What's the best way to lead a group? If you're like most people, your answer is likely to be it depends, and it does the best. Leaders analyze the situation and adjust their leadership style accordingly. One of the most popular of the it depends Leadership Theories was developed in the 1970s which is Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard's Situational Leadership Theory, or SLT, for short, that's what this video will focus on. The Situational Leadership Model was originally designed to help managers and organizations, and for this explanation, I'm going to apply it to a supervisor and employee setting, but you can see how it can apply to a variety of other group situations. Later, Hersey and Blanchard split off to craft their own versions of the model. So this discussion tries to address the original model with some nods to the differences. So I may use some terms interchangeably or differently than others, but I believe the fundamental concepts are the same. The underlying premise is that you as a leader need to adapt your leadership style, or how you interact with people based on their needs, not your preferred style. Three variables come into play here, the first being, how much emphasis needs to be put on the task. Sometimes it is vitally important that the task get done, get done in a particular way, get done at a specific time, and so on. And sometimes it doesn't matter as much. It may not be important, or the work is meant to be a learning experience. And sometimes people can get the work done without much help from you. So the question is, how much emphasis Do you as a leader need to place on the task. The more important the task is, the more likely you are to be actively involved in directing or teaching or guiding. The second variable is the socioemotional one. How much relationship support do you need to provide? Does the individual or group of individuals need your help to get along with each other, feel good about what they are doing, or feel good about themselves. The third variable, the readiness level, may be the most important, as this is the primary reason for this approach, the level of readiness that individuals demonstrate in performing a specific task, function or objective. This is sometimes called the maturity or development level. In fact, the entire model starts with this third variable of follower readiness. Essentially, this is how ready a person is to perform a particular task. For our example, let's assume that I am working as a barista in a coffee bar, and you are my supervisor or manager. Now I may have a lot of skills, but frothing milk is not one of them. So you'll need to ask yourself, how ready am I? Readiness is made up of two variables, competence, originally called ability and confidence, originally called willingness. You may also see confidence referred to as commitment, under the assumption that if I am committed to learn or committed to the organization, I am confident that eventually I can do the work. I'll stick it out. When you combine these two variables, you come up with four combinations. I start off as low on competence and also low on confidence. My first day, maybe even my first week on the job, where I don't really know what I'm doing and lack confidence in my decisions. I need help, and lots of it. The longer I'm on the job, the more my skills develop, and I become more comfortable and confident in my skills and decisions. So the second combination is low to some competence and low to some confidence, but you still wouldn't trust me to work alone a bit longer on the job. I should be able to froth milk easily remember orders and craft a great coffee and feel good about myself and working with others in the process, I would likely be both competent and have confidence in what I am doing, but still need more experience to make decisions on my own. Some consultants estimate that it takes an average of three to six months for an employee to become competent at their job. Finally, after I've been working as a barista for a long time, chances are I'd be at the fourth level having developed both high competence and high confidence. You probably don't need to monitor me so much. So my work gets delegated to me. Experts estimate that it can take between one and two years for an employee to become fully productive. These four levels are labeled d1 d2 d3 and d4 the D stands for developing. You'll often see these displayed at the bottom of the chart, starting with d1 or low competence and low confidence, on the right as developing and d4 or high competence and high confidence. On the left, as developed in early versions, they were labeled r1 through r4 with the R standing for readiness. This leads us to the actual chart, which we will start by plotting a matrix. Directive behavior is plotted on the x axis from left to right as low directive behavior to high, directive behavior while supportive behavior is plotted on the y axis, from low supportive behavior on the bottom to high supportive behavior on the top. You can then divide the chart into four squares or panes, like a window. Now we can plot the readiness levels on the graph. You can see how an employee or group member progresses through the chart as they learn on the job and become more proficient and more able to work by themselves. We'll start at the lower right corner, where it is high directive and low supportive behaviors. This corresponds with the d1 level in readiness a new employee who isn't skilled yet low competence and unsure of what she is doing, low confidence. My first few days brewing Java for a living, you should use a directing leadership style with me, sometimes called the telling style. It's more of an authoritative teaching style. Do this this way. Move up one pane to the upper right corner, where it is high directive and high supportive behaviors, which corresponds to the d2 readiness level an employee who has been on the job for a little while so has developed some skills and stronger confidence my first couple of months working the coffee machine. Now you have to work a little more on my skills and boost my confidence. So you would be coaching, or as it is sometimes called, the selling style, moving to the upper left for low directive and high supportive behaviors, corresponding to the d3 readiness level, an employee who has developed their skills to the point that they no longer need to be told what to do and feels confident in what they are doing, but can't completely operate on their own, so you should be supporting me, keeping me motivated and encouraging me. This is sometimes called participating, as the manager is actively participating with the employee. The final pane is the lower left corner, low directive and low supportive behavior. This employee's skills are fully developed, so there is little need for more than delegating. You can tell me what to do and leave me alone, confident that I'll do my job well and maybe come up with some new, creative coffee drinks in the process. Who knows? I may be in line for a promotion processing time. Let's take it out of the coffee shop and into a classroom. What style would a teacher use with her students on the first day of class? As students would likely not be proficient or knowledgeable about the subject, the teacher would use the directing style telling the students what to do without having to worry so much about how they feel about it the class or the teacher. However, if the class is low enrolled, and the teacher is concerned that the class will be canceled. There may be some coaching thrown in there as well. So again, it depends. Would someone who has reached the d4 readiness level, high competence and high confidence ever need to go back to the d1 readiness level, low competence and low confidence? Probably if they were promoted or given a new task, then the supervisor would have to use some directing behavior. If you quit working at one coffee bar and started at another, would you automatically start over at the d1 readiness level? Probably not. It might just be a matter of learning new routines and nomenclature. So you may be starting off at d2 or d3 and finally, how does this work In groups where there is no designated leader, like in a class project, you can all help each other by developing everyone's skills and bolstering their confidence. Keep in mind that all of this is based on the employee or follower. Employees grow, change, develop new skill sets and interests and move to different jobs. No two employees or situations are the same, so you will have to adjust to the changing circumstances. But if you can identify someone's readiness, competence and confidence and adapt your leadership style accordingly. You'll be on your way to being an effective leader.

Last modified: Friday, October 17, 2025, 10:23 AM