In the 1970s and 1980s, Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard developed their theory on leadership. They stated – and found in their research – that leadership is not a static principle or a fixed state. Effective leadership is task-relevant, and the most successful leadership is the one that adapts to the situation: the task at hand and the individual or group that is to be led.
In their Situational Leadership model, they differentiate between task-related aspects (task behaviour) and relation-related aspects (relation behaviour): on either aspect or both, the leader can put more or less emphasis vis-à-vis the situation.
Effective leaders need to be flexible, and must adapt themselves according to the situation. They are able to switch between the different leadership styles of the Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership model.
When the group that is to be led, is very capable of doing the task at hand, leadership should place less emphasis on task related aspects: team members do not need strict guidance on how to accomplish the task. In the Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership model this is expressed as the maturity of the individual or group, with maturity referring to the capacity to set high but attainable goals, the willingness and ability to take responsibility for the task, and the relevant education and/or experience of an individual or a group for the task. The task behaviour of the leader should match the maturity of the team: less able teams need more guidance on how to do the task at hand, whereas able teams need less guidance.
When the group that is to be led is very willing of doing the task at hand, leadership should place less emphasis on relation aspects: team members do not need motivation (or monitoring or control) to do the task at hand. The relation behaviour of the leader should match the willingness and commitment of the team: less committed teams need more motivational leadership.
Effective leadership adapts to the group that is to be led and to the task at hand. Based on these aspects, the Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership model has four leadership styles.
The Hersey–Blanchard Situational Leadership model turns out to be a solid model for explaining the type of leadership and the fact that leadership styles vary with the situation at hand. However, this is also the difficulty with this model: how to assess the situation correctly. How do you know whether your team requires guidance on the task at hand and/or on relation-related aspects? It is not easy to assess without prejudice or without stigmatising team members, if individual team members who are to be led are (un)willing (commitment) and (un)able (capability/maturity) to carry out the specific task at hand. Besides, in modern-day organisations, most teams have multiple tasks to perform for which their abilities and commitment vary. To make a clear assessment of which team member needs what style of leadership could thus be very confusing for both team member and manager. Nevertheless, on the level of the task and the level of the team as a whole, for most situations effective leadership can be situational: managers can apply different styles for different tasks to the same team.
Hersey, P. and Blanchard, K.H. (2012) Management of Organizational Behavior – Utilizing Human Resources, 10th edn. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.