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Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.
-The Dalai Lama

Situational leadership theory is a part of the strategic leadership theories. This draws from the study of organizational behavior and that leaders are able to motivate followers to commit to and realize performance above their own expectations (Braveman, 2016).

Situational leadership occurs when the leader chooses how to lead a group dependent on the specific factors involved in the situation. This leadership approach is based on the interplay between three important factors: guidance or direction a leader provides, the amount of support a leader provides, and the readiness level that the follower presents (Winston, 2015).

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Readiness Level: how prepared a person is to carry out a task or participate in an assignment. Readiness levels range from R1, R2, R3, and R4 (Winston, 2015).

Relationship Behavior: the extent to which the leader engages in two-way or multiway communication. This is otherwise considered facilitating or supporting the follower's ability to take on the task (Winston, 2015).

Examples: engaging two-way communication, listening, providing support, and facilitating leader behavior (Braveman, 2016).

Task Behavior: the guidance or direction a leader provides. This is the extent to which the leader engages in spelling out the duties and responsibilities of an individual or group (Winston, 2015).

Examples: goal setting, organizing work and workers, establishing deadlines and timelines, directing work, and providing feedback on the quality of performance (Braveman, 2016).

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Application of Situational Leadership from the Literature 

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Application of Situational Leadership from the Literature 

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Application in Clinical Practice:

When working with a client who is at the R1 level, leaders within the clinical setting will need to take a more directive approach to get the task done. The focus is on the task and, not the relationship.

The role of coach is applied when there is still a focus on the task, but the client is gaining confidence and is more willing (R2). This allows the therapist to begin to focus on the relationship as well.

The therapist will need to maintain a greater focus on relationship behaviors by supporting the client, at the R3 level, as the client is able but questioning their skills or abilities.

When the client is willing and able (R4), the leader/therapist is able to delegate or give the responsibility of intervention carryover to the client.

Application in Occupational Therapy (OT) Academia:

Classes are structured to help establish and instruct students on the knowledge and necessary skills needed for OT practice. OT students count on their professors and curriculum to teach them these skills. Therefore, at this level directing is the teaching style used as it is informative and structured. Due to students feeling insecure or lacking confidence, a directive approach is used to help gain confidence and skill.

As students progress through the curriculum, faculty members begin to take on the role of coach as they look to develop skills and foster confidence in students. Also, faculty members seek out ways to collaborate with students. Doing so encourages self-directed learning in a supportive environment and allows students to build professional relationships with their professors.

Using the supporting approach, the faculty role remains teaching, but more emphasis is placed on encouraging, facilitating, and empowering students to apply the knowledge they have learned in the classroom and fieldwork.

Faculty members should be confident in delegating or giving the responsibility of continued professional development to the Level II fieldwork site and fieldwork educator. As leaders, the faculty should be working with students who feel empowered, able, and confident to participate in their Level II rotations.

(Winston, 2015)

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Jason is an occupational therapist and Ms. Smith is a client in an inpatient rehabilitation facility. In the directing phase, Jason and Ms. Smith collaborate on the development of goals but Jason will direct and educate Ms. Smith using his clinical judgment to guide the process and ensure her safety. Moving into the coaching phase, Jason will continue to make decisions while focusing on building Ms. Smith's skills and confidence (with equal focus on task and relationship). Next, as Ms. Smith may be ready to move to outpatient sessions, Jason will focus on building a partnership. He will shift to focus more on the relationship aspect- taking on a supporting role while therapy aids in increasing her confidence. Finally, Jason will demonstrate his confidence in Ms. Smith by delegating. He will suggest strategies for her to utilize through a home program with discharge imminent.

(Winston, 2015)

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The general flow of the situational leadership approach 

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What is the best way to lead?
An individual who takes a situational leadership approach might say, "well, it depends." This is because they assess each situation differently and read multiple factors to determine their direction.

Leadership Style: four types that are dependent on the leader's evaluation of the situation in terms of the tasks to be accomplished, the support needed to complete the task, and the follower's readiness to accept and complete the tasks.

1. Directing- this style has a strong focus on the task and less on the relationship.

2. Coaching- the leader facilitates skill development while at the same time fostering the follower's confidence.

3. Supporting- the leader is able to release responsibility for task completion to the follower but remains available to support development.

