Pacific Training & Development

How would you describe success in leadership?

A lot of time and effort, articles and books, conferences and workshops are devoted to helping us define and develop successful leadership. But how do we know if we’re seeing it? If we’re experiencing it? And if we’re delivering it?

There are many measures we could come up with to identify whether our leadership attempts have worked: positive results, organisational growth, progress, development … all good indicators.

But what type of leadership behaviour needs to be happening before we get those positive outcomes? How can we know if we’re being led effectively as we pursue those results? How can we know whether we are delivering the type of leadership that will produce the success we’re after?

Here’s one thing to think about: effective leaders create the conditions for other people to succeed.

A leader can’t produce the results by him or herself. By definition a leader works with and through others. And while some leadership approaches attempt to directly operate through other people - making those people simple extensions of the leader’s actions - the more effective and sustainable approaches tend to focus on enabling others to deploy and synchronise their own strengths and knowledge with others to produce collaborative outcomes.

To do that requires creating an environment that allows and encourages others to succeed. It means influencing the broader environment as well as the indidivuals involved.

And it means assessing and responding to individual and group needs in order to provide the direction and/or support that is required in different situations.

This requires ability to adapt our leadership style to different situational needs. Creating the conditions for success is going to require different activities for different people in relation to different tasks.

Creating the conditions for others to succeed is not always a matter of just “giving clear directions", or of “providing positive reinforcement", or “inviting input and ideas to encourage ownership". It’s not even simply about “setting the example".

Each of these behaviours is, of course, potentially valid and valuable. Giving clear directions is essential for new tasks and new teams, but can be annoying and demeaning to experienced operators. Providing positive reinforcement is great for acknowledging achievements but is of little use if an individual or team doesn’t yet know what they are doing or isn’t performing to standard. And inviting input and ideas from experienced and informed people is entirely sensible but is frustrating if those people aren’t adequately informed or experienced.

Creating the conditions for others to succeed requires “heads-up", adaptable leadership. This is the focus of Situational Leadership® - leadership that can identify situational needs by assessing the task requirements, determining the needs of others and then adapting influencing behaviours in a visible and understandable way.

Such an approach requires the self-awareness to know our own preferences and the self-managment to be able to reach outside familiar behaviours so we can effectively influence the operating environment and support group needs.

It’s worth the effort. Because what could be better than helping others succeed?

So this week, why not think about your leadership in terms of creating the conditions for others to succeed. Who are you helping to succeed? How can you help them achieve even greater success by influencing the environment, better understanding their needs or adapting your behaviours?

Because ulimately the success of those we lead is the test of our own success as leaders.

Aubrey Warren
National Master Trainer
Situational Leadership Australia®

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Situational Leadership® is a registered trademark of Leadership Studies, Inc. www.situational.com All rights reserved.

We’ve all played charades: silently acting out a word, phrase or name for others to guess.

Sometimes it’s easy. Either because the word is easy to act out or because the audience just “gets it” through shared familiarity.

Here’s a scary thought: what if your name came up in a game of charades at work? What would the person or group who had to act it out actually do to communicate your identity to the group?

Would there be lots of smiles, open arms, generous gestures, smiles, attentive listening, looks of confidence and encouragement? Or would there be hunched shoulders, seriousness, finger wagging, hands on hips, anxiety, or even hostility?

Whether we hold formal or informal leadership roles, those around us develop expectations of our typical behaviours. These become, quite reasonably, the ways in which people anticipate we will conduct ourselves.

“Everyone watches the boss,” writes Daniel Goleman in The New Leaders. “People take their emotional cues from the top … even when leaders were not talking, they were watched more carefully than anyone else in the group” (pp.9-10).

There’s a simple principle behind this: we trust what we see. Words can be misleading or misunderstood. Thoughts and intentions are unseen and unknowable. Actions speak louder than words.

Of course, what people see us do in turn affects the way in which they interact with us. If they’ve learned to expect openness and acceptance, they’ll be open; if they’ve learned to expect questioning and exploration, they’ll come prepared with good information; if they’ve learned to expect resistance, they’ll ask themselves if it’s worth the grief or they’ll come prepared for battle; if they’ve learned to expect irritation or exasperation, they’ll limit their interactions to the absolutely necessary - and then proceed with caution!

But there’s another dimension to our leadership behaviours. Because, particularly in uncertain or ambiguous situations, people tend to model their own behaviours on those of the leader - formal or informal. This, of course, creates organisational culture - “the way things are done around here".

One of the key principles Situational Leadership® teaches is that it is our behaviour - not our thoughts or intentions - that creates our leadership “style". It’s our words and actions that create patterns of behaviour that communicate our style to others.

The problem is that we are often not as aware of our own behaviour as others are because we see our behaviours through the lens of our intentions and in the context of our own circumstances. And those internal views are impossible for those around us to see. So they trust what they see: our outward behaviour. And they interpret that behaviour as reflecting our attitudes, our values and our standards.

Here are three things to think about in managing our leadership behaviours to create more positive and effective relationships:

1. Identify your typical influencing behaviours. Think about an upcoming interaction and what you typically say and do in such situations. Create a silent movie - a charade - of what your behaviour in such a situation would look like. What would others typically see you do? And how might they interpret that behaviour?

2. Anticipate the situational needs. Thinking situationally isn’t complicated, but it does require conscious and informed discipline. Without the discipline of analysing the situational needs of those we are seeking to influence, the natural impulse is to simply go with gut instinct, habit or the path of least resistance. Do you need to be more task oriented, or less? Does the situation require high levels of supportive behaviour, or not?

3. Plan the most appropriate influencing behaviours. Once you’ve identified the situational needs you can evaluate whether your typical behaviours (Step 1) are likely to get the outcomes - long-term as well as short-term - that you’re after, or whether you need to adapt in some way. Again, this is not complicated, but it doesn’t happen without conscious planning. Of course, if you’re not so familiar with the behaviour required it can take some time and practice! And if others aren’t familiar with you using a particular behaviour, it might take them some time to get used to it, too.

You can start this process immediately. And you can evaluate it, too. After you’ve engaged in the situation, reflect on what you did. What charade would be acted out by someone who was watching or someone who was involved in the situation?

Our behaviour is important, because people trust what they see. Our actions speak louder than our words. And they leave a lasting impact. It’s called our “leadership style".

Aubrey Warren
National Master Trainer
Situational Leadership® Australia

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Situational Leadership® is a registered trademark of Leadership Studies, Inc. www.situational.com All rights reserved.

There’s an interesting assumption about communication that goes something like this: If I’m doing the talking I am in control. It naturally follows, then, that leaders must talk a lot because that’s how they exercise control and get people to do things.

The illusion of control through talking is a seductive one. And of course, if people just aren’t “getting it” then the answer must be to talk some more!

One of the most overlooked realities of communication is that the meaning of the message is determined not by the “sender” of the message (the speaker or writer, for example) but by the receiver (the listener, reader or observer).

Which is why the effect and effectiveness of our communication is demonstrated after we have communicated - not because we have communicated. And this is something that clearly has implications for managing the success of our influencing attempts.

It’s easy enough to understand when we put ourselves in the shoes of the listener, reader or observer. We’ve all had the experience of hanging up the phone or walking away from a conversation and saying to ourselves - or even someone else - “Why do they think I’m an idiot?” or “Fine, but it won’t work", or “Well, I guess I just have to work it out for myself".

These sorts of responses typically flow from a “mismatched” communication style - for example using a directive or instructive approach when a supportive or collaborative approach would have been more appropriate. Or vice-versa.

When our needs or concerns in a particular situation have not been acknowledged or addressed we can feel disempowered, disrespected or disengaged. Even though that’s rarely what the person trying to influence us intended. Worse, they’ve probably moved on from the exchange assuming all is well!

Our influencing attempts succeed or fail in large part according to how effectively we adapt our communication behaviour to the situational needs of the individual or group we are working with.

