Striving to Find the Perfect Match

Blanchard's model describes low supportive and low directive behavior as "delegating", high supportive and low directive behavior as "supporting", high directive and high supportive behavior as "coaching", and finally high directive and low supporting behavior as "directing". In this Situational Model of Leadership, each leadership situation is categorized into one of the four sections I just referenced. For the most part, this model works as a great reference and serves true in the majority of situations. However, if the leader and the follower are not cohesive and not on the same page, then this model will not serve it's correct purpose.

I was elected to serve on the Executive Board of my sorority for the 2009-2010 year along with 8 other of my peers. I held the position of the VP of Event Planning and I worked very close along side with our Chapter President. In the years past that I had been in the sorority, our President had always been a year older than all of the other Executive Board members; however, the year I was serving on the board, our President was in the same grade and the same age as the rest of us. For the given circumstances, I thought she served as a great leader but looking back on it I would categorize her as a "supporting" leader. She was our "friend" and this is exactly how she treated us... with respect, kindness, love, and support. Of course our executive team loved this and appreciated her desire to always be there for us but at the same time, something was lacking. In almost every instance I can remember, she did not know what to do when something went array. I can even remember a few times where she asked me what to do and told me to go do something about the situation at hand. Now, I understand I was in a leadership role just like she was, but as the President you step into a higher authority and people look to you during times of trouble. With her lack of competence to accomplish many tasks and be the leader when we needed her most, my view of her as a leader quickly turned. I still respected her and admired her loving support but I knew she had to realize that she was indeed the President and it was her role to be there as a directive, more authoritative leader from time to time. Her "matching" with the situation was that she genuinely cared for us so this gave us the confidence we needed in certain times when she was not able to step up and take control. However, her "mismatch" was the role she was in because as the President it is your ultimate duty and responsibility to oversee all chapter functions and be there as the guiding force for everyone. She could not take on this role in any situation as she was too timid and thus looked to other people to serve as this leader.

I learned from this situation and my experience serving on the executive board exactly what situational leadership means. I think our President did an outstanding job of uniting our chapter and making everyone feel as though they were important. Not only was she kind-hearted, but through her inability to step up as the leader in task situations, we were all able to find that in ourselves and serve as that leader in her absence. Through this situation I have become more task oriented with time and have learned when to introduce the authoritative side of Nikki. I will admit, I'm still more on the relationship end of the spectrum but I believe I am finding my way to a balance where I can introduce task and directive behaviors into certain situations.