4. Delegating- the leader has determined that the follower demonstrates competence in the task and is able to delegate the work with little support needed.

The typical flow of the situational leadership approach is leaders may start in the lower right box, shown in the image above, with a directing approach. As the follower's skills increase the leader may move from the lower right to the upper right, to the upper left, and then the lower left once the follower has developed the skills needed to perform independently. It is important to note that leaders will move within the four styles depending on the follower's needs and not all leaders will need to begin with a directing approach (S1).

(Winston, 2015)

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Avery, G. C., & Ryan, J. (2002). Applying situational leadership in Australia. Journal of Management Development, 21(4), 242-262. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710210423784

Braveman, B. (2016). Leadership: The art, science, and evidence. In B. Braveman (Eds.), Leading & managing occupational therapy services: An evidence-based approach (2nd ed., pp. 3-34). F.A. Davis.

McGuire, K. (2020, November 18). 6 examples of situational leadership in action. Starting Business. https://www.startingbusiness.com/blog/situational-leadership-examples

Papworth, M. A., Milne, D., & Boak, G. (2009). An exploratory content analysis of situational leadership. Journal of Management Development, 28(7), 593-606. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710910972706

Schermerhorn, J. R. (1997). Situational leadership: Conversations with Paul Hersey. Mid-American Journal of Business, 12(2), 5-11. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.201.4096&rep=rep1&type=pdf#page=4

Thompson, G., & Glasø, L. (2015). Situational leadership theory: A test from three perspectives. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(5), 527-544. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-10-2013-0130

Winston, K. (2015). Situational leadership and occupational therapy. In S.B. Dunbar & K. Winston (Eds.), An occupational perspective on leadership: Theoretical and practical dimensions (2nd ed., pp. 15-24). SLACK Inc.

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Steve Jobs: co-founder, chairman, and chief executive of Apple Inc. 

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Using a situational leadership style, Steve Jobs helped Apple achieve massive success in various ways. Jobs would use product launches as a way to get consumers excited about new products, but also a method to sell his ideas to employees. Using a supporting approach, he would motivate his teams to pursue ideas that were unpopular within the company; which would eventually become successful. Jobs would also use a delegating approach. In areas he was not familiar with, he would hire people who were and would be successful without his direct support. An example of this is his success in founding the Pixar Movie Studio (McGuire, 2020).

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Avery, G. C., & Ryan, J. (2002). Applying situational leadership in Australia. Journal of Management Development, 21(4), 242-262. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710210423784

The article discusses an Australian study where leaders who reported utilizing situational leadership indicated that they preferred and more often used a supportive approach as opposed to directive. However, the authors discuss that the intercultural applicability of situational leadership is questioned, and directions for further research into some of the hypotheses generated by this study are proposed (Avery & Ryan, 2002).

Papworth, M. A., Milne, D., & Boak, G. (2009). An exploratory content analysis of situational leadership. Journal of Management Development, 28(7), 593-606. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710910972706

The article is about a study that demonstrated that followers with less experience require more language/a telling-type of leadership, while those with greater experience permit and value a less-involved type, such as delegation (Papworth et al., 2009). This study demonstrates the need for flexibility in leadership style, which is provided when situational leadership is utilized.

Schermerhorn, J. R. (1997). Situational leadership: Conversations with Paul Hersey. Mid-American Journal of Business, 12(2), 5-11. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.201.4096&rep=rep1&type=pdf#page=4

In the article, Schermerhorn (1997) reported that as the follower's level of performance increases, the leader should begin to reduce task behavior and increase relationship behavior until competence is obtained. Next, relationship behavior should be reduced, moving into delegation. Following this strategy supports follower commitment by indicating the leader's trust and confidence.

Thompson, G., & Glasø, L. (2015). Situational leadership theory: A test from three perspectives. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(5), 527-544. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-10-2013-0130

Thompson and Glasø (2015) reiterated that situational leadership can beneficial to both parties, but circumstances must allow for it. The article discussed how a successful relationship between leader and follower requires similar perceptions of competence and commitment for the leader to appropriately provide direction and support. When/if this is applicable, an appropriate level of leadership can be determined.