Good leadership is essential for a successful organisation where employees thrive and create the desired results for the company. However, there is no definitive answer to what good leadership is. Good leadership is much more about adapting your communication and influencing style to the situation and to your employees.
Your employees are different and have different levels of competence, engagement, motivation and leadership needs. In order for each of your employees to fulfil their tasks and create the best results for the company, it is necessary to communicate to them and lead them in different ways depending on the situation.
This is exactly what situational leadership is all about. Situational leadership is a leadership tool that is about adapting your influencing style to each employee's task. In order to do this, however, you need to have insight into the leadership needs of your employees. You also need to know your employees' level of competence, motivation and engagement. You can gain this knowledge through your employees' DISC profile, among other things.
When you adapt your influencing style to the individual employee, you can develop your employees and increase their job satisfaction to create better results for your organisation.
Four impact styles
In situational leadership, there are generally four influence styles. Each influence style matches the employee's level of competence, engagement and development. The greatest benefit of situational leadership is achieved when you as a manager choose the right influence style that matches your employee's competences and engagement.
1. Instructional influence style
In the directing influence style, the leader sets the agenda and takes full control of the situation. In this style, the leader focuses on results and makes all decisions themselves, rather than bringing them up for discussion. A leader who uses an instructive influence style is often instructive and narrative in relation to work tasks and tells employees how to do their jobs.
This style of influence is effective if employees have a low level of competence but a high level of engagement and lack experience and knowledge to solve a new task. Here, the employee is in the first stage of development. This influencing style is also useful if you have a deadline to meet and there is no time to discuss views and opinions.
2. Selling influence style
In the selling influence style, the manager provides more support to the employee and is less instructive and controlling in relation to the work tasks. Here, the manager helps the employee along the way and tries to be more coaching and selling in relation to the task. There is thus more of a two-way communication between manager and employee.
This style of influence is good if the employee has a medium level of competence but low engagement, where the employee is either unsure how to do the task or finds the tasks difficult or uninteresting. Here the employee is in the second stage of development.
3. Supportive influencing style
In the supportive influence style, there is more two-way communication and sparring between employee and manager, where the focus is on motivation and goals. Here, the manager's role is to be supportive and very little instructive in relation to the employee. In this influence style, there is a greater focus on participation and exchange of opinions, where employees are given the opportunity to take part in decision-making processes.
The supportive influence style works best when the employee is more experienced and has a high level of competence but low engagement. In this case, the employee is more independent and can easily handle tasks on their own, but their motivation is fluctuating, which is why they may need support from time to time.
4. Delegating influence style
In the delegating influence style, the manager's role is to delegate tasks, leaving the rest up to the employees themselves. Here, the manager gives more freedom and responsibility to employees, which leads to a greater sense of trust and a feeling of being valued by employees. In this influence style, the manager encourages input and independent task solving, and only occasionally provides support and instruction. The manager is thus less involved in the final decisions.
This style of influence requires employees to have a high level of competence and commitment. They are competent and independent employees who are largely self-driven and don't need much management.
Use situational leadership in everyday life
The four influence styles we've just gone through thus serve as a tool to determine which influence style you as a manager should choose in a given situation and how much support and instruction you should provide based on your employees' skill level and motivation. The purpose of the influence styles is not to use only one influence style for each employee, but rather to use different influence styles depending on the situation in order to develop the employee towards being able to work independently and make decisions.
There are many good reasons to use situational leadership in your everyday work. Among other things, you can increase your employees' job satisfaction, productivity, motivation and results. In addition, situational leadership allows you to develop your employees and yourself as a leader. Together, this can help strengthen and create greater success for your organisation.
If you want to use situational leadership in your daily management, you can join a situational leadership programme where you can develop your leadership skills and learn how to adapt your influencing style to the situation and the employee. You can read more about the situational leadership programme here.
If you are interested in learning more about situational leadership or want to sign up for the programme, please contact us by email: info@hrsolutions.dk or phone: 70 26 32 25.
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