Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard developed the model of Situational Leadership. According to the model, various leadership styles are applied depending on the readiness level of the people the leader is attempting to influence.

Situational Leadership is based on the interplay of:

	The amount of guidance and direction a leader gives.
	The amount of relationship support a leader provides.
	The readiness level of direct reports in performing a specific task or achieving an objective.

Daniel Goleman in his book Leadership That Gets Results, Daniel Coleman refers to the fact that one needs to change your style of leadership according to the situation. Coleman identified six leadership styles:

DO WHAT I TELL YOU

Goleman calls this the "coercive" style of leadership and it is the least effective of the six. Nobody likes to be controlled, but it can get people moving quickly when you need to get out of a crisis.

DO AS I DO, NOW!

The "pace-setting" style is the second least effective. This leader is obsessed with doing things better and faster, but unfortunately doesn’t set clear and concise expectations. As a result, responsibility and initiative disappears. Pacesetting can be effective with highly motivated, competent teams, if used with other leadership styles.

TRY THIS

In this "coaching" style of leadership, leaders help employees identify their strengths and weaknesses, offer lots of feedback and delegate challenging assignments to help people grow. The leader's focus is on long-term results while the employee's focus is on growth. Coaching delivers solid short-term payoffs, because staff will rise to the leader’s expectations.

WHAT DO YOU THINK

This is the "democratic" style of leadership in which leaders build trust and commitment by inviting ideas and buy-in. Morale and productivity will rise. This style of leadership may take longer to get results. Leaders may use this style because they fear taking responsibility for making decisions.

HOW DO YOU FEEL?

The "affiliative" style. The leader is concerned with his staff’s emotional well being and therefore offers a lot of praise. He/she gives staff greater freedom in performing their duties. The result is fierce loyalty. This style is highly effective for building teams, trust and morale, but it can leave some workers feeling leaderless, so it is best used it in combination with the authoritative style.

LET’S DO THIS TOGETHER

This is the "authoritative" (not authoritarian!) style of leadership. Authoritative leaders state a clear vision for their people and motivate them by demonstrating that their work is an absolute necessity to that vision. People realise their purpose in the organisation and are very likely to achieve their goals since they and are given so much flexibility. The authoritative style of leadership is the most positive of all styles, but the leader needs to be more experienced than his team.

The most effective leaders know how to change their style of leadership to fit the situation for maximum results.

By Elsabé Manning

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