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Chapter 7
Situational Leadership®
Chapter Overview
The diagnostic ability of a leader is tremendously important, yet there are so many
variables that managers cannot hope to evaluate every possibility before making
decisions. Equally as important is the ability to vary leadership style to meet the demands
of the environment. Situational Leadership® provides a valuable approach to this problem
by focusing on the two most critical situational variables – the leader and the follower(s).
This approach has proven to be a valuable framework of practical value to managers
around the world for five decades.
Chapter Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, each student should be able to:
1. Diagram and explain the basic concept of the Situational Leadership® Model
2. Define task and relationship behaviors
Key Terms and Concepts
Situational Leadership®
Situational Leadership® provides leaders with a framework for determining and
understanding the relationship between the performance readiness of followers and the
most effective leadership style for that situation.
Followers in any situation are vital because they can individually accept or reject the
leader and because they determine, as a group, how much personal power a leader has.
Leader and Follower Defined
For the purposes of Situational Leadership® the terms leader and follower should be
understood as relative terms. That is, in any given situation, the leader is the individual
trying to influence the behavior of others and is not necessarily the highest-ranking
individual involved in the exchange.
Basic Concept
Basically, Situational Leadership® contends that there is no one best way to influence
people; the most effective leadership style depends upon the performance readiness of the
Task Behavior
Task behavior is the extent to which the leader engages in defining roles, providing what,
how, when, where, and if more than one person is involved, who is to do what.
Relationship Behavior
Relationship behavior is the extent to which the leader engages in two-way (or multi-
Leadership Styles
Style 1 – Above average amounts of task behavior, below average amounts of
relationship behavior
Readiness of the Follower(s)
As was discussed in Chapter 5, there are a number of factors in any given environment.
The leader, follower(s), superiors, peers, organization, job demands, and available time
all impact on a situation. The most crucial variable is the interaction between leader and
Performance Readiness Levels
Readiness level is a combination of ability and willingness. There are four readiness
levels:
Performance Readiness Level 1 (R1)
Unable and Insecure – the follower lacks ability and confidence.
Performance Readiness Level 2 (R2)
Unable but Willing – the follower lacks ability, but is motivated to succeed.
or
Performance Readiness Level 3 (R3)
Able but Insecure – the follower has the ability, but is apprehensive about
working alone.
or
Performance Readiness Level 4 (R4)
Able and Willing – the follower has ability and commitment.
or
Able and Confident – the follower has ability and confidence to perform.
A Note on Readiness Development
At R2, followers have become confident, but at R3 they revert to insecurity again. This is
not regression but rather an indication of the shift in emphasis from leader-directed to
self-directed behavior. At R2 the leader inspires the follower’s confidence through
The Appropriate Style
R1:S1 – For followers at Performance Readiness Level 1, the appropriate leadership style
is Telling. This style consists of above average amounts of task behavior and below
average amounts of relationship behavior.
R2:S2 – For followers at Performance Readiness Level 2, the appropriate leadership style
R3:S3 – The appropriate style for Performance Readiness Level 3 is called Participating,
which incorporates above average amounts of relationship behavior with below average
amounts of task behavior. People at R3 not only know what, when, how, and where to do
things, but also why they need to be doing those things; they just lack either confidence
or willingness to go ahead and do them. The high relationship behavior is designed to
encourage them to develop that willingness or confidence to perform on their own.
R4:S4 – The appropriate style for Performance Readiness Level 4 is called Delegating,
Application of Situational Leadership®
Situational Leadership® is designed to assist the development of followers along a
prescriptive curve. Assessing performance readiness is not a one time managerial task; it
Determining Appropriate Style
There are several steps in determining which leadership style to use.
First, the manager must decide which aspects of an individual’s or group’s activities to
influence. Chosen aspects are based on job responsibilities.
Components of Leadership Style
There are five dimensions for both task behavior and relationship behavior. For task
Situational Leadership® in Various Settings
Situational Leadership® is applicable to almost all settings where the goal is to influence
Suggested Teaching Approaches
The basic concepts of the Situational Leadership® Model go back to the early years of
small group research, particularly to the concepts of task and maintenance functions in
Activities
For Chapter 7, there are several case-based activities again involving Cami Machado and
events at Listo Systems. These are intended to provide students with the opportunity to
Exam Questions
1. How ready are the following people in terms of the tasks discussed?
Joe Evans stops at Mandy Simms’s desk. He hands Mandy a manila envelope and
says, “This is the raw data we’ve gathered for the report on Product X. You and I
On the way back to his office, Joe stops at Arthur Jones’ desk. He says, “Arthur,
I’ve just handed Mandy Simms a big and demanding assignment. Since the
project will take a lot of her time for the next few weeks, you’re going to be
getting an increased work volume. It will consist of several new types of projects
As he reaches his office door, Joe passes Will Murphy, the senior computer
programmer for the department. Joe stops him and says, “Will, I just asked
Mandy Simms to try and whip that Product X material into a presentation. I’m
sure she’s going to need some information from your area, possibly even some
Joe hesitates, and then turns away from his office and heads to Alice Carlisle’s
desk. She has a small pile of books and memos in front of her, and is reading one
of them. Joe asks, “Alice, have you come close to checking the HMS account for
me. I’ll stop back by in a little while to see how you’re doing.” Alice expresses
concern regarding her ability to handle the new task, but Joe reassures her and
promises her his support.
Answer:
Mandy Simms is at Readiness Level 3, able, but somewhat insecure; Arthur Jones
2. Discuss some methods for determining the Performance Readiness® of a follower
in a given task.
Answer:
3. Discuss the main concepts of Situational Leadership®.
Answer:
Situational Leadership® is based on the interplay among the amount of guidance
4. With regard to the case study presented in exam question number one, determine
which leadership styles are being used by the leader, Joe.
Answer:
5. Which style is appropriate for each of the followers? What does that mean? Was
Joe matching his leadership styles appropriately with his follower’s performance
readiness levels?
Answer:
