Diagnosing Educational Leadership

Problems: A Siluational Approach

Reported and illustrated here is a conceptual framework, known as Situational Leadership Theory, that can help practicing managers make effective day-to-day decisions on how various situations should be handled.

the past few decades, practitioners and writers in the field of leadership and management have been in volved in a search for a "best" style of leadership which would be successful in most situations. Yet, the evidence from research clearly indicates that there is no single all-purpose leadership style. 1 Success ful leaders are those who can adapt their behavior to meet the demands of their own unique environment. This conclusion that leadership "all depends on the situation" is not very helpful to the practicing educational leader who may be personally interested in how he or she can find some practical value in theory.

Unless one can help this leader deter-

1 A. K. Korman. " 'Consideration,' 'Initiating Structure,' and 'Organizational Criteria' A Re view." Personnel Psychology: A Journal of Applied Research 1 9 (4): 349-61; Winter 1966. See also: Fred E. Fiedler. A Theory of Leadership Effective ness. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1967.

PHILIP E. GATES"KENNETH H. BLANCHARD

PAUL HERSEY

mine when it is appropriate to behave in what way, all theory and research have done is set the practitioner up for frustration. As a result, one of the major concerns of the work of Paul Hersey and Kenneth H. Blanchard has been the development of a conceptual framework which can help prac ticing managers make effective day-to-day decisions on how various situations should be handled. Situational Leadership Theory -

2 Situational Leadership Theory was first pub lished by Hersey and Blanchard as "Life Cycle Theory of Leadership" in the Training and Develop ment Journal, May 1969. The theory has continu ally been refined until in its present form it is referred to as "Situational Leadership Theory." The most complete presentation of the theory will ap pear in: Paul Hersey and Kenneth H. Blanchard. Management of Organizational Behavior. Third edition. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice- Hall, Inc., 1976.

"Philip E. Gates, Director of Secondary Educa tion, Scottsdale Unified School District No. 48, Arizona; Kenneth H. Blanchard, Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior and Co-Director, Center for Curriculum and Orga nizational Development, University of Massa chusetts, Amherst; and Paul Hersey, Director, Center for Leadership Studies and Professor of Management and Organizational Behavior, Ohio University, Athens

348 Educational Leadership

(sometimes referred to as "Life Cycle Theory of Leadership") will be presented in this article by Hersey and Blanchard, the theor ists, and applied to educational leadership situations by Philip E. Gates, the practitioner.

Situational Leadership TheoryThis theory grew out of earlier leader

ship models that were based on two kinds of behavior central to the concept of leader ship style: task behavior and relationship behavior. Task behavior is the extent to which a leader engages in one-way commu nication by explaining what each subordinate is to do as well as when, where, and how tasks are to be accomplished. R elationship behavior i s the extent to which a leader engages in two-way communication by providing socio-emotional support, "psycho logical strokes," and facilitating behaviors. The two dimensions of leader behavior, plotted on two separate axes, are shown in Figure 1.

Since research in the past several decades has clearly supported the contention that there is no "best" style of leadership, any of the four basic styles shown in Figure 1 may be effective or ineffective depending on the situation.

Situational Leadership Theory is based upon an interplay among (1) the amount of direction (task behavior) a leader gives, (2) the amount of socio-emotional support (relationship behavior) a leader provides.

HighRelationship

andLow Task

LowRelationship

andLow Task

High Taskand

HighRelationship

High TaskandLow

Relationship

(Low) Task Behavior (High)

Figure 1. Basic Leader Behavior Styles

February 1976

and (3) the "maturity" level that followers exhibit on a specific task.

Level of Maturity

Maturity is defined in Situational Lead ership Theory as the capacity to set high but attainable goals (achievement-motivation 3 ), willingness and ability to take responsibility, and education and/or experience of an indi vidual or a group. These variables of matur ity should be considered only in relation to a specific task to be performed. That is to say, an individual or a group is not mature or immature in any total sense. People tend to have varying degrees of maturity depend ing on the specific task, function, or objec tive that a leader is attempting to accomplish through their efforts. Thus, a teacher may be very responsible in organizing lesson plans but very casual about handling discipline in the classroom. As a result, it may be appro priate for a principal to provide little super vision for this teacher when organizing the classroom curriculum, yet to closely super vise when class discipline is the issue.

