Situational Leadership
As part of our exploration of contingency theory, we’ve begun to learn about situational leadership. Using Blanchard’s Situational Leadership® II Model, we can see that the type of leadership needed will depend on the person(s) being led. For this assignment, we’ve been asked to recall an instance in our lives where we experienced a match (or mismatch) of leadership style to the situation at hand.
I once had a client with whom I’d work at her home office as an administrative assistant two days per week. When we first met to discuss the job, I was sure that this would be a good match to my skills. She needed things like reviewing and replying to emails, entering appointments in the calendar, creating a digital filing system, and creating new office procedures in general. I knew that I could do these things, once I’d gotten familiar with her office.
Ken Blanchard’s Situational Leadership® II Model
Unfortunately, on my very first day, I was given a list of tasks to complete and she left to another room without showing me around. I didn’t know where I was allowed to look, where confidential files may be, where the filing cabinets were…nothing. After a few minutes of seeing if I could make any sense of things, I went to ask my client for some guidance. Confident in my abilities, she walked me back and pointed to a few things and essentially said, “Okay, you’re good now. Go for it”. I was good for only about one step of one task. We continued like this for the entire 3-hour meeting time and I could tell we were both getting a bit frustrated. She was likely feeling like I was incompetent and I was feeling confused and a bit worthless. I’d never started a job where I simply clocked in and was expected to figure everything out on my own, so I hadn’t discussed any training to get started.
Learning about Blanchard’s Situational Leadership® II Model, I can see what was going wrong here. Overall, my competence level was mid-to-high with a high level of commitment (D4). But I was just starting out in a new office, so I was closer to low-to-mid competence (D1 or D2) in regards to her office specifically; I needed at least some training. Looking back, I see that she saw me as having high competence and high commitment (D4) and so she fell right into being an S4 leader: delegating work to me. She did not realize that I was going to need some time with her directing (S1) and then coaching (S2) me. I needed her to show me around and point out what she currently does and why.
Once I got the hang of her office, we quickly moved up to the D3 & S3 levels. This only took about 3 meetings in her office, and then we were off and running. From there, our meetings together varied between her supporting and delegating, depending on the situation. It’s interesting to look back, now, and understand what was happening from this perspective. I was sad that I had to let that contract expire, but we were both ready for the next steps in our careers. It still brings a smile to my face knowing that we actually helped each other get there. This was a great learning experience and partnership.