Situational Leadership is a critical technique for any Leader while Scientific Organisation Capability Maturity Level indicates the habituated Culture and Leadership style and practice. Successful Organisation Change and Development requires calibrated actions to assure sustainable traction and the adoption of a situational leadership style appropriate to moving the organistion up a Maturity Level (Skipping levels leads to failure). The paper looks at how to combine Situational Leadership with Dynamic Systems Maturity Theory for better Transformation, Change & Improvement Outcomes in Organisations.

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Situational Leadership® & Dynamic Systems Maturity Theory™
Situational leadership refers to when the leader or manager of an organization must adjust his style
to fit the development level of the followers he is trying to influence. With situational leadership, it
is up to the leader to change his style, not the follower to adapt to the leader's style
Situational Leadership is applied to both dealing with individuals and groups.
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.
Hersey and Blanchard characterized leadership style in terms of the amount of task behaviour and
relationship behaviour that the leader provides to their followers. The 4 Styles are as follows:
Telling Selling Participating Delegating
Individuals lack the
specific skills required
for the job in hand and
they are willing to
work at the task. They
are novice but
enthusiastic.
Individuals are more
able to do the task;
however, they are
demotivated for this
job or task. Unwilling
to do the task.
Individuals are
experienced and able
to do the task but lack
the confidence or the
willingness to take on
responsibility.
Individuals are experienced
at the task, and
comfortable with their own
ability to do it well. They
are able and willing to not
only do the task, but to
take responsibility for the
task.
Selecting the right Leadership Style, depends on the Maturity Level of the Person or People or their
Performance Readiness. The following Table offers the standard descriptions of their simple
classifications of levels of Maturity:
High Moderate Low
Very capable and
confident
Capable but unwilling Unable but confident Unable and insecure
Individuals are
experienced at the
task, and comfortable
with their own ability
to do it well. They are
able and willing to
not only do the task,
but to take
responsibility for the
task.
Individuals are
experienced and able
to do the task but lack
the confidence or the
willingness to take on
responsibility.
Individuals are more
able to do the task;
however, they are
demotivated for this
job or task. Unwilling
to do the task.
Individuals lack the
specific skills
required for the job in
hand and they are
willing to work at the
task. They are novice
but enthusiastic.
Situational Leadership® as developed by Hersey and Blanchard, is typically one of the Management
& Leadership Techniques that managers usually learn in either Management Education or
Developmental Training. Situational Leadership® and related content are the registered trademark
and copyright of Leadership Studies Inc.

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Dynamic Systems Maturity Theory™ (DSMT) subsequently developed by Dr. Myles Sweeney
identified 7 Levels of Maturity incorporating 15 discreet Maturity Phases that are normative and
common to the development of all levels of socio-economic system – people, organizations and
economies. Diagnosis shows where on the hierarchy Critical Capabilities have Habituated or got
stuck.
They determine the Performance and Change Capability for the measured organisation, as well as
the Culture and the current leadership style.
Dynamic Systems Maturity Theory™ (DSMT) is a peer-reviewed scientific means for understanding
and improving Organisation Systems. How they function? Why they perform at a specific level? The
Nature of their Culture and the Learning & Development Process.
The Organisation Capability Maturity Framework™ (OrgCMF™) operationalises DSMT as 7 working
levels for practical user-friendly application of the theory to any organisation.
Because Organisational learning and improvement is a sequential and cumulative development
process, the guidance given by the OrgCMF™ tool for Leaders to move their organisation to the next
higher level, reflects the style they must adopt and a change from the style that is effective at the
current measured (assessed) level of maturity. What we see is that within the Situational Leadership

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4 Styles there are sub-styles or techniques that are specifically relevant to effecting change, learning
and motivation at each of the OrgCMF™ 7 Maturity Levels (In fact, there can be up to 14 if we apply
Dynamic Systems Maturity Theory).
Since DSMT equally applies to individuals, it can be said that the ideal leader for Situational
Leadership is a person who has themselves matured to the highest Regenerative Level which in
effect means, that they are experienced and competent with the demands of people and
organizations at the different Levels. This simply means that they can be decisive, plan, take charge
in a crisis, delegate, on-board people emotionally, challenge people, manage through process and
procedure, learn and lead learning from the changes in the market and broader world, manage
innovation and collaboration, lead with Integrity and be a source of Regenerative Leadership
through Coaching people, managing spin-offs or disruption in the marketplace, etc.
If a Leader fails to adapt their style to the situation and the development of improvement, then the
organisation system or sub-system gets stuck at the maturity level that reflects that style or inverts
to it eventually.
The Organisation Capability Maturity Framework™ (OrgCMF™) is the Body of Knowledge, Reference
Model, Techniques & Tools that enable Organisations to apply DSMT to improve their functioning
level (Learning or Maturity Level) in line with their aims and ambitions and to improve the success
potential for any changes or transformation.
This Research and the OrgCMF™ Reference Model take a more scientific approach to Situational
Leadership based on its new knowledge and understanding of people and organisations as learning
systems – in particular, how they habituate; the forces that cause inversion to lower levels; the
multi-level nature of leadership; what the optimal leadership looks like for the leader, its people and
the organization itself; what sustainable turnaround – i.e., from the lowest Level looks like; the levels
that are needed before the system is self-learning, self-organizing; etc., etc., etc., and how this all
plays out for each Critical Capability.
It considers not only the transactional situation but in the context of the overall maturity of the
organisation or organisation unit in question.
By measuring an Organisation or its sub-units for their Capability Maturity Level on the DSMT-based
normative Maturity Scale of 7 through on-line assessment, the leader can gain a greater
understanding of what determines why the organisation functions as it does (Its performance,
behaviours and outcomes) , what level of, and rate of change it can absorb based on its measured
maturity and more importantly the Leadership Style and specific action guidance for each
Organisation (unit), and the related Specific Capabilities of concern as recommended from the
OrgCMF™ Body of Knowledge for Capabilities which are grouped as ‘Dynamics’ – e.g., the
Capabilities of the Work Dynamic include Feedback, Autonomy, etc., (from Job Characteristics
Theory) Technology, etc.
Furthermore, OrgCMF yields qualitative data on reasons why the organization is operating at its
diagnosed Maturity Level, so the change process can redress the pertaining specific pathogenic
problems in prescribed developmental steps.
In effect, if a leader wishes to take an organisation that might heretofore be defined through
Situational Leadership as ‘Unable and insecure’ (which could relate to any of the lower 5 DSMT
phases) to the level of ‘Very capable and confident’ (which could relate to any of the higher 6 DSMT
Phases of High Org. Capability Maturity), then using the OrgCMF™ Reference Model, Body of

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Knowledge and Maturity Assessment Tool gives by far the most valid step by step roadmap,
outlining the effective style and specific actions for change at each diagnostic Mode: Organizational
(M1), Dynamic(M2) or Construct Capability(M3) for any organisation and its context.
##Summary
• Leaders must adapt their style to the specific situation based on the maturity of an individual
or group.
• Leaders who don’t adapt or have limited adaption capability, tend to stick with their natural
style.
• Leaders who have higher levels of experience and maturity are able to adapt their style to
each situation.
• An organisations culture can be stuck at a negative level which lacks strength and
distinctness (unless negative distinctness) based on a Leader who is stuck on what may be
their natural style.
• A High Maturity Leader will adopt the style appropriate to moving the individual, group or
organisation from its currently measured Maturity Level to the next Level up, which when
reached will require incremental style adjustment to continue each upward step up in
Maturity.