Leadership Tools - Situational Leadership

Have you ever tried leading a team member and felt like your approach just wasn’t working?

Let me tell you about a proven leadership model that adapts to your team's needs, helping you become a more effective leader.

We’re diving into the concept of Situational Leadership, a model developed by Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey. It’s a powerful approach that can transform the way you lead — whether you’re managing a team or guiding yourself.

Situational Leadership is a flexible and adaptive leadership model that recognizes that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to leading people. Instead, it’s about adjusting your leadership style based on the development level of the person you're leading.

This model is particularly valuable for executives, solopreneurs and small business owners who may wear multiple hats — managing teams, handling clients, and balancing their own growth. Understanding how to adapt your style to different situations can mean the difference between success and frustration.

You can also watch my video on Situational Leadership on my YouTube channel by clicking on the image below:

First, we need to understand that there are four types of leadership styles. In Ken Blanchard’s book, “The New One Minute Manager” he explains that these four styles of leadership are:

• The "Directing" or what he called S1 style of leadership.

This is a high directive, low supportive style of leadership. You give specific instructions and closely supervise. This style of leadership is ideal for team members who are new and lack competence but are enthusiastic.

•  S2 is a "Coaching" style of leadership.

This is still highly directive, but also a high supportive style of leadership. You still provide guidance but you also now start to encourage their input and contribution, and a lot of praise when they do it right. This is best for those who have some competence but may lack confidence.

• Blanchard’s S3 style of leadership is the "Supporting" style of leadership.

This is low directive, but highly supportive. As an S3 leader, you facilitate decision-making and build confidence. This is really effective for competent team members who might lack motivation.

• S4 is the Delegating style of leadership.

This is also low directive, and it is also low supportive. You hand over responsibility and trust them to execute. This style works best for team members who are both capable and motivated.

Now that we understand the four styles of leadership you will need to use, we need to assess the Development Level of the team member, because each style of leadership is most suited to team members in four categories of development. To use this model effectively, an assessment of where your team member stands in terms of competence and commitment is critical. It is also important to note that this is an individual based approach.

Blanchard’s model breaks Development levels down into four levels:

• Development Level D1

Development Level D1 is where the team member has low competence but a high commitment. Think of someone new in the role - an Enthusiastic Beginner. They may not know very much, but they are interested and willing to learn because it’s such a new experience for them.

•  Development Level D2

Development Level D2 is where the team member has some competence, but is beginning to lose commitment. They are Disillusioned Learners, where some of the enthusiasm has been brushed off because things are becoming too repetitive or they’re not progressing as fast as they thought they would.

•  Development Level D3

Development Level D3 is where the team member has a high level of competence, but variable commitment. This is called the Capable But Cautious Performer. They have been there long enough to be skilled at what they do, but also long enough to know that there are consequences, and they either lose confidence or motivation.

•  Development level D4

Finally, Development Level D4 is where the team member has a high level of competence, and a high commitment, and can be described as the Self-reliant Achiever. With confidence and skill, this team member is capable of doing things independently and even being a leader him or herself.

Now here's the magic - having assessed each team member’s Development Level, whether D1, D2, D3 or D4, you can then match the appropriate leadership style to their development level.

A team member at Development Level D1, who is an unskilled but enthusiastic beginner, needs Leadership Style S1, where you provide clear direction and guidance, and close supervision. There’s not a lot of room, nor place, for encouragement yet as the D1 team member needs to just learn their craft.

At D2 when they are becoming skilled but losing motivation, they need the Coaching or S2 style of leadership to rebuild motivation and develop skills. Using S2, you provide a D2 team member with continuing guidance but also allow encouragement and praise for doing things right.

Then at Development Level D3 where the team member is highly competent but has a variable commitment to the tasks, leadership level S3 gives them support to build their confidence and reinforce abilities. You no longer need to teach them things, but in order for them to develop, you need to develop their own decision-making capabilities and so you facilitate their ability to do so and allow them to find new enthusiasm.

Finally, at Development Level D4, they need leadership style S4. At D4, they are highly competent and also highly motivated. Leadership style S4 gives them autonomy and responsibility to maintain their engagement. You can delegate whole sets of tasks to them and just provide support and encouragement.

Let’s take an example of applying Situational Leadership in Real Scenarios.

Imagine you’ve just hired a new assistant who is at D1 level of their development. They're enthusiastic but inexperienced. Initially, you'll need to use a Directing style or S1 leadership to provide clear instructions.

As they gain some experience but start to face new challenges and lose their initial enthusiasm, they move into Development Level D2. In response, you shift to the Coaching or S2 style of leadership, and continue guiding while allowing more input and contribution from them. This allows them to keep, learning, but develop new enthusiasm for the new responsibilities of providing their input.

Over time, as they become skilled but start to be hesitant at their D3 level, a Supporting style or S3 type of leadership helps boost their confidence.

Finally, when they become a reliable self-starter or a D4 team member, you can apply S4 leadership and delegate to them, then trust them to handle their responsibilities. To support them you provide mentorship and encouragement.

SUMMARY

That’s a snapshot of how you can use Situational Leadership to adapt your approach and lead effectively. Remember, leadership is not static — it’s dynamic and requires awareness of your team's growth and needs.