Situational Leadership

So often I find organization "culture" influencing the leadership style so much that just to align to the "culture" or style of the boss, people miss out on the common sense of leadership styles. I firmly believe that you need to have different strokes for different folks.

Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard have done a phenomenal job of explaining this through 'Situational Leadership". Effectiveness of a leadership style - Directing, Coaching, Supporting or Delegating- depends on development level of the follower. Hersey and Blanchard use four development levels to explain the concept.

* D1 -“Enthusiastic Beginner”: Low Competence, High Commitment
* D2 - “Disillusioned Learner”: Some Competence, Low Commitment
* D3 - “Reluctant Contributor”: Moderate to High Competence, Variable Commitment
* D4 - “Peak Performer”: High Competence, High Commitment

Suggested leadership styles for each levels are:
* Directing for Enthusiastic Beginner
* Coaching for Disillusioned Learner
* Supporting for Reluctant Contributor
* Delegating for Peak Performer

There is a lot of literature available on this topic, but there is, unfortunately, a very few people / organizations practicing them:-(

So, which leadership style works for you?