Situational Leadership Empowering People to Be Their Best!

Stages of Learning Unconscious incompetence Conscious incompetence Conscious competence Unconscious competence

Response to Leadership What factors influence how people respond to your leadership? Why do some respond differently than others? Take a few ideas from the group.

The Leader’s Role: A Catalyst for Performance “To reach inside each employee and release his/her unique talents into performance.” First, Break All the Rules If this is the role of leader – how do they do it? Each employee is unique so requires a unique approach. What they found in the research with over 800, 000 people world wide is that the best managers treated everyone differently. This goes counter to the “fairness” ethic. Each person has different needs depending both on their personal style and on their developmental level on each task so the “right” thing to do to release their talents is to adapt your style to suite them. This may look unfair, but if you communicate to people why you are doing this then they can become partners with you in identifying their needs and asking for the support they need from you. “Creates performance in each employee by speeding up the reaction between the employees talents and the company’s goals, and between the employees talents and the customers’ needs.” First, Break All the Rules Interviewed the best managers in the world and systematically compared their answers with average managers. Over 80,000 managers in over 400 companies Great managers recognize that each person is motivated differently, has his own woay of thinking and own style of relating to others. Great managers do not treat everyone equally! “ The manager role is to reach inside each employee and release his unique talents into performance.”

The Four Leadership Styles Directing Coaching Supporting Delegating There is no best style! There is only the best match to the person and the task. Ask if they can remember what each style is.

Determining Development Level Development is a combination of: Competence Knowledge & Skills Commitment Motivation & Confidence Competence is evident in performance Commitment is evident in attitudes and behaviours such as body language, eye contact, etc. Cultural differences in non-verbals may make it more difficult to determine commitment because motivation (or interest and enthusiasm) is usually communicated differently in different cultures. Also can be communicated differently in different styles. For example – a person who is an introvert will not be as overtly expressive if they are very interested or enthusiastic about something as an extrovert will be.

The Four Development Levels High Moderate Low High Competence High Commitment Moderate to High Competence Variable Commitment Low to Some Competence Low Commitment Low Competence D4 Self-reliant Achiever D3 Capable but Cautious Performer D2 Disillusioned Learner D1 Enthusiastic Beginner Remember that development level does not apply to the person, it applies to the task. Eg. You may be D4 in sales or service but in leadership you are D2 or D3 – or even more specifically, you could be a D3 in decision making and goal setting but a D2 in feedback and performance management. You can use this model to identify your own developmental needs as well. As a manager this is challenging as it requires you to pay attention to the strengths and talents of your team so you will know what style they need in each situation.

Leadership Styles Combine Two Behaviours Directive Behaviour: How to do the task Telling and showing Providing frequent feedback Key to developing competence Supportive Behaviour: Develops initiative, attitudes and feelings towards task Praising, listening, encouraging, involving Key to building commitment

Directive Behaviour Setting goals and objectives Planning and organizing work in advance Identifying job priorities Clarifying roles (leader and employee) Establishing timelines Determining methods of evaluation Teaching the employee how to do a task Closely supervising progress

Supportive Behaviours Encouraging, reassuring, praising Listening to problems (job and non-job related) Involving the person in decision making Explaining why Encouraging self-reliant problem solving Making info about the organization accessible Disclosing information about self Encouraging teamwork

Leadership Style & Development Level D2: Disillusioned Learner: Need to build both competence and commitment D3: Capable but Cautious Performer: Build commitment by incr. confidence in ability to go solo D1: Enthusiastic Beginner Need and want direction to get started. Create success asap. D4: Self-reliant Achiever Competence & commitment increase with full control/resp. Any questions about the model

Self Awareness is Key Self knowledge is a “must” to be a trusted leader: Know how personal style and preferences work for or against you. Find ways to use strengths and compensate for weaknesses. Now let’s look at how to apply all this. The first place to start is by understanding that, like personal style, you have a preferred leadership style.

The Leader Behavior Analysis LBA II Style Flexibility Primary Leadership Style Secondary Leadership Style Developing Leadership Style Style Effectiveness How do I Improve?

How well are you able to jump between different styles? Style Flexibility How well are you able to jump between different styles?

Primary Leadership Style Where are you most comfortable as a leader?

Secondary Leadership Style What is your back-up strategy?

Developing Leadership Style What do you need to work on?

Style Effectiveness Are you making the best leadership choices for each situation?

Exploring Style Effectiveness Groups of 3-4 Look at your 2 assigned scenarios from the LBAII Look at the rating for each answer (P, F, G, or E) on the style effectiveness section. Discuss why the answers are rated this way. Do you agree or disagree? Explain. Report back to the group.

How Do I Improve? Partner with someone who has your weakest style as their strongest Ask for coaching when handling situations that require your developing style Ask your team to tell you what they would like from you (support or direction)

All Styles Identify desired outcomes Ensure goals are clear Observe and monitor performance Give feedback

Development & Regressive Cycles Every new task goes through 4 sequential levels Performance improvements prompt forward shifts in leadership style Performance decreases prompt backwards shifts Move one style at a time Leave-alone-zap! Leave alone zap style is when manager tells inexperienced person what to do – S1 then jumps to an inappropriate delegating style.

Creating Partnerships