Situational Leadership for Young Professionals
As a young professional, or even as students, we have had the opportunity to witness, and work under, different leadership styles: bosses, thesis supervisors, numerous professors and assistants, among many others. We know now that there is no such a thing as a “perfect leader”. What follows in this article is a short guide on how to improve your leadership skills as a young professional based on the situational leadership theory, from the perspective of the authority level, and the social interactions between leaders and team members.

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The Leadership Skills
A leader is set to be a person that shows direction, and (ideally) inspires, guides, and motivates the people under his or her command. Unfortunately, not everyone is raised or groomed to cultivate the confidence, dynamism, and excitement required for the team members to perform their activities efficiently and enthusiastically. However, leadership is not an aura but rather a set of skills. Therefore, it can be learnt and improved.
Now, what would be the set of skills required to increase performance and manage in an efficient way? Well, it depends. A very skilled but demotivated team won’t work under a direct, plain leadership style, although that can be perfect for an inexperienced, enthusiastic young professional. Effective leadership involves knowing the team, and acting accordingly, changing the leadership style depending on the task and the characteristics of the people under command. Sadly, there are no fail-proof guides for leadership styles, but some theories have been developed to improve the chances of success. One of those is the “situational leadership”.
Why is Situational Leadership Important for a Young Professional or a Student?

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Leadership is applied in a large amount of situations in life; therefore the likelihood of it being based on the situational context should not be surprising, but rather intuitive. To attain desired results with the minimum use of resources, we must – if we aspire to lead – know and work on improving the main leadership styles under the situational leadership theory, and act accordingly, based on the competence and commitment of the group members.
Situational Leadership
Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard introduced the Situational Leadership Model in 1969 while working on the management of organisational behaviour. Since then, it has become a fundamental part of the adaptive model of leadership in the organisation (although it can be applied for many situations).
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The main principle of the situational leadership indicates that there is no “best” style of leadership, but rather that its effectiveness is variable, depending on the qualities of the team members and the characteristics of new tasks. Consequently, the key to leading well depends not only on learning how to be a successful leader, but also on improving our adaptability and observation skills. As an analogy, consider medicine: there, without an accurate diagnosis, all further efforts are not enough to fix the problem. Leadership is similar: it is only once the situation has been correctly studied and the challenges have been identified, that the development or improvement processes can start. We all do practise situational leadership quite often: for example, we may tend to expect better behaviour from adults than from kids, we may permit a newly hired employee to make more mistakes, or by contrast, we may demand accuracy from senior staff. The expectations we set and way we interact with the people concerned in order to achieve our goals are both situation-dependent. Here we can see the most important styles based on the situational leadership theory: 1. Directing: this is the “harshest”, most straight-forward style, often referred as autocratic leadership, because in it only one person makes all the decisions, and the subordinates are not consulted in any way. The employees are giving orders and commands and expected to comply. Although it might go against the beliefs we have about leadership, this style has consistently proven to be effective with young professionals, inexperienced workers, and students. 2. Coaching: this approach is also directive-based but the person in charge is more likely to receive input and feedback from subordinates. The leader comes up with a plan or an idea, and then works to convince the employees about its advantages. In this sense, the leader will become a seller to increase the cooperation from the subordinates. The coaching leadership works on the individual’s personal development, as well as job-related skills, making it a collaboration among parties through permanent discussion and continuous feedback, thus working wonders with people who are aware of their limitations but have a growth mindset and are willing to learn and change. 3. Supporting: here, the leader is present during the decision-making process, but appears to be more of an observer or facilitator rather than a participant. They set the objective but the team has the final word on how to achieve it, based on an understanding of the work on the ground. 4. Delegating: this is the “absent” leadership style, where the leader communicates that they trust the team’s knowledge and experience to get the job done. Although the final word comes from the top, the building and perfecting of the ideas is completely independent. This leadership style is more concerned about the overall vision of the company; the leader provides minimal direction and guidance in the day-to-day decision making process. As young professionals, knowing where we are in terms of experience and commitment levels, we can be aware of the types of leadership that work best for us, as well as apply them according to the characteristics, skills, and needs of our co-workers. In the upcoming instalment about situational leadership theory, we will know more about the types of employees and how to more closely adapt both sides to create a more effective working environment. References 1. Hersey, P. and Blanchard, K. H. (1969). Management of Organizational Behavior – Utilizing Human Resources. New Jersey/Prentice Hall. 2. Hersey, P. & Blanchard, K. H. (1969). “Life cycle theory of leadership”. Training and Development Journal. 23 (5): 26–34.Types of Leadership
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The opinions expressed in this article/publication are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of GiLE or its members.
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