Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 29

ORGANIZATIONAL
RESILIENCY:
A FUNCTION OF
LEADER ADAPTABILITY
AND VERSATILITY

BY SAM SHRIVER, ED.D.,
AND CASEY MULQUEEN, PH.D.
In the modern era, leadership has
become more complex than ever
before. Organizations want leaders with
versatile skill sets, combining technical
and functional expertise, emotional
intelligence, creativity, critical thinking
and the ability to recognize and respond
to employees' abilities for any given
assignment. With so many objectives and
demands on leaders, organizations invest
considerable budgets for leadership
training, often using multiple commercial
programs to fulfill their curricula, but
without any evidence for how these
programs complement one another
to achieve their objectives. Different
models have unique goals or theories
and sometimes these models may have
elements that are theoretically unaligned
or even opposed with one another, leaving
leaders confused about when to use each
model or how to use them together.
Two models that are often used in
conjunction are Situational Leadership®
and SOCIAL STYLE®. While these models
target distinct areas of leader performance,
a question that has never been addressed
is whether there are any unknown benefits
when the two programs are combined.
Can leaders gain insights from both

models, when used together, that could
improve their effectiveness?
To answer this question, The Center for
Leadership Studies (CLS) and TRACOM
Group partnered to conduct research
with 4,237 people who were profiled
on each model. We used a multi-rater
assessment method, meaning that leaders
were profiled by their teams and other
coworkers, to more effectively determine
their leadership style and individual
behavioral preferences.

of relationship support. For leaders,
particularly emerging leaders, this dual
insight into their natural behavioral style
and the conditions under which they
need to alter their behavior to fit their
followers' needs makes both programs
a complementary match that enhances
their overall development as a leader.
When leaders consistently practice
both models, they are earning the trust
of their followers - a critical aspect of
leader effectiveness.

Situational Leadership®
LEADERS GRAVITATE
TOWARD THE LEADERSHIP
APPROACH THAT IS MOST
NATURAL FOR THEM.
We found that leaders' natural
behavioral styles can influence which
leadership approach they prefer to use,
but that leaders with high adaptability
and versatility adjust their approach
when followers require a high degree

Situational Leadership® is a model
developed by Dr. Paul Hersey that, in
2019, is celebrating its 50th year of
active use (see Figure 1 on page 30). It
is a contingency model that sits on a
foundation of pioneering research in
the field of organizational behavior.
Its repeatable, practical use is driven
by leaders reviewing the following
three questions:
* What is the specific task?
* What is the follower's level of ability
and willingness to perform that task;
what is their Performance Readiness®?

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MAGAZ INE -FORMALIZ ING INFORMAL L E ARNI NG 2 019 I W W W .T RAI NI NGI NDU S T RY .C OM/ MAGAZI NE

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Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019

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