Situational leadership is perhaps the most flexible approach to leading and managing a team, and it’s deemed the most effective style by the Swedish Armed Forces, in which I have been an Army officer for the last twelve years. Situational leadership isn’t defined by one particular method or plan of action but by which leadership styles are most suitable for a particular individual or scenario. This management approach is highly motivational and can be utilized to efficiently lead your team members to success.
Situational leadership is the best option for team leaders eager to maximize their employees’ full potential and earn their loyalty. It motivates team members to step up to the plate and take on more tasks and responsibilities. It also inspires them to confront their faults and fortify their strengths.
In this article I will draw from my experience as well as scientific studies, we will discuss how situational leadership motivates a team and how much more beneficial it is compared to other management styles. We will briefly discuss the merits of each leadership approach before defining what situational leadership is all about and how you can apply it to different scenarios within your team. If you’re eager to lead your team members to achieve their full potential, read on!
How Does Situational Leadership Motivate a Team?
Situational leadership motivates a team by encouraging them to exploit their strengths and improve their weaknesses. By choosing this management style, leaders assure the team that they have their best interests in mind. Employees will share more of their time, talents, and skills when they feel valued.
Situational leadership effectively motivates a team to collaborate and strive for success. Employees are more apt to respond positively to management tactics that are tailored to their needs and circumstances. This results in boosted engagement and productivity.
What Is Situational Leadership?
Situational leadership is a flexible type of management where the leader approaches situations with varying leadership styles depending on current circumstances. Situational leaders assess the situation, observe their employees’ behavior, and determine which style would be most suitable at that given time and for each particular individual.
Situational leadership comprises these leadership styles:
Directive Leadership
In this leadership style, the team leader has complete control over the whole team. They decide what needs to be done, when, and how to do it. Employees are practically unable to make their own decisions or give suggestions and feedback.
Some employees prefer this leadership style because they thrive on consistency, predictability, and structure. They like the sense of security that comes with this leadership approach because the team’s direction is clear and well-defined.
However, some team members may not appreciate this style because it may stifle their creativity and inhibit innovation. The complete lack of autonomy and independence may make some employees feel uninspired about work. Hence, employee engagement and morale might dip, especially since team members have a minimal sense of ownership in their tasks.
The directive leadership style is most beneficial in situations of high intensity and stress, something very common in military operations. This is when you set aside all discussions, and your primary focus is to get the highest priority goal accomplished as fast as possible.
Preferably these situations have been included in the risk management plan and already rehearsed.
It means that there is only one focus and that needs only be done to a good enough standard. A typical military situation is combat, where simple commands, sometimes no commands, are sufficient to solve the initial crisis.
In business, this could be an IT security breach. For example, the CEO gives straightforward instructions that all employees must change passwords immediately. Not until the passwords are changed and the circumstances have calmed down will there be time to ask why.
Directive leadership is fast, short-term effective, and authoritative.
Coaching Leadership
Leaders who adopt this leadership style want their team members to grow and be successful. For them, leading and managing their team means providing constant guidance and feedback to help individuals grow and thrive. They believe that helping their team members reach their goals will be beneficial since this indirectly leads to target achievements for the organization as well.
Employees who respond well to this leadership style appreciate how their leaders bank on their strengths and collaborate with them to improve their weaknesses. Mutual trust is a driving force within the team, and employees appreciate that coaching leaders focus on employee development rather than taking credit for their triumphs.
I use this style of leadership every time I have discussions with individuals, when I’m trying to help a colleague achieve something complex and where the answer isn’t obvious. I assume the position of a good friend wanting the best for my colleagues. I ask questions looking to better understand the situation, and I patiently wait for their answer.
As a coach, you never give advice; your task is to ask questions you believe can lead the coachee closer to valuable insights.
As a coach, you never give advice; your task is to ask questions you believe can lead the coachee closer to valuable insights.
Coaching leadership is slow, driven by curiosity, and long-term effective.
