Situational leadership theory

The Situational Leadership® Model is a model developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard, while working on Management of Organizational Behavior. The theory was first introduced as "Life Cycle Theory of Leadership". During the mid-1970s, "Life Cycle Theory of Leadership" was renamed "Situational Leadership Model."

In the late 1970s/early 1980s, the authors both developed their own models using the situational leadership theory; Hersey - Situational Leadership Model and Blanchard et al. Situational Leadership II Model.

The fundamental underpinning of the Situational Leadership Model is that there is no single "best" style of leadership. Effective leadership is task-relevant, and the most successful leaders are those who adapt their leadership style to the Performance Readiness (ability and willingness) of the individual or group they are attempting to lead or influence. Effective leadership varies, not only with the person or group that is being influenced, but it also depends on the task, job or function that needs to be accomplished.

The Situational Leadership Model rests on two fundamental concepts; leadership style and the individual or group's Performance Readiness level.

Hersey and Blanchard characterized leadership style in terms of the amount of Task Behavior and Relationship Behavior that the leader provides to their followers. They categorized all leadership styles into four behavior types, which they named S1 to S4:

Of these, no one style is considered optimal for all leaders to use all the time. Effective leaders need to be flexible, and must adapt themselves according to the situation.

The right leadership style will depend on the person or group being led. The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory identified four levels of maturity M1 through M4:

Maturity levels are also task-specific. A person might be generally skilled, confident and motivated in their job, but would still have a maturity level M1 when asked to perform a task requiring skills they don't possess.

A good leader develops "the competence and commitment of their people so they’re self-motivated rather than dependent on others for direction and guidance." According to Hersey's book, a leader’s high, realistic expectation causes high performance of followers; a leader’s low expectations lead to low performance of followers. According to Ken Blanchard, "Four combinations of competence and commitment make up what we call 'development level.'"

In order to make an effective cycle, a leader needs to motivate followers properly.

Hersey and Blanchard continued to iterate on the original theory until 1977 when they mutually agreed to run their respective companies. In the late 1970s, Hersey changed the name from Situational Leadership Theory to "Situational Leadership", and Blanchard offered Situational Leadership Theory as "A Situational Approach to Managing People". Blanchard and his colleagues continued to iterate and revise A Situational Approach to Managing People, and in 1985 introduced Situational Leadership II (SLII).

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