What is Situational Leadership?

What is Situational Leadership? Situational leadership is a leadership theory that recognizes the importance of particular groups of leaders and followers to understand situational factors such as group size, external threats, and group norms. This theory has been tested in hospitals, schools, sports teams, and military organizations that often deal with various levels or tasks or followers.

When is Situational Leadership effective?

Effective Situational leadership is when your leader can change their tactics to fit their situation. We all have different personalities, skill sets, and temperaments that are brought into play in any given situation. So in order to be a great situational leader, the best leaders I have seen are the ones who understand their own personalities. They take the time to think about how their own personality affects their leadership style. Instead of just following the rules without thinking about what they are doing, situational leaders understand that they need to adapt their tactics to fit the situation. They acknowledge that sometimes you just need to do what you feel is necessary at that moment for the group’s good.

When is Situational Leadership not effective? Situational Leadership is not effective when people in your group don’t trust you enough to know that you have their best interest in mind. The reason situational leadership doesn’t work in a lot of situations is that a lot of people believe in a given set of rules and they won’t change. For example, if a person believes that the only way they can lead is to be autocratic all the time, then situational leadership is not going to help them because it’s not going to help them change the way they lead.

How does Situational Leadership apply to remote or hybrid work situations?

It’s very easy to apply situational leadership in a remote or hybrid work environment. Because you are able to choose how often or when you want to communicate with your team, you are able to change up the situation for the betterment of the team. I think one of the most important things about leadership is finding out what works for your individual personality.
Finding the grove with teammates and even individuals regarding how they best communicate and when can completely change how your interaction with that group or employee may go.

Can managers develop situational leadership skills?

I think that situational leadership can be learned just as well as any other type of leadership. If there’s something you’re not doing well, whether it’s being a good leader or not, you can easily change if you are willing to put in the time to learn. Understanding your own personality and the personalities of others will help you develop your own situational leadership skills.