Situational leadership

What is situational leadership?

Situational leadership is adjusting how much direction and support you give based on a person's skill and commitment for the task at hand. The judgment is made task by task, so the same person can need different handling on different work. A seller can need close direction on a first large bid and very little on a renewal they have handled many times.

Why it matters to a revenue leader

A manager who uses one style with everyone smothers the veterans and strands the new hires. Situational leadership gives managers a way to match their behavior to the seller and the task, which matters in commercial services, where one seller may sell simple service agreements and complex projects in the same week. It also helps a manager tell a skill gap from a commitment gap before deciding how to respond. Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard introduced the idea in a 1969 article on what they then called the life cycle theory of leadership. Their versions later diverged. Hersey's continues as Situational Leadership through the Center for Leadership Studies, and Blanchard's as SLII.

A fire protection seller is strong on inspection agreements but new to design-build bids. Her manager gives her little instruction on renewals and joins her on site walks and pricing reviews for her first design-build bids. As her bids improve, the manager steps back to a short review before each submission.