Hersey and Blanchard

Situational
Leadership style Theory

Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard

-1970s and early 1980s

"Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory," draws

major views from contingency thinking.

As the name implies, leadership depends upon each

individual situation, and no single leadership style can be
considered the best.

For Hershey and Blanchard, tasks are different and each

type of task requires a different leadership style.

A good leader will be able to adapt her or his leadership to

the goals or objectives to be accomplished. Goal setting,
capacity to assume responsibility, education, and
experience are main factors that make a leader successful.

Four Leadership Styles:

Telling Style: The leader defines the roles needed to do the

job and tells subordinates what, where, how, and when to
do the tasks.

Selling Style: The leader provides subordinates with

supportive instructions, but is also supportive.

Participating Style: The leader and subordinates share in

decisions about how best to complete a high-quality job.

Delegating Style: The leader provides little specific, close

direction or personal support to subordinates.

Implementation:
Leadership Styles

Explanation

Situation

Telling
Emphasize task-oriented
behaviour and be very
directive and autocratic

High task, Low

relationship

Unable, Unwilling
Members are new or
inexperienced and need a
lot of help, direction and
encouragement to get
the job done

Selling
Provides considerable
input about task but also
emphasizes human
relations

High task, High

relationship

Unable and Willing

Members are a little
more responsible,
experienced and willing
to do the task but do not
have the necessary skills.

Implementation:
Leadership Styles

Explanation

Situations

Participating

Low task, High

relationship

Able, Unwilling
Groups have the ability to
do the job but may be
unwilling to start or
complete the task

Delegating

Low task, Low

relationship

Able and Willing

They are self- sufficient
and competent

Contingency and Situational approaches are the same yet

opposite.

They are the same because both of them stress the

importance of situations; they are opposite because they
hold different expectations on leaders.

Situational approach believes a leader should adapt to

the situation at hand. Contingency Theory believes the
right leader should match the right situation.

What differentiates the two is that contingency theory

relies on the present situation opposed to the attitude and
behaviorism that is dealt with in the situational theory.