1Northouse – Leadership Theory and Practice, Eighth E.docx

1
Northouse – Leadership: Theory and Practice, Eighth Edition ©
2019 SAGE Publishing, Inc.
Situational Approach
Chapter 5
Northouse, Leadership 8e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.
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2
Overview
Situational approach perspective
Leadership styles
Developmental levels
How does the situational approach work?
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Situational Approach Description
(Hersey & Blanchard, 1969)
Focuses on leadership in situations
Emphasizes adapting style--different situations demand
different kinds of leadership
Used extensively in organizational leadership training and
development
“Leaders match their style to the competence and commitment
of subordinates”
Perspective
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Situational Approach Description, cont’d
(Hersey & Blanchard, 1969)
Composed of both a directive dimension and supportive
dimension:
Each dimension must be applied appropriately in a given
situation
Leaders evaluate employees to assess their competence and
commitment to perform a given task
Definition
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5
Leadership Styles
Leadership style--the behavior pattern of an individual who
attempts to influence others
It includes both:
Directive (task) behaviors
Supportive (relationship) behaviors
Definition
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6
Directive behaviors--Help group members in goal achievement
via one-way communication through:
Giving directions
Establishing goals and how to achieve them
Methods of evaluation and time lines
Defining roles
Dimension Definition
Leadership Styles
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Supportive behaviors--Assist group members via two-way
communication in feeling comfortable with themselves,
coworkers, and situation
Asking for input
Problem solving
Praising, listening
Dimension Definitions
Leadership Styles
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S1--Directing Style
Leader focuses communication on goal achievement
Spends LESS time using supportive behaviors
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S2--Coaching Style
Leader focuses communication on BOTH goal achievement and
supporting subordinates’ socioemotional needs
Requires leader involvement through encouragement and
soliciting subordinate input
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S3--Supporting Style
Leader does NOT focus solely on goals; uses supportive
behaviors to bring out employee skills in accomplishing tasks
Leader delegates day-to-day decision-making control but is
available to facilitate problem solving
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S4--Delegating Style
Leader offers LESS task input and social support; facilitates
subordinates’ confidence and motivation in relation to the task
Leader lessens involvement in planning, control of details, and

goal clarification
Gives subordinates control and refrains from intervention and
unneeded social support
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Development Levels
The degree to which followers have the competence and
commitment necessary to accomplish a given task or activity
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How Does the Situational Approach Work?
Focus of situational approach
Strengths
Criticisms
Application
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Situational Approach
Assumes that subordinates vacillate along the developmental
continuum of competence and commitment
Leader effectiveness depends on:
assessing subordinate’s developmental position, and
adapting his/her leadership style to match subordinate
developmental level
“The situational approach requires leaders to demonstrate a
strong degree of flexibility.”
Focus
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Using SLII model--In any given situation the leader has two
tasks:
1st Task
2nd Task
Diagnose the Situation
Identify the developmental level of employee
Ask questions like:
What is the task subordinates are being asked to perform?
How complicated is it?

What is their skill set?
Do they have the desire to complete the job?
Adapt Style
To prescribed Leadership style in the SLII model
Leadership style must correspond to the employee’s
development level
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Employee’s Developmental Level
Competence
Commitment
Leader’s Leadership Style
Directive
Supportive
Growing cross cultural and technical influences in society
Most frequently used style is high supportive, low directive
Least frequently used style is high directive, low supportive
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Strengths
Marketplace approval. Situational leadership is perceived as
providing a credible model for training employees to become
effective leaders.
Practicality. Situational leadership is a straightforward approach
that is easily understood and applied in a variety of settings.
Prescriptive value. Situational leadership clearly outlines what
you should and should not do in various settings.
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Leader flexibility. Situational leadership stresses that effective
leaders are those who can change their styles based on task
requirements and subordinate needs.
Differential treatment. Situational leadership is based on the
premise that leaders need to treat each subordinate according to
his/her unique needs.
Strengths
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Criticisms
Lack of an empirical foundation raises theoretical
considerations regarding the validity of the approach.
Further research is required to determine how commitment and
competence are conceptualized for each developmental level.
Model has more predictive power when leader and follower
perceptions of competence and commitment match.
Conceptualization of commitment itself and why it varies is
very unclear. Replication studies fail to support basic
prescriptions of situational leadership model.
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Criticisms
Does not account for how particular demographics influence the
leader-subordinate prescriptions of the model. For example,
experienced employees prefer less directive leadership.
Fails to adequately address the issue of one-to-one versus group
leadership in an organizational setting.
Questionnaires are biased in favor of situational leadership.
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Application
Often used in consulting because it’s easy to conceptualize and
apply.
Straightforward nature makes it practical for managers to apply.
Breadth of situational approach facilitates its applicability in
virtually all types of organizations and levels of management in
organizations.
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Justifying your
Solution
and Implementation Plan
1. Share with your group members what the problem is that
you’re solving and what solution you’ll propose to solve that
problem. Be as specific as possible, like what ideas you’re
taking from where to get to this solution.

2. They will play the skeptic and deliberately try to object to
parts of your solution. Remember that being able to answer
these questions will only strengthen the solution and enhance
your credibility.
a. The group could object to the proposed ease of converting the
solution from a small country to the state level with not enough
obvious changes.
b. The group could maybe think of a different solution and
wonder why that’s not the best one.
c. The group could think it’s a bit challenging to solve the
problem at this particular level and ask the author to justify
solving it at this particular level.
3. Take two of their objections to the solution and write them
down. Think about and write out how you will address them
4. Now, share the specific implementation plan with group
members. Be as specific as possible when mentioning the
logistics of the plan such as money, resources, time, etc.
5. Your group members will do the same thing and think of
weak spots to address in the plan. Maybe the costs seem high,
maybe there needs to be specific leadership mentioned, perhaps
there needs to be more details about how to obtain the necessary

building permits.
6. Take two of their objections to the plan and write them down.
Think about and write out how you will address them.
7. Post the objections and refutations to the solution and the
plan in a journal entry.
8. Continue working on your outline with remaining time.

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