“The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on
leadership development. There is almost no limit to the potential of an
organization that recruits good people, raises them up as leaders and
continually develops them.” — John C
Maxwell: The 17th Irrefutable Laws of Teamwork (2001, 185)
'Leadership styles' - an important
topic in leadership programs - has received a lot of
attention in the last few
decades. The question that most people are trying to answer is, “What is the
leadership style that a leader has to adopt in order to be successful?” The situational leadership model developed
by Ken Blanchard and Paul Hersey, states that there is no single best style of leadership but that the
leadership style adopted should be dependent on the situation. This model provides
the adaptability that is required in today’s fast-paced and complex business
world.
The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Model rests on two
fundamental concepts – the required leadership style and the individual/
group's maturity levels. Effective leadership is task-relevant, and the most
successful leaders are those who adapt their leadership style as the situation
calls for it.
When a manager has to deal with an employee that is very skilled
but has a negative attitude, the leader has to use the ‘Participative’ style
with the key focus being motivation. If a person has just joined your team and
does not have necessary skills, the leader should use the ‘Telling’ style, as it
will provide the details and the direction needed to learn something new. The
‘one size fits all’ approach does not work anymore and meeting people where
they are at enables them to develop faster. The ‘Selling’ style is used when a
person has low skills as well as an undesirable attitude. Finally, the
‘Delegation’ style is used when your team member has both high skills and a
good attitude.
“The key to
successful leadership today is influence, not authority.” — Kenneth Blanchard, University of Massachusetts, Schatz, Managing
By Influence, (Prentice-Hall, 1986)
Leadership
Training Programs today are
geared towards creating or developing a leader who is not bound by his or her
own personality but is able to adapt and change accordingly to meet the needs
of the company, job or personnel involved. For more information on how
companies go about this process, please refer to the following article - Leadership
Training and Development - What is it about?
MMM Training Solutions conducts soft skills training, executive coaching and leadership training programs for corporates in India and abroad. Please visit our website http://www.mmmts.com to know more about our programs and our trainers.
