The 15 genuine benefits of Situational Leadership in 2023

Leadership benefits

1. It is a more flexible approach to leadership

Situational leadership is a relationship-oriented type of leadership. It bases a leader’s directives on the readiness and ability of his followers. This is why it is seen as a “flexible approach”. The leader does not use a single style of leadership across all his team members.

In order for it to work, the leader must have established a relationship with his team members in order to understand their state of mind when receiving directions for the tasks they need to complete.

Looking at Ken Blanchard’s model for the succeeding examples: a leader will most likely use a directive style of leadership to a new employee as they are still new at learning their task. However, the same leader may delegate the task of training to their most tenured and highly motivated team member.

As Employee 1 gains some tenure and increases their skills, but may get disengaged along the way, the leader may change to a coaching style of leadership towards Employee 1. This means they decrease their task-oriented leadership style and incorporate a relationship-oriented leadership approach.

If it transpires that Employee is also disengaged, they are still highly skilled but demotivated. So the leader will need to use the supportive style of leadership in this kind of situation. The leader uses a different leadership approach to have the best impact to each employee.

Tip 1. Know your default leadership style
Look for online leadership or communication style surveys to determine your communication style. Usually, the leadership style you instinctively use during high-stress situations is your default style of leadership, so make sure you are aware of it.

Tip 2. Acknowledge style differences and work to meet half-way
Set expectations when working with people who have different leadership styles. You may start by having everyone identify their default leadership styles and discuss how you all are willing to compromise in order to work harmoniously. Already knowing each other’s comfort zones makes it easier to adjust and compromise.

2. It encourages successful collaboration among team members

From the examples given in number 1, we see a situation that creates an opportunity for collaboration. There is interaction amongst team members (as Employee 1 is being taught by Employee 4) when the leader uses situational leadership in dealing with their team.

Technology has made collaboration easier among employees, even across continents. The opportunity is there. The leader merely needs to encourage their team members to collaborate.

Statistics show that 75% of employees rated collaboration as “very important” to their engagement. 86% of executives and employees also say that lack of collaboration accounts for failures in the workplace.

The presence of collaboration increases team productivity and engagement. Successful leaders who use the situational leadership approach influence team members in order to achieve the optimal strength of the team. When the team is optimized, collaboration becomes a means to get creative collectively and make valuable innovations that are beneficial to any business.

Tip 1. Get everyone on the same page
Eliminate redundancies in current workflows. Daily team meetings will help pinpoint each member’s task/goal for the day. This is especially helpful if some tasks cross-over, or are so similar that they can actually all be achieved by just one person.

Tip 2. Set clear expectations
Communicate the organizational goal to your team so that they understand how their own tasks and objectives connect to the overall picture. Set the individual expectations of your members on what the outcome should be. One on one sessions with your team members usually help set this pace while also providing a forum to review performance/outcome at the end of a project.

Tip 3. Utilize technology
Take advantage of the tech tools that your company allows. A common repository of files will help team members get access to what they need more efficiently. It is important, however, to make sure that access to the documents and files is controlled so changes can be tracked.

Tip 4. Run team meetings that count
Before holding a meeting, make sure that you have a clear agenda and let your team members know the purpose of the meeting and why they need to be present. During the meeting, have someone take minutes in order to ensure that there is follow-up for the tracking of tasks. It is crucial to indicate who is responsible for each task, and when it is due.

3. Adaptability is encouraged to fit past, present & future situations

When a leader is adept at using transformational leadership, they are a situational leader not only in managing employees but also in dealing with different circumstances in the workplace. When faced with a challenge, they know that they must approach it by assessing the impact their solution may bring.

They must assess the history of the problem, what are the present conditions causing the issue, and how their plans to solve the problem will impact the organization in the future.

It is essential to look at strategies that can lead to business process or product transformation so that the same challenge will not recur. This is a way of forward thinking that does not disregard past and present circumstances. One can only be certain that business dynamics will continue to change. Executives need to adapt and stay abreast of all of these changes to ensure business success.

Tip 1. Use the whole alphabet
Make sure you prepare yourself for possible failures, this way you always have a plan B and C and so on, until you find a plan that works. In a lot of cases, finding the right solution requires trial and error. In each case, always plan for an alternative solution.