The Basic Concept

According to Situational Leadership Theory, as the level of maturity of their fol lowers continues to increase in terms of accomplishing a specific task, leaders should begin to reduce their task behavior and increase their relationship behavior. This should be the case until the individual or group reaches a moderate level of maturity. As the followers begin to move into an above average level of maturity, it becomes appro priate for leaders to decrease not only task behavior but relationship behavior as well. Now the individual or group is not only ma ture in terms of the performance of the task but also is psychologically mature.

Since the individual or group can pro vide their own "strokes" and reinforcement,

3 David C. McClelland, J. W. Atkinson, R. A. Clark, and E. L. Lowell. The Achievement Motive. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1 953, and David C. McClelland. The Achieving Society. Princeton, New Jersey: D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., 1961.

349

a great deal of socio-emotional support from the leader is no longer necessary. People at this maturity level see a reduction of close supervision and an increase in delegation by the leader as a positive indication of trust and confidence. Thus, Situational Leader ship Theory focuses on the appropriateness or effectiveness of leadership styles accord ing to the task relevant maturity of the fol lowers. This cycle can be illustrated by a bell-shaped curve superimposed upon the four leadership quadrants, as shown in Figure 2.

Style of Leader vs. Maturity of Followers

Figure 2 attempts to portray the relation between task relevant maturity and the ap propriate leadership styles to be used as followers move from immaturity to maturity. As indicated, the reader should keep in mind

EFFECTIVE STYLES

| TASK BEHAVIOR | (high)

£3<0

2

HIGH

M4

MODERATE

M3 M2

LOW

M1

Figure 2 . Situational Leadership Theory

that the figure represents two different phe nomena. The appropriate leadership style (style of leader) for given levels of follower maturity is portrayed by a curvilinear func tion in the four leadership quadrants. The maturity level of the individual or group being supervised ( maturity of follower) is depicted below the leadership model as a continuum ranging from immaturity to maturity.

In referring to the leadership styles in the model, we will use the following short hand designations: ( 1) high task-low rela tionship will be referred to as leader behavior style SI; (2) high task-high relationship behavior as leader behavior style S2; (3) high relationship-low task behavior as leader behavior style S3; and (4) low relationship- low task behavior as style S4.

In terms of follower maturity, it is not simply a question of being mature or im mature but a question of degree. As can be seen in Figure 2, some benchmarks of ma turity can be provided for determining appropriate leadership style by dividing the maturity continuum into four levels of ma turity. Low levels of task relevant maturity are referred to as maturity level M1; low to moderate as maturity level M2; moderate to high as maturity level M3; and high levels of task relevant maturity as maturity level M4.

ApplicationWhat does the bell-shaped curve in the

style-of-leader portion of the model mean? It means that as the maturity level of one's followers develops along the continuum from immature to mature, the appropriate style of leadership moves accordingly along the curvilinear function.

Determining Appropriate Style

To determine what leadership style is appropriate to use in a given situation, one must first determine the maturity level of the individual or group in relation to a spe cific task that the leader is attempting to accomplish through their efforts. Once this

350 Educational Leadership

EFFECTIVE STYLES

(low]

UJT3

(high)

HIGH

< ———

M4

MOD

M3

ERATE

M2

LOW

x** M1

Figure 3. Determining an Appropriate Leadership Style

maturity level is identified, the appropriate leadership style can be determined by con structing a right angle (90 angle) from the point on the continuum that identifies the maturity level of the followers to a point where it intersects on the curvilinear func tion in the style of leader portion of the model. The quadrant in which that inter section takes place suggests the appropriate style to be used by the leader in that situation with followers of that maturity level. Let us look at an example in Figure 3.

Suppose a superintendent has deter mined that a principal's maturity level in terms of administrative paper work (reports, attendance records) is low. Using Situational Leadership Theory he or she would place an X on the maturity continuum as shown in Figure 3 (above Ml). Once the superin tendent had decided that he or she wanted to influence the principal's behavior in this area, the superintendent could determine the

appropriate initial style to use by construct ing a right angle from the X drawn on the maturity continuum to a point where it inter sects the bell-shaped curve (designated in Figure 3 by O). Since the intersection occurs in the SI quadrant, it is suggested that when working with people who demon strate Ml maturity on a particular task, a leader should use an SI style (high task-low relationship behavior). If one follows this technique for determining the appropriate leadership style for all four of the maturity levels, it will become clear that the four maturity designations (Ml. M2, M3. M4) correspond to the four leader behavior designations (SI, S2, S3, S4) ; that is. Ml maturity needs SI style, M2 maturity needs S2 style, etc.

