{"id":43,"date":"2025-07-23T19:18:32","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T19:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/chapter\/1-3-a-perspective-on-leadership\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T14:19:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T14:19:23","slug":"1-3-a-perspective-on-leadership","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/chapter\/1-3-a-perspective-on-leadership\/","title":{"raw":"2.3 A Perspective on Leadership","rendered":"2.3 A Perspective on Leadership"},"content":{"raw":"
\n

The Situational-Leadership Model<\/h2>\n

When you hear the word \u201cleader\u201d what immediately comes to your mind? What about when you hear the word \u201cfollower?\u201d The words \u201cleader\u201d and \u201cfollower\u201d bring up all kinds of examples (both good and bad) for most of us. We have all experienced times when we have followed a fantastic leader, and we have had times when we have worked for a less than an effective leader. At the same time, are we always the best followers? We will examine prevailing leadership theory, and then we will end the section discussing the concept of followership.<\/p>\n\n\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"695\"]\"Model Figure 2. 1 Hersey and Blanchard\u2019s Situational-Leadership Theory[\/caption]\n

One of the most discussed models of leadership is Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard\u2019s (1969) Situational-Leadership Model<\/span><\/a> (The Center for Leadership Studies, n.d.) The model is divided into two dimensions: task (leader directive behavior) and relational (leader supportive behavior).\u00a0Hersey and Blanchard\u2019s Situational-Leadership Model starts with the basic idea that not all employees have the same needs. Some employees need a lot more handholding and guidance than other employees, and some employees need more relational contact than others. As such, Hersey and Blanchard defined leadership along two continuums: supportive and directive.\u00a0Supportive leadership behavior\u00a0occurs when a leader is focused on providing relational support for their followers; whereas\u00a0directive support\u00a0<\/strong>involves overseeing the day-to-day tasks that a follower accomplishes. As a leader and follower progress in their relationship, Hersey and Blanchard argue that the nature of their relationship often changes. Figure 2.1 contains the basic model proposed by Hersey and Blanchard (1969) and is ultimately broken into four leadership styles:\u00a0directing, coaching, supporting, and delegating (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2000).<\/p>\n\n

Directin<\/span>g<\/span><\/h3>\n

Hersey and Blanchard\u2019s first type of leader is the\u00a0directing leader.\u00a0Directing leaders set the basic roles an individual has and the tasks an individual needs to accomplish. After setting these roles and tasks, the leader then monitors and oversees these followers closely. From a communication perspective, these leaders tend to make decisions and then communicate them to their followers. There tends to be little to no dialogue about either roles or tasks.<\/p>\n\n

Coaching<\/h3>\n

Hersey and Blanchard\u2019s second type of leader is the coaching leader.\u00a0Coaching leaders still set the basic roles and tasks that need to be accomplished by specific followers, but they allow for input from their followers. As such, the communication between coaching leaders and their followers tends to be more interactive instead of one-way. However, the ultimate decisions about roles and tasks are still ultimately the leader\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n\n

Supporting<\/h3>\n

Hersey and Blanchard\u2019s third type of leader is the supporting leader. As a leader becomes more accustomed to a follower\u2019s ability to accomplish tasks and take responsibility for those tasks, a leader may become more supportive. A\u00a0supporting leader allows followers to make the day-to-day decisions related to getting tasks accomplished, but determining what tasks need to be accomplished is a mutually agreed upon decision. In this case, the leader is more like a facilitator of a follower\u2019s work instead of dictating the follower\u2019s work.<\/p>\n\n

Delegating<\/h3>\n

Hersey and Blanchard\u2019s final type of leader is the\u00a0delegating leader. The\u00a0delegating leader is one where the follower and leader are mutually involved in the basic decision making and problem-solving process. Still, the ultimate control for accomplishing tasks is left up to the follower. Followers ultimately determine when they need a leader\u2019s support and how much support is needed. As you can see from Figure 2.1, these relationships are ones that are considered highly developed and ultimately involve a level of trust on both sides of the leader-follower relationship.<\/p>\nThis section is derived from Interpersonal Relationships at Work<\/span><\/a> in Interpersonal Communication \u2013 Simple Book Publishing<\/span><\/a> Copyright \u00a9 by Jason S. Wrench; Narissra M. Punyanunt-Carter; and Katherine S. Thweatt licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License<\/span><\/a>, except where otherwise noted.\n\n<\/div>","rendered":"

\n

The Situational-Leadership Model<\/h2>\n

When you hear the word \u201cleader\u201d what immediately comes to your mind? What about when you hear the word \u201cfollower?\u201d The words \u201cleader\u201d and \u201cfollower\u201d bring up all kinds of examples (both good and bad) for most of us. We have all experienced times when we have followed a fantastic leader, and we have had times when we have worked for a less than an effective leader. At the same time, are we always the best followers? We will examine prevailing leadership theory, and then we will end the section discussing the concept of followership.<\/p>\n

\"Model
Figure 2. 1 Hersey and Blanchard\u2019s Situational-Leadership Theory<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the most discussed models of leadership is Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard\u2019s (1969) Situational-Leadership Model<\/span><\/a> (The Center for Leadership Studies, n.d.) The model is divided into two dimensions: task (leader directive behavior) and relational (leader supportive behavior).\u00a0Hersey and Blanchard\u2019s Situational-Leadership Model starts with the basic idea that not all employees have the same needs. Some employees need a lot more handholding and guidance than other employees, and some employees need more relational contact than others. As such, Hersey and Blanchard defined leadership along two continuums: supportive and directive.\u00a0Supportive leadership behavior\u00a0occurs when a leader is focused on providing relational support for their followers; whereas\u00a0directive support\u00a0<\/strong>involves overseeing the day-to-day tasks that a follower accomplishes. As a leader and follower progress in their relationship, Hersey and Blanchard argue that the nature of their relationship often changes. Figure 2.1 contains the basic model proposed by Hersey and Blanchard (1969) and is ultimately broken into four leadership styles:\u00a0directing, coaching, supporting, and delegating (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2000).<\/p>\n

Directin<\/span>g<\/span><\/h3>\n

Hersey and Blanchard\u2019s first type of leader is the\u00a0directing leader.\u00a0Directing leaders set the basic roles an individual has and the tasks an individual needs to accomplish. After setting these roles and tasks, the leader then monitors and oversees these followers closely. From a communication perspective, these leaders tend to make decisions and then communicate them to their followers. There tends to be little to no dialogue about either roles or tasks.<\/p>\n

Coaching<\/h3>\n

Hersey and Blanchard\u2019s second type of leader is the coaching leader.\u00a0Coaching leaders still set the basic roles and tasks that need to be accomplished by specific followers, but they allow for input from their followers. As such, the communication between coaching leaders and their followers tends to be more interactive instead of one-way. However, the ultimate decisions about roles and tasks are still ultimately the leader\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

Supporting<\/h3>\n

Hersey and Blanchard\u2019s third type of leader is the supporting leader. As a leader becomes more accustomed to a follower\u2019s ability to accomplish tasks and take responsibility for those tasks, a leader may become more supportive. A\u00a0supporting leader allows followers