Supportive Leadership
Supportive leaders are empathetic. Their team members have no trouble approaching them for advice and guidance since they constantly highlight the value of the team’s well-being and development. Supportive leaders are sensitive to the needs of their team members and are always on the lookout for what kind of tools and support they can offer so they can efficiently achieve their goals.
Employees who prefer this leadership style appreciate the trust their leaders give them. They love the autonomy that comes with deciding on what strategies to employ in their tasks and the assurance that they will be afforded adequate and appropriate support when necessary. They appreciate how their leaders empower them so they can thrive and shine in their own right.
I use this style when we have personal issues on the team that needs to be resolved or mitigated so they don’t affect the safety of the operation. For me, supportive leadership means being a good friend, someone your team trusts beyond the official tasks, and someone who cares about them deeply.
This isn’t possible for most leaders, and I didn’t appreciate its impact on performance until later in my career. I thought being too close to my teammates would make leading them harder and making tough decisions impossible. It’s the opposite I have come to learn.
Supportive leadership helps you see people as vital assets and not cogs of a machine. It gives employees the confidence to approach us when issues are still small, allowing us to solve the situation before it becomes a problem.
Supportive leadership is emotional, trust-building, and transcends managing.
Delegating Leadership
This leadership style highlights the value of giving almost complete autonomy to team members, expecting them to deliver high-quality results efficiently. It is built on trust and the knowledge that team members are well-equipped to handle various scenarios based on their strengths and competencies.
Employees who favor this leadership style have faith and take pride in their knowledge, experiences, and skills. They know their vital role in the grand scheme of things and are willing to do their share in realizing set goals. They are committed to performing with high standards and prefer autonomy over being consistently monitored with their tasks.
This is how I lead everyday tasks, I delegate as much as I can, and I encourage my guys to do the same. Allow people to show them they are trustworthy, and you’ll be supposed how many will step up to the plate and overperform!
My first question when I receive a task is, who should execute this? I try to move all tasks as far down the ladder as possible; this is a great way to encourage responsibility from the new guys since they will quickly have to own fairly complex assignments.
The reason why I delegate as much as possible is simple; it frees up my time so that I can focus on anticipating and mitigating obstacles. My main task as a leader is to remove obstacles from my team’s path so they can perform at peak performance.
How Does Situational Leadership Improve Team Motivation?
Situational leadership improves team motivation by making employees feel seen and respected. They appreciate leaders taking the time to assess their needs before enforcing their management style. Compared to other styles, situational leadership focuses more on the employee than the leader.
Benefits of Situational Leadership
What’s great about situational leadership is that you don’t have to choose which management style you will adopt for your team (and stick with it). With this type of leadership style, you can switch from one style to another, depending on current circumstances and the behavior and characteristics of your team members. You can even utilize a different leadership style for each of your employees.
The key is to choose a leadership approach to which your team members will respond well. If you succeed at adopting one that is tailor-fitted to their needs, you’ll find that leading and managing your team will be less complicated.
During my time as a conscript infantry team leader, I had one guy that only responded to a directive leadership approach. It wasn’t in my nature to scream at someone, but the funny thing was, during a talk, he told me that he doesn’t respond well to why things need to be done; he just wanted someone to tell him what to do. So I did, it worked great for eleven months!
Here are some benefits you can look forward to with situational leadership and how it can help significantly enhance team motivation:
- It creates a positive work environment. When employees feel their leaders support them, they become more eager to always put their best foot forward, translating to higher engagement and productivity.
- It allows for flexibility. Leading and managing a team can be very taxing, especially since you’ll have to deal with individuals with different personalities, needs, and expectations. Situational leadership allows you to switch from one management style to another as needed to ensure the best results.
- It helps develop team members. Situational leaders are empathetic and charismatic and can quickly gauge an employee’s professional maturity and psychological state. They can use this knowledge to track their employees’ progress and guide them toward self-improvement.
- It helps produce more predictable outcomes. Situational leaders base their decisions on current circumstances. They use their intuition, knowledge, and experiences to determine which tactic should be best employed. Choosing this management style allows you to influence results, especially concerning your team’s productivity.
