SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Leaders Must: Manage Resources

Manage Time

Not Manage but Lead People

Leadership is to: Develop Competence of your team on both task skills related to the job
& transferable skills to any organization like inter personal, communication skills etc.

Gaining Commitment from your team by right motivation to keep the team member enthusiastic
on the job they are doing by raising their own self-esteem

Retaining your talented team

Manage Resources: Not dealt here as it only amounts to leveraging the facilities open to you in terms of infrastructure at
the work place minus the human resource.

Manage Time:

A typical time management matrix is explained below. They are classified into four quardrants. Two quadrants each are
classified as Urgent and Not Urgent. Again these two are classified as Important and Not Important.

The result of overdoing the respective quadrants are highlighted in bold letters in the respective quadrants:

Time Management Matrix

Urgent Not Urgent

1st Quadrant Activities 2nd Quadrant Activities
Crises Prevention
Pressing Problems Principle centred activities related to one's profession
Important

Deadline driven projects / assignments Relationship building within and outside organization
Recognizing opportunities
Planning
Result: Stress, Burn-out, Crisis Management & Result: Better Vision, Perspective, Balance,
Always putting out fires Discipline, Control, Acceptability by colleagues &
few crises
3rd Quardrant Activities 4th Quadrant Activities
Interruptions due to telephone calls Trivial works
Some mails, reports, meetings for which we are called Some genric mails from friends & others
Not Important

though we feel it is not important but we cannot refuse Some phone calls we make
to attend - no value addition by our presence. Time wasters
Proximate pressing activities Coffee breaks, lunch breaks
Involving in one's popularity activities Other pleasant activities for one's self
Result: Short term focus, see goals & plans as Result: Total Irresponsibility, Dependence on
worth less, feel victimized, out of control, shallow others and consequently getting fired from
or broken relationship, crisis management. the job.

If anyone cares to introspect the time spent on each of the quadrant activities in a day it is normally:

70% for both Quadrant 1 and 3 activities (40 + 30) and 30% (15 + 15) for Quadrant 2 and 4 activities.

But the ideal one for a Leader would be: Quadrant 1 15% ~ 20%

Quadrant 2 60% ~ 70%

Quadrant 3 10% ~ 15%

Quadrant 4 5%

Leading the People:

Leadership Style: 1. Directive

2. Coaching (More Directive & More Supportive)

3. Supportive

4. Delegative

One cannot apply the above styles for all the situations. One has to reckon the type of the team member's
competence, confidence & commitment to perform the given task. Hence a Situational Leadership is needed

How to Apply the Situational Leadership? The following table explains:

Type of the Team Member Characteristics Type of the Leader Leadership Style

Low / No Exp in job
Newly Joined
Experienced but totally
New to the task
Low to Medium competence
Fair exp less than 5 years
but with reduced level of
enthusiasm
Medium to High Competence
Fair exp of more than 10 years
Variable Confidence and
commitment
High Competence on task
Highly committed
Excited to do the job but doesn't
know where and how to start
Basically in Learning mode
Charged to do the work
& committed
Frustrated that his / her
expectations at the time of
joining has vanished.
Not so enthusiastic as before
and skeptical.
Not confident and very less
committed
Disillusioned Learner
Can handle the job without
any supervision
But very cautious, nervous and
skeptical to be committed to
the task
Capable but cautious performer
Well experienced to handle the
task with no supervision
Self confident and self
assured that he / she can
scale new heights on the job
and in deed wants challenges
Self reliant achiever, role model,
consistently competent and
a source of inspiration to other
team members
High Direction on the task
on how, where and when to
start, what has to be learnt
Directive Style
prior to start the task and why.
Less Supportive to pep up
the esteem, confidence etc.
High Direction on the task
High Support to reassure,
rekindle his / her activism,
show the spirit of understanding
Coaching Style
of his / her genuine problems
by more interaction
Low Direction on the Task
High Support to remove
apprenhensions, make them
Supportive Style
feel confident saying that they
can do wonders if self confident
Low Direction on the Task
Low Support
Delegative Style

The needed Skills of a Situational Leader: 1. Diagnosis The need to identify the team member's capability
and commitment vis-à-vis the task and place them
on the above categories

2. Flexibility To treat the different team members with the

different leadership style as above. For e.g. if a person
needs a supportive style only, giving them a very high
direction amounts to spoon feeding of trivial things
that can be called as over supervision leading to
further frustration for the team member.

3. Parterning Have the courage to get the feedback from the

for Performance team members whether as a leader we are
providing them the right leadership and whether
they are comfortable. Make them feel as if they
are your partners not as subordinate staff.

4. Lead by First listen and facilitate

Questions Ask the right and relevant questions and do not
provide answers straight away.
Follow the principle of "GROW"
 G - Goals - Ask how it meets the goals
R - Reality - Ground realities / constraints to achive goals
O - Options - Various options available to overcome
W - Will - The reqd. will to select an appropriate option & work

Leaders Must Develop a Culture of Discipline & Responsibility

Culture of Discipline By Having Disciplined People To have the right people on the team to perform the task
Set right if they are not; If they do not respond positively
do not hestiate to off-load from your team

Disciplined Thought Confronting the brutal facts

Understanding the core strengths and leverage them

Disciplined Action Well disciplined attention to details - Don't glance over anything
Using the available technological accelerators
Make the informations simple, readable

Culture of Responsibility By Owing 100% Responsibility for the task

Response + Ability
Treating the Leadership as the Ownership
Having a Belief that Something Must Change
For that change, I must change first myself
Then I can succeed in the change set about

The Winning Formula Must Be E Event

R Response

O Outcome

A person who does not remain as an "E" Person by blaming the circumstances, people around and
departments but remain as a "R" person as to what he / she should respond with the right attitude
and mind set SHALL emerge as Leader

Example: Mahatma Gandhi

Event As a young lawyer thrown out of the train in South Africa on racial discrimination

Response His response to this event was that none should accept this indignity any more
and hence activated his meeting with other racial minorities in a small way at South Africa
and followed it up with his non-violent movement to launch the freedom of India

Outcome Today India is enjoying Her Freedom

***** End of the Report *****