Which is not rocket science, of course. It’s just that it’s very easy to make one of two understandable mistakes:

1. Not actually assessing the situational needs - for example, the required performance standard, the experience of the group, the confidence of the individual, or

2. Simply defaulting to an influencing style that is most comfortable and familiar to us - for example, being directive or delegative because that’s the way we like to do things.

By taking a few moments to ask ourselves about the required performance standards of a task, the group’s experience or an individual’s confidence or familiarity with a situation, we’ll be much better able to determine the best approach to take in order to achieve the action we are seeking.

Again, this is not rocket science. But it does require that we are aware of: a) how to assess situational needs, and b) how to manage our leadership behaviours.

This practical information is vital to bridging the gap between “knowing” it makes sense to adapt our influencing behaviour according to situational needs, and actually being able to do so.

This is what makes Situational Leadership® so practical and valuable – its commonsense approach to effective influence is something that can be learned and applied with positive effect at all levels of organisational life.

But nothing changes unless we do – so next time you walk away from a conversation in which you’ve been attempting to influence someone, ask yourself this question: “What are they going to do now?”

Because the real test of our influence is what happens after we speak …

Aubrey Warren
National Master Trainer
Situational Leadership Australia®

Subscribe to The Situational Leader

Situational Leadership® is a registered trademark of Leadership Studies, Inc. www.situational.com All rights reserved.

Every day we encounter different communication styles. Without consciously labelling communication behaviours, we quickly become aware of the different ways in which people prefer to communicate. And these communication styles are typically reflective of their leadership style because our leadership is delivered largely by the way in which we communicate (or don’t communicate).

Our workshops have revealed that directive communication is a challenge for many people. And it’s not just those assuming leadership roles who say they struggle with it - many people say they want more directive communication from those leading them.

Directive communication is the style we typically need when communicating with those who have low levels of knowledge, ability and confidence or motivation around a task. They need clarity of expectation and direction, not lots of explanation, alternatives, options, or invitations to provide input. In fact, as well meaning as those approaches may be, they can frustrate, confuse and irritate.

The clarity that comes from simple, direct communication gives confidence because it reduces potential confusion.

Somehow though, being direct in our communication has become synonymous with being “rude” or “aggressive". So the communication “safety zone” often becomes a sort of request, wrapped in a some nice reassurance and gentle suggestion, sometimes with an invitation to provide input thrown in for good measure. Which can get a bit confusing for someone who just needs to be told what to do!

The more words we use the more confusing a situation gets for someone who doesn’t know a whole lot about it. But just saying “I want you to do this, in this way and by this time” somehow feels … too blunt, maybe a bit authoritarian, or just plain wrong. And yet we can all think of situations where that’s exactly what we want - “go here, get this, do that, come back". Easy! It certainly beats “Here’s the thing … so it would be really good if we had someone who could … and that would mean … so there’s no one right way to do it, but what I’ve found is that … blah, blah, blah …, so what do you think?". On the receiving end there’s so much decoding and interpretation having to be done that an otherwise simple message can get awfully complicated!

Of course, there are situations where lengthy explanations are necessary and where asking for input is definitely the way to go. But those approaches are wasted and even resented when someone simply needs direction or instruction related to a situation.

And of course we should always be courteous and respectful in our communication, no matter what style we use. Courtesy and respect do not need to be compromised when we use a directive style - in fact, being direct with someone can show that you respect their capacity to be communicated with in a mature “adult to adult” manner.

So, let’s consider five basic principles for using directive communication:

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By now many of us have made and broken (or maybe just forgotten!) at least a couple of resolutions for the year ahead. You know how it goes: a few days of relaxation and your mind starts exploring all sorts of exciting possibilities for the year ahead. It all seemed so achievable …

Here’s the good news: even if the resolution has been broken already, if it’s worth pursuing then there are some practical strategies that can help you achieve your goals.

Let’s call it the OSCAARR approach to change and achieving goals.

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