Dear Friends,
Are you a great leader or merely a good one? Becoming a great leader doesn't happen overnight. Becoming a great leader is a skill area and therefore can be developed.
If you want to be a more effective leader, you need to work at it, very hard.
In this issue of ‘The Enablers’ Vol. II, Issue V, November 2011, we discuss the recipe for becoming a great leader, the Hersey-Blanchard model of situational leadership.
Once you learn to apply this skill, you can inspire your team to follow you by capturing their hearts and minds. You will be able to face challenging situations and transform yourself from a good manager to an exceptional leader!
Read on and send your comments!
Vivek Hattangadi
11th November 2011
| Situational Leadership |
It is March 2011 and you have just finished training the new medical representative of your team in the newly created headquarters. You feel that he is ready to start field work. You give him the information that he needs; like doctors list, chemists list, and sales data and so on and then you leave back for your headquarters.
A month later, you are disappointed to find that he has not done anything. He didn't know what to do, and he didn't have the confidence to ask for help. As a result, time and money are lost. Although you may want to blame the new medical representative, the truth is that you are more to be blamed than he.
How can you avoid situations like this?
Management experts say that these things happen because the first-line managers do not match their style of leadership with the maturity of the subordinate. When style and maturity do not match, failure is the result.
Instead of consistently using just one style, successful leaders change their leadership styles based on the maturity of the people they're leading and the even the requirements of the task.
Depending on the situation, you can give more weightage on the task or less weightage on the task. You can also give more importance on the relationships or less importance on the relationships with the medical representatives. This all depends on what is needed to get the job done successfully.
Situational leadership is a leadership style that has been developed and studied by Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey. Let us see these situations and how the first-line manager should behave in each situation.
Telling (S1) – Situation I is used when competence and skills of the medical representative are poor or the commitment level is low. Therefore, he is unable or unwilling to carry out the task.
In Situation I, the focus of the first-line manager should be very high on task, and very low on relationship.
First-line managers should tell their people exactly what to do, and how to do it. When the medical representative cannot do the job or is unwilling or afraid to try, then the leader takes a highly directive role, telling them what to do but without a great deal of concern for the relationship. For instance, this is a leadership style which needs to be adapted when dealing with a new medical representative or a highly unionized medical representative. The leader may also provide a working structure, both for the job and in terms of how the person is controlled.
Selling (S2) - This is Situation II. The medical representative may have some competence, variable commitment but willing or motivated to carry out the tasks.
In Situation II, the focus of the first-line manager should be high on task, and equally high on relationship.
When the medical representative can do the job, at least to some extent, and perhaps is confident about his ability, then 'telling' them what to do may demotivate them or lead to resistance. The first-line manager thus needs to 'sell' another way of working, explaining and clarifying decisions. The first-line manager thus spends time listening and advising and, where appropriate, helping the medical representative to gain necessary skills through training and coaching.
This style typically works well with those who are inexperienced and still learning. It involves direct praise to increase their confidence and self-esteem. Leaders still provide information and direction, but there's more communication with followers. Leaders "sell" their message to get the team on board.
In Situation III, focus of the first-line manager should be very high on relations and low on task.
When the medical representative can do the job, but is refusing to do it or otherwise showing insufficient commitment, the first-line manager need not worry about showing them what to do, and instead should be concerned with finding out why the person is refusing and thence persuading them to cooperate.
There is less excuse here for the medical representative to be uncommunicative about their ability, and the key is very much around motivation. If the causes are found then they can be addressed by the first-line manager. The first-line manager thus spends time listening, praising and otherwise making the medical representative feel good when they show the necessary commitment.
The first-line manager has more focus on the relationship and less on direction. The leader works with the team, and shares decision-making responsibilities.
Leaders pass most of the responsibility onto the follower or group. The first-line manager still monitors progress, but they are less involved in decisions.
The focus of the first-line manager should be low on task and also low on relationships. When the medical representative can do the job and is motivated to do it, then the first-line manager can basically leave them to do it, largely trusting them to get on with the job, although they may also need to keep a distant eye on things to ensure everything is going on as planned.
Medical representatives at this level have less need for support or frequent praise, although as with anyone, occasional recognition is always welcome. The medical representatives are responsible for choosing the tasks and the directions they will take, but the accountability will still be with the FLM.
To summarize, see the Hersey-Blanchard model maps each leadership style to each maturity level, as shown below.
| Maturity Level | Most Appropriate Leadership Style |
| M1: Low maturity | S1: Telling/directing |
| M2: Medium maturity, limited skills | S2: Selling/coaching |
| M3: Medium maturity, higher skills but lacking confidence | S3: Participating/supporting |
| M4: High maturity | S4: Delegating |
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