Situational Leadership Revisited

I was recently reminded how some of the best solutions are also the simplest whilst working with a client.
The client runs has a small business and was getting increasingly frustrated by their inability to get his team to achieve things to his high standards. Some of his team were new to the business, whilst others had been with him for several years. It's a story I've head repeated many times by managers over the years and when I do, there's a tried and tested tool in my toolbox which I find helps a lot...
Situational Leadership II (SLII) is a model developed by Ken Blanchard, which extends on the work he did with Paul Hersey in 1970’s. SLII is a process for developing people by providing effective leadership over time so that they can reach their highest level of performance. It is based upon a relationship between and individual’s development level on a specific goal or task, and the leadership style that the leader provides.
A person’s performance in a given task is based on two elements:
1. Competence (Can Do) – made up of their demonstrated skills and transferable
skills; and
2. Commitment (Will DO) – made up of their motivation and confidence
The Four Stages of Development in SLII
1. D1: Low Competence, High Commitment – They generally lack the specific skills
required for the job in hand. However, they are eager to learn and willing to
take direction.
2. D2: Some Competence, Low Commitment – They 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.
3. D3: High Competence, Variable Commitment – They are experienced and capable,
but may lack the confidence to go it alone, or the motivation to do it well or
quickly.
4. D4: High Competence, High Commitment – They are experienced at the job, and
comfortable with their own ability to do it well. They may even be more skilled
than the leader.
Diagnosing Development Level
Your job as a SLII leader is to diagnose the development level of your team for each of their key goals and tasks and then adjust your leadership style to suit their development level. Once we have this information, your role is to be flexible in changing your leadership style to suit the development level.
SLII Leadership Styles
Leadership is made up of main styles of behaviours
1. Directive Behaviours - to build competence by showing a person how to complete
tasks
2. Supportive Behaviours - to build commitment by building motivation and
confidence.
These behaviour combine to form the four leadership styles of SLII:

1. S1 Directing style – High level of direction from team leader; typically with
low support behaviour towards staff member
2. S2 Coaching style – Medium to high level of direction from team leader;
typically with medium to high support behaviour towards staff member
3. S3 Supporting style – Medium to Low level of direction from team leader;
typically with high support behaviour towards staff member
4. S4 Delegating style – Low level of direction from team leader; typically low
support behaviour towards staff member.
Simply put, the leadership style are used in conjunction with the stage of development the person is at - i.e. S1 with D1, S2 with D2, S3 with D3 and S4 with D4.
Of course, this is a very basic overview of the SLII model, I've condensed a two-day development program into a few words, but I hope that you can already start to recognize the simplicity and power of the model. If you'd like more information, do contact me or take the time to read Ken Blanchard's excellent book ~ Leading at a Higher Level: Blanchard on Leadership and Creating High Performing Organizations
In the meantime, my client has started a program of short monthly development sessions with me and you can be sure that he's already implementing his new SLII skills.
Onwards & Upwards!

John Belchamber
Tel: (07) 3102 4709
Mob: 0406 547 914
Skype: john_belchamber
Web: http://www.invokeresults.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/InvokeResults
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