Dear Dr. Blanchard:

In your book Leadership and the One Minute Manager, you discuss the key factors a manager should consider when adopting a leadership style. You state that the primary criteria for selecting a specific management style are based on the developmental level, ability and motivation of the person being supervised. Aren’t there other factors, such as time and place, which might also determine the appropriate or best leadership style to adopt?

– A Potential Situational Leader

Dear PSL:

You’re absolutely right.

In addition to the skill and motivational levels of the subordinate, other factors must also be considered when a manager decides upon one best style of leadership to meet an individual’s needs. In our initial work in developing the concept of Situational Leadership, Paul Hersey and I found that the two most important variables which determine leadership style are motivation and ability of the person being managed. However, other issues most certainly should be considered as well. For example, the style and expectations of your boss may be important in influencing how you will manage others. If your boss is a very directive, authoritarian leader and expects the same of you, it may be difficult for you to engage in a participative or delegating management style without getting into some conflict.

If your peers and associates are managing in a certain way in terms of their leadership style and you are behaving differently, you could be considered a “spoiler” and be a threat to their security. As a result, they might pressure you to “get in line” with their approach.

Organizational culture or personality is another factor that can have an impact on leadership style. Organizations, as with people, have definite personalities. The styles available to managers in a military organization, in a bureaucratic office or in a creative setting will vary. A wise manager will understand the need to modify his or her style to accommodate these differences.

Other variables that can come into play are the demands of the job or expected output of the department or unit. Some jobs are structured and more routine than others. In such a situation, a directive style is needed. However, in other jobs there is limited structure and things are freewheeling. This means that a supportive or delegating management style would probably be best.

Still another important consideration is the time factor. The less time you have to manage, the more directive your leadership style will be. Participative management takes a great deal more time and effort and involves a good deal of give-and-take between manager and subordinate. Directive management is generally cut and dry.

It is very important for a leader to both diagnose the situation in which he or she is managing and those people being managed. First, diagnose those who are to be managed for initial clues about which managerial style is best. Then consider other factors which must be brought into the equation. Are you the foreman of a factory or the director of the creative department of an advertising agency? Obviously your leadership style will be different if you’re an admiral rather than a camp counselor.

While you should remember there is a need for varied leadership styles for different folks based on their abilities and motivation, there are also other environmental considerations which influence the final management style adopted. As we know, the world isn’t a perfect place. Nor are there black and white answers to every question. Hence, a good manager will learn to balance the needs of his or her people with the realities of the workplace.

Dr. Ken Blanchard, the “One Minute Manager” himself, holds the position of Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and is the chairman of the Board of Blanchard Training & Development Inc., in Escondido, California.