �What type of Situational Leadership do you see - Directing, Coaching, Supporting, Delegating �Leadership 22 Clips

Film Examples 23 FILM DEVELOPMENT / READINESS AND WILLINGNESS LEVEL Blind Side Able, Unwilling Supporting, Participating (S 3) Sister Act Unable, Willing Coaching, Selling (S 2) Gomer Pyle Unable, Unwilling Directing, Telling (S 1) School of Rock Able, Willing Delegating (S 4) Mc. Farland, USA Able, Unwilling Apollo 13 Able, Willing LEADERSHIP STYLE Supporting, Participating (S 3) Delegating (S 4)

Where is this going? �Blanchard and Hersey said that the Leadership Style (S 1 - S 4) of the leader must correspond to the Development level (D 1 - D 4) 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 D 4, to everyone's benefit.

Individual’s Needs By Development Level D 4: Self Reliant Achiever D 3: Capable but Cautious Contributor • Listen to updates on work • More authority • Your opinion, when asked • New challenges • Acknowledgement of contribution • Autonomy • Sounding board • Your opinion about ideas • Encouragement, vote of confidence • Help looking at skills and results objectively • Good questions about the work being done D 2: Disillusioned Learner D 1: Enthusiastic Beginner • To know WHY he/she is doing this • Clear Goals • Reassurance mistakes are part of learning • Understand Role • Feedback on progress • Training • Praise for making progress • Encouragement • To know who can help • Direction • Priorities • Recognition for transferrable skills • Large amount of feedback on progress done

Scenario #1 As a growing software development company, you recently hired Mary as a new software engineer from the local university. She has experience programming JAVA and using Oracle databases and is a good fit for your next project. During her first week at work, she expresses excitement at the opportunity to work on your products. She is confident in her JAVA programming skills, and wants to learn everything she can as fast as possible. She wants to contribute. � Diagnosis � Goal/Task knowledge? � Transferrable skills? � Motivation? � Confidence? � What is Mary’s development level? D 1

Scenario #2 Jim was a successful scrum master with the 4 person CRM development team. Due to his success with promoting Agile practices and Scrum with his team, Jim was transitioned to a new development team with 6 team members that he had not worked with before. His team is chartered with building a Data Warehouse to support Sales. Jim is excited at the opportunity to meet new people and work on a new project but he is concerned because he does not have experience with building a Data Warehouse. � Diagnosis � Goal/Task knowledge? � Transferrable skills? � Motivation? � Confidence? � What is Jim’s development level? D 3

Scenario #3 Tim is a QA team member on your Scrum team. You are working with the team to begin utilizing ATDD and automated integration testing with Fitnesse. At first Tim was open and willing to trying it. But after spending 2 iterations trying to setup the framework and working with Jennifer on writing scenarios and acceptance tests, he is frustrated and is now rebelling. He is saying, “This isn’t going to work! We can’t get it working. Our stories and tests aren’t making sense. I just don’t see how this is going to help us. ” � Diagnosis � Goal/Task knowledge? � Transferrable skills? � Motivation? � Confidence? � What is Tim’s development level? D 2

Scenario #4 Julie is a very accomplished architect in your group. She has been leading the technology transition to the next platform for your service. She has been teaching fellow engineers new technology concepts, driving significant improvements in design, and is the glue that keeps the group together. You can give her new goals and she delivers. And she has brought new goals and strategies to the team and delivered those as well. � Diagnosis � Goal/Task knowledge? � Transferrable skills? � Motivation? � Confidence? � What is Julie’s development level? D 4

Leadership Behaviors S 4 – Delegating � Empowers the individual to act independently with appropriate resources to get the job done S 3 - Supporting S 2 – Coaching S 1 – Directing • Leader and • Explains why, • Provides individual make solicits direction about decisions suggestions, goals shows together. praises and tells how, Leader’s role is behaviors that closely tracks to facilitate, are the individual’s listen, draw out, approximately performance in encourage, and right, and order to provide support. continues to frequent direct goal or feedback on task results. accomplishment. There is no “best” leadership style just the right one at the right time.

Scenario #1 As a growing software development company, you recently hired Mary as a new software engineer from the local university. She has experience programming JAVA and using Oracle databases and is a good fit for your next project. During her first week at work, she expresses excitement at the opportunity to work on your products. She is confident in her JAVA programming skills, and wants to learn everything she can as fast as possible. She wants to contribute. � Mary’s development level is D 1. � What leadership style matches Mary’s level? � What do you do to help Mary? S 1

Scenario #2 Jim was a successful scrum master with the 4 person CRM development team. Due to his success with promoting Agile practices and Scrum with his team, Jim was transitioned to a new development team with 6 team members that he had not worked with before. His team is chartered with building a Data Warehouse to support Sales. Jim is excited at the opportunity to meet new people and work on a new project but he is concerned because he does not have experience with building a Data Warehouse. � Jim’s development level is D 3. � What leadership style matches Jim’s level? � What do you do to help Jim? S 3

Scenario #3 Tim is a QA team member on your Scrum team. You are working with the team to begin utilizing ATDD and automated integration testing with Fitnesse. At first Tim was open and willing to trying it. But after spending 2 iterations trying to setup the framework and working with Jennifer on writing scenarios and acceptance tests, he is frustrated and is now rebelling. He is saying, “This isn’t going to work! We can’t get it working. Our stories and tests aren’t making sense. I just don’t see how this is going to help us. ” � Tim’s development level is D 2. � What leadership style matches Tim’s level? � What do you do to help Tim? S 2

Scenario #4 Julie is a very accomplished architect in your group. She has been leading the technology transition to the next platform for your service. She has been teaching fellow engineers new technology concepts, driving significant improvements in design, and is the glue that keeps the group together. You can give her new goals and she delivers. And she has brought new goals and strategies to the team and delivered those as well. � Julie’s development level is D 4. � What leadership style matches Julie’s level? � What do you do to help Julie? S 4

Situational Leadership Grid Supportive Behavior High S 3: Supporting S 2: Coaching Praise, Listen, Facilitate Direct and Support For people who have/are: D 3 • High Competence • Variable Commitment • Able but Unwilling or Insecure D 2 • Some Competence • Some Commitment • Unable but Willing and/or Motivated S 4: Delegating S 1: Directing Turning over Responsibility for Day-to-Day Decision Making Structure, Control, Supervise For people who have/are: D 4 • High Competence • High Commitment • Able and Willing and/or Motivated Low For people who have/are: D 1 • Low Competence • High Commitment • Unable and Unwilling and/or Insecure Directive Behavior High

Summary � What is Situational Leadership? � Leadership Model History � Why is it popular among managers? � Leadership Behaviors & Styles � Development Levels � Practical Examples and Application