- It encourages team creativity. Empowered employees are more eager to come up with ingenious ideas and think outside the box to help the business grow.
- It encourages team loyalty. Situational leadership encourages employees to be open about their weaknesses and strengths. Employees know that they will be supported and guided appropriately by their leaders. This creates a positive work atmosphere where people eagerly collaborate and help each other out.
What It Takes To Be an Effective Situational Leader
Not all leaders are built to naturally adapt to this management style. There are leaders who are naturally dominating. They want to be the sole decision-maker in the group and expect team members to adhere to their regulations to a tee. They determine how things are done and when and how to do them. They do not tolerate deflection.
On the other hand, some leaders are more inclined to interact with their team members. They encourage innovation and independence within their team. They appreciate input from employees and commend those who come up with brilliant strategies.
However, different circumstances call for different approaches. Given all the benefits of a situational leadership style, adopting this for your team will undoubtedly boost their morale and motivate them to always do their best. The key is to determine which particular management style would best apply.
Successfully leading and managing a team means knowing how to deal with your team members in the most productive ways possible. A team is driven by goals, and it is up to you as the leader to ensure everyone is always on the right track. You must learn how to accurately assess each of your team members to determine which leadership style is best suited for them at a given time.
Poor Skills, Low Confidence
It can be pretty challenging to work with team members who lack sufficient knowledge, adequate skills, and extensive experience to handle various situations related to the business. However, with proper training and the right mindset, these individuals can become promising employees who will eventually become proficient in their field.
Team members with this type of profile will thrive under a directive and coaching leadership style. They will benefit from close supervision and clear, concise instructions on how to get things done. Be encouraging in your approach, and do not be condescending in how you offer your guidance. If you do things right, you’ll motivate them to always aim for self-improvement and contribute more significantly to the organization.
Poor Skills, High Confidence
Sometimes, you might encounter team members who have high morale but lack the skills, knowledge, and experience that ideally go with it. They are eager to perform and please, yet they often fall short of company expectations and standards.
These team members will do well with a combination of supportive and delegating leadership styles. With this approach, you can give them the autonomy they crave in aspects they have strengths. Alternatively, you can provide them with the support they need in areas they show weakness.
Make sure you explain the process to your employees so they understand that your main objective is to help them improve their skills and knowledge and build on their experiences in the business. Be patient in answering their questions and be open to trusting them more with each improvement they make.
Superior Skills, Low Confidence
It can be very rewarding and fulfilling to provide adequate support and guidance to team members who exhibit this kind of profile. They have extensive experience, knowledge, and skills in their field but have low self-confidence and motivation. Perhaps this is due to their personality or innate humility, but a little push from you will undoubtedly bring out their best.
Combining a delegating and supportive leadership approach is best suited for these team members. Encourage them to always share their ideas and help you formulate strategies and action plans for the team. Include them in decision-making processes. Assign them to tasks where they can best showcase and enhance their strengths.
Superior Skills, High Confidence
Team members who can be counted on to work independently and consistently deliver quality results are assets to the team. They must be looked after to ensure they see continuous growth within the company. If these highly competitive and driven individuals sense stagnancy, they might lose interest in their work and start looking for greener pastures.
A delegating leadership style will be most appreciated by these individuals. They will thrive in autonomy, and further grow their skills, knowledge, and experiences with new responsibilities resting on their shoulders. It is vital to let them take ownership of their tasks so they can clearly see their worth and significant contributions to the attainment of goals. They can also be seen as great examples and role models for the rest of the team.
Final Thoughts
Situational leadership is arguably the most flexible and practical management style. It lets you adapt to different scenarios, personalities, and behaviors. It allows you to motivate individuals to develop and excel by helping them improve on their weaknesses and build on their strengths.
Leading and managing a team means you have to ensure goals are met while looking out for your employee’s well-being as well. The effectiveness of your management style will reflect on your team’s performance and productivity, so it is wise to focus on inspiring your team to always push beyond their perceived limits.