In this example, when we say low rela tionship behavior, we do not mean that the superintendent is not friendly or personable to the principal. We merely suggest that the superintendent, in supervising the principal's handling of administrative paper work, should spend more time directing the prin cipal in what to do and how, when, and where to do it, than providing socio-emotional support and reinforcement. The increased relationship behavior should occur when the principal begins to demonstrate the ability to handle necessary administrative paper work. At that point, a movement from Style 1 to Style 2 may be appropriate.

Thus, Situational Leadership Theory contends that in working with people who are low in maturity (Ml) in terms of ac complishing a specific task, a high task/low relationship style (SI) has the highest prob ability of success; in dealing with people who are of low to moderate maturity (M2), a moderate structure and socio-emotional style (S2) appears to be most appropriate; while in working with people who are of moderate to high maturity (M3) in terms of accom plishing a specific task, a high relationship/ low task style (S3) has the highest probability of success; and finally, a low relationship/low task style (S4) has the highest probability of success in working with people of high task relevant maturity (M4).

February 1976 351

Developing Maturity in Followers

In attempting to help an individual or group mature in a particular area, such as getting them to take more and more respon sibility for performing a specific task, a leader must be careful not to delegate re sponsibility and/or provide socio-emotional support too rapidly. If the leader does this, the individual or group may view the leader

as a "soft-touch" and take advantage. Ob serve the teachers whose supervisor presents the staff with the district supply list, and without establishing any parameters, in structs them to go ahead and order from it. Some of the staff may not have any experi ence in ordering supplies and will order vir tually everything available, whether they need it or not. At the opposite extreme, others will order too frugally and end up short.

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352 Educational Leadership

Teachers experienced with this task will se lect needed items efficiently and economi cally. Obviously, it is up to the supervisor to determine exactly how much direction should be given to each teacher for ordering supplies. The degree of individual structure the super visor provides will depend on the maturity of each of the teachers in relation to the task at hand.

A leader must develop the maturity of followers slowly on each task that they per form, using less task behavior and more relationship behavior as they mature and become more willing and able to take re sponsibility. When an individual's perfor mance is low on a specific task, one must not expect drastic changes overnight. For a desirable behavior to be obtained, a leader must reward as soon as possible the slightest behavior exhibited by the individual in the desired direction and continue this process as the individual's behavior comes closer and closer to the leader's expectations of good performance. This behavior modification concept 4 is called positively reinforcing suc cessive approximations of desired behavior.

For example, a principal might want to move a newly appointed department head through the cycle so that she would be assuming significantly more supervisory re sponsibilities. If this individual has had no experience chairing departmental meet ings, the principal might help her plan a written agenda for her first meeting, and then evaluate the results with her. If this responsibility is well handled by the depart ment head, the principal will want to rein force this behavior with increases in socio- emotional support (relationship behavior). This is a two-step process: first, a reduction

4 The most classic discussions of behavior modification, reinforcement theory, or operant con ditioning, have been done by B. F. Skinner. See: B. F. Skinner. Science and Human Behavior. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1953. Some ex cellent applications of this field to education are presented in: Glenna Holsinger. Motivating the Reluctant Learner. Lexington, Massachusetts: Motivity, Inc., 1970; Lloyd Homme. How To Use Contingency Contraction in the Classroom. Cham paign, Illinois: Research Press, Inc., 1970; and Madeline Hunter. Reinforcement Theory for Teachers. E l Segundo, California: TIP Publications, 1967.

in structure, and second, if adequate per formance follows, an increase in socio- emotional support as reinforcement. This process should continue until the department head has reached moderate levels of maturity (M2 and M3) in chairing departmental meetings. This does not mean that her meetings will be less structured; rather it means that the direction provided will be given by the department head rather than being provided by the principal.

As the department head continues to de velop in this area, the appropriate leadership style for the principal to use begins to move toward Style 4. Now the department head is not only able to chair department meet ings, but is able to provide her own satisfac tion for interpersonal and emotional needs. At this stage of maturity (M4), the depart ment head will tend to be positively rein forced for her accomplishments by the principal not looking over her shoulder at department meetings and leaving her more and more on her own. It is not that there is less mutual trust and friendship between the principal and department head but rather that less interaction time is needed to prove it.

Let us look at another example of how knowledge of the developmental aspect of Situational Leadership Theory could help an individual increase the maturity level of fol lowers in a particular area.

Tom was a bright student who failed ninth grade English. He failed, not because he could not do the work, but because his teacher used an inappropriate teaching style for him in this subject. Since Tom's English class was considered a "bright" group, the teacher assumed that he could make assign ments to students with little direction or close supervision. While this approach worked with other students, Tom was an exception. He came from a broken home where he got little support or encouragement in his school work. When he brought home written as signments from English, he was often "side tracked" and interrupted. As a result, even if he completed an assignment, it was sloppy and disorganized. All his teacher did was tell Tom continually that he had to be both

February 1976 353

more careful with his work and get it in on time. But generally, his teacher left him alone and merely kept score of his "failures" in the grade book. At the end of the semes ter, Tom failed the course.

The next semester he was asked to re peat the course with the same teacher. This time he earned honor roll grades in English.

How did this dramatic change in be havior occur?

Between the two classes, Tom's teacher was exposed to Situational Leadership Theory. Bothered by Tom's failure, the teacher was continually thinking about Tom while learning about the theory. Analyzing the situation, the teacher realized that Tom's maturity level in terms of the course require ments for English was very low (Ml) and yet generally, the teacher was using a "hands off" (S4) teaching style with him.

Armed with these new insights, the teacher developed a strategy for working with Tom this time. Since his maturity level was low in writing and compositional skills, the teacher knew that Tom would need some significant task behavior (SI) from the be ginning. As a result, knowing that Tom loved sports, the teacher directed him to start writing some sports stories for the student newspaper. As advisor to the paper, the teacher was able to give Tom specific assign ments and work with him closely (SI) as he wrote his articles. After they had worked together on his first article and it was pub lished, Tom really got excited about writing and began to take it more seriously. Since Tom was doing his writing at school, he was in a supportive environment where he could get supervision as he needed it. In the long run, the teacher was able to reduce direction and supervision and provide Tom with more socio-emotional support (S2).

Eventually Tom became responsible enough that he was able to turn out ac ceptable copy with little help from the teacher. Now the teacher was able to con centrate almost exclusively on commending his efforts (S3). This gradual development paid dividends. Not only did Tom's English grades improve to B's and eventually A's,

but he also was able to get a part-time job working with the local community news paper. He wrote and proofread copy, and learned to set type. This was accomplished with limited teacher involvement (S4). Tom had completely accepted responsibility for the task of writing well. In terms of Situa tional Leadership Theory, he had fully matured with respect to the desired task as a result of the teacher's adopting appropriate leadership styles.

Intervening When Maturity Is Decreasing

Although Situational Leadership Theory suggests a specific style for each different level of task maturity, it is not a one-way street. When an individual begins to regress in maturity for whatever reason, such as a crisis at home or a change of job, it becomes appropriate for the leader to adjust his or her leadership style accordingly. For ex ample, take a teacher who was highly moti vated and competent (M4) and therefore could be left on his own (S4). Suppose he is promoted to principal, based on his teach ing ability alone. While it may have been appropriate to leave him alone (S4) as a teacher, now that he is principal, a task for which he has little experience, it may be appropriate for his supervisor in the central office to change styles by providing more socio-emotional support and then increasing the direction and supervision of his activities (Style 3 to Style 2). This high task-high relationship style should continue until he is able to grasp his new responsibilities. At that time, a movement back from Style 2 through Style 3 to Style 4 may be appro priate. Starting off using the same leader ship style that was successful while he was a teacher may now prove devastating because it may be inappropriate for the needs of this situation.

We have endeavored to present Situa tional Leadership Theory as a means by which educational leaders at every level can increase their probability of success in work ing with and through others to accomplish goals. D

354 Educational Leadership

Copyright © 1976 by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. All rights reserved.