Situational Leadership

Purposes of Situational Leadership
1. Open up communication—increase the frequency and quality of conversations about performance and development between you your people 2. Help people develop competence and commitment

Situational Leadership 2

Learning Objectives
• Be able to diagnose others’ development levels and choose the appropriate leadership style

Situational Leadership 3

Training Alignment
SLAC Leadership Competencies • Leading and Developing Others • Making Decisions Effectively • Building / Maintaining Relationships • Drive for Results

Situational Leadership 4

People Challenges
• List

Situational Leadership 5

Assessment: What We Learned

Situational Leadership 6

Style Diagnosis: Improvement Guidance

Situational Leadership 7

Three Skills of a Situational Leader
• Diagnosis—assessing development needs • Flexibility—using a variety of leadership styles comfortably • Partnering for Performance—reaching agreements with others about the leadership style they need

Situational Leadership 8

Leadership
• Leadership is an influence process • When you are a leader, you work with others to accomplish their goals and the goals of the organization

Situational Leadership 9

Leadership Style
• The pattern of behaviors you use with others, over time, as perceived by them

• Is there a best leadership style?

Situational Leadership 10

Beliefs and Values about People
• People can and want to develop • Leadership is a partnership • People value involvement and communication

Situational Leadership 11

Diagnosis
• The willingness and ability to look at a situation and assess others’ development needs in order to decide which leadership style is the most appropriate for the goal or task at hand

Situational Leadership 12

Development Level
• Competence • Commitment

Situational Leadership 13

Competence: Can Do
• Demonstrated goal- or task-specific knowledge and skills • Transferable knowledge and skills • How would you know someone has taskspecific knowledge and skills (competence)? – page 17 – Leader’s Guide

Situational Leadership 14

Diagnosis Questions
1. What is the specific goal or task? 2. How strong or good are the individual’s demonstrated task knowledge and skills on the goal or task? 3. How strong or good are the individual’s transferable skills? 4. How motivated, interested, or enthusiastic is the individual? 5. How confident or self-assured is the individual?

Situational Leadership 15

Commitment: Want to Do
• Motivation • Confidence
– How would you know someone had commitment, motivation or confidence? • page 18 – Leader’s Guide

Situational Leadership 16

Quadrant: Employee plus Task

Situational Leadership 17

Development Level 1
• D1—Low competence and high commitment

Situational Leadership 18

Development Level Descriptors
D1
– – – – – – – – – Hopeful Inexperienced Curious New/unskilled Optimistic Excited Eager Enthusiastic Don’t know what they don’t know Situational Leadership 19

The Needs of a D1
• Acknowledgement of enthusiasm and transferable skills • Clear goals and roles • Priorities • Action plans • Information • Boundaries and limits • Step-by-step plan for learning • Direction about what and how • Frequent feedback on progress • Concrete examples Situational Leadership 20

Development Level 2
• D1—Low competence and high commitment • D2—Low to some competence and low commitment

Situational Leadership 21

Development Level Descriptors
D2
– – – – – – – – – – Overwhelmed Confused Demotivated Demoralized Frustrated Disillusioned Discouraged Still learning Inconsistent performance Flashes of competence Situational Leadership 22

The Needs of a D2
– – – – – – – – – – Involvement in clarifying goals and action plans Perspective that progress is being made Assurance that it’s okay to make mistakes Explanations of why Opportunities to share concerns and be heard Reassurance Advice Coaching to build skills Help in analyzing successes and mistakes Praise for progress Situational Leadership 23

Development Level 3
• D1—Low competence and high commitment • D2—Low to some competence and low
commitment • D3—Moderate to high competence and variable commitment

Situational Leadership 24

Development Level Descriptors
D3 • Mostly self-directed and productive • Capable • Contributing • Self-critical • Cautious • Doubtful • Insecure • Tentative/unsure/hesitant • Bored/apathetic

Situational Leadership 25

The Needs of a D3
• A sounding board to test ideas • Good questions to build self-reliant problem solving skills • Praise for high levels of competence and performance • The opportunity to take the lead in goal setting and action planning • Encouragement and support • Help in removing obstacles to goal achievement • Help in looking at past successes and skills objectively to build confidence

Situational Leadership 26

Development Level 4
• D1—Low competence and high commitment • D2—Low to some competence and low commitment • D3—Moderate to high competence and variable commitment • D4—High competence and high commitment

Situational Leadership 27

Development Level Descriptors
D4 • Justifiably confident • Consistently competent • Inspired/inspires others • Expert • Autonomous • Self-assured • Accomplished • Self-reliant/self-directed • May be asked to take on too much

Situational Leadership 28

The Needs of a D4
• • • • • Trust Variety and challenge Autonomy Opportunities to teach and mentor others Acknowledged/to be valued for contributions

Situational Leadership 29

Flexibility
• The ability to use a variety of leadership styles comfortably

Situational Leadership 30

Directive Behavior
• The extent to which a leader
– Sets goals and clarifies expectations – Tells and shows an individual what to do, when, and how to do it – Closely supervises, monitors, and evaluates performance

Situational Leadership 31

Directive Behavior
• • • • • Structure Organize Teach Supervise Evaluate

Situational Leadership 32

Supportive Behavior
• The extent to which a leader
– Engages in more two-way communication – Listens and provides support and encouragement – Involves the other person in decision making – Encourages and facilitates self-reliant problem solving

Situational Leadership 33

Supportive Behavior
• • • • • Ask for input Listen Facilitate problem solving Explain why Encourage

Situational Leadership 34

The Four Leadership Styles

Situational Leadership 35

Leader Behavior
• In all four styles, the leader
– Makes sure goals and expectations are clear – Observes and monitors performance – Gives feedback

Situational Leadership 36

The Situational Leadership Model

Situational Leadership 37

A Leader Has Three Choices
• Match • Over supervise • Under supervise
– Consequences of over-supervising? Undersupervising?

Situational Leadership 38

Case Studies
• Page 27 Participant Workbook • Page 74 Leader Guide

Situational Leadership 39

Style Flexibility

Situational Leadership 40

Your Style is….

Situational Leadership 41

Style Effectiveness

Situational Leadership 42

Areas to Strengthen

Situational Leadership 43

Diagnosing Development Level

Situational Leadership 44

Summary
• Match leadership style to employee needs • Develop competency and commitment so employee is more self-motivated – It’s a daily job as people grow in small increments

Situational Leadership 45

Bring It On Home
Name Frank Frank Maria Maria Tasks Install XYZ Train subs New report Emp Level D2 D4 D1 Current Style S3 S3 S4 S2 Try S2 S4 S1 S3

System testing D3

Situational Leadership 46

Idea Hunting
Find Leadership Enlightenment Through the Wonderful World of Stanford Libraries Databases and E-Journals Situational Leadership
– Situational Leaders: Use the Model in your work – Situational Leadership-Adapt your style to their development level – Recognition and Situational Leadership II

Idea Hunting? The SLAC Library staff can be your guides. We’ll talk with you and walk with you through the fantastic databases and ejournals available through SearchWorks, The S.U. Libraries catalog. Contact us today. We’ll be happy to come by your office to give you an overview. [email protected] x2411

Look Smarter, Feel Smarter, Be Smarter: In 3 Pages or Less: 10 Minutes per Week The SLAC Research Library is a Stanford University Coordinate Library You The Leader in 47

Thank You