In recent decades, business has evolved at an unprecedented pace. Subsequently, effective leadership has become ever more complex, meaning great leadership is increasingly critical to ensure the success of any business. Successful leaders create environments where innovation and excellence thrive, and where highly motivated individuals and teams are inspired to take the business to the next level.
Highly effective leaders adapt to any environment. Many leadership methodologies attempt to achieve this – with various degrees of success. Of these, the Situational Leadership II (SLII) model has proven to be one of, and arguably the most, successful of all. SLII helps to create successful leaders by allowing them to build deep relationships with individuals and team members, while creating opportunities to inspire and motivate in a meaningful way.
Developed by Keneth Blanchard, SLII builds on the Situational Leadership model created in collaboration with Dr. Paul Hersey in the 1970s. The original model states that leadership behavior should be based on specific tasks or situations. This is achieved by matching the management styles of Telling, Selling, Participating, and Delegating with four levels of group maturity.
With SLII, Blanchard expanded on this idea by identifying more focused leadership styles, including Directing, Coaching, Supporting, and Delegating, and matching them with levels of competence and commitment, like the Enthusiastic Beginner, Disillusioned Learner, Capable but Curious Performer, and Self-reliant Achiever, instead of team maturity.
Inherent to the success of the SLII model is the effective, practical, and engaging way in which it is taught. One of the best methods is through the SLII Leadership Experience, which relies on a combination of various teaching channels, easy access, and practical, real-world implementation and support.
Let’s take a deeper look into these essential elements of SLII:
Building a solid knowledge base takes time, and we all have different learning styles. Some people are visual, others need to listen to lectures or learn best from books. That’s why the SLII Experience is not just one workshop, but a series of learning options that cater to different learning styles. This includes different classroom options (virtual, traditional in-person, or hybrid classrooms) as well as lesson types to choose from.
People learn better when they are engaged via practical application. The SLII Experience is focused on providing a learning experience that includes fewer lectures, and more involvement through things like team-building exercises, and group discussions right from the start.
No two executives’ schedules are the same, meaning correlating learning times between work and personal responsibilities can be difficult. But that doesn’t mean learning should stop. By giving professionals anytime-access to an online portal with learning tools like on-demand videos, group discussion planners, and guidance, they can structure their preparation, learning, and review time around their busy schedules.
Reinforcement and support are critical for retaining knowledge. It may be easy to recall information and concepts while in the learning environment, but once you step into the ‘real world’, it becomes more difficult. SLII provides tools like short refresher videos, quick tips, real-time access to learning team members, and a useful easy-t-use- app. The handy SLII app allows participants to instantly diagnose and implement learned SLII concepts, as well as to reinforce and support the practical implementation of SLII. These tools help to maintain a solid foundation for managers to apply SLII concepts effectively.
No matter your industry or role, collaboration is the ‘special sauce’ that can take organizations to the next level. It is especially critical for leadership to create environments where teams can collaborate and thrive. SLII teaches collaboration by emphasizing the utilization of collaborative opportunities immediately. Participants share ideas and experience via various channels that translate directly into ‘real world’ collaboration environments upon implementation in their organization.
A mistake that many leadership concepts make is to focus only on leaders, but in practice, success is always a team-driven endeavor. That doesn’t mean that there is no room for individuals, as team member accountability is one of the key drivers of team success. The SLII Experience equips leaders with the skills to create a culture of accountability within their organizations, both for themselves, the team, and the team members.
One of the most important aspects of learning is honest and constructive feedback. It allows participants to test their knowledge and understanding of critical concepts and helps them to identify learning focus areas. Tools like SLII ‘Fitness Tests’, short quizzes, and challenges allow participants to test and retest their skills and knowledge, both inside, and critically, outside the classroom or learning environment. These tools help leaders to improve quicker and become effective leaders.
Research has shown that there is no single best leadership style, but the popularity and effectiveness of the SLII model make it hands down one of the best. A key metric to its success is the easy and practical way in which it is taught, and its easy implementation across organizational structures and cultures. The SLII Experience is a great way for good leaders to become highly effective, transformational leaders.
A leadership training program that imparts how to build meaningful connections with coworkers which further creates exponential growth for the organization and increases productivity and engagement.
