Leadership is situational: it changes based upon the employee. For example, with a new employee the manager's behavior is very directive. At this stage you are in training mode; we give the employee lots of information and direction. The aim is to move an employee to move to an empowered inspired employee The employee is able to do the job well without our direction. As a leader, the move from directive to mentor is not a direct jump.. To transition, there are stages. After directing, the manager is still telling the employee what to do, but the level of telling and direction has decreased. The employee is able to do the task with some direction and feedback, versus total direction and feedback.

The third stage is one in which the leader or manager's role is one of support and motivation. The staff member is able to do the job with nominal involvement from the supervisor. The last stage is the goal, where the staff member is fully capable and empowered to do their job with the support and mentorship of the supervisor. At this point the manager is a coach and mentor, recognizing accomplishments and the motivator.

Although, it would be easy to have linear maps of human behavior, this again is not the case. As the supervisor, you will need to shift with ease through the different phases and be able to step back if an employee needs more direction at some point. When a new task or responsibility appears the supervisor shifts back to directing Now, a new training and mentorship cycle is started. The manager's role is to provide the support needed to move successfully through each phase of developing competence to the final stage of empowered action, in which the employee is capable of doing high quality work.

This article is based upon Hershey and Blanchard's situational leadership model, from their book: Management of organizational behavior: Utilizing Human Resources. (1982, Prentice-Hall, Inc.)

Copyright: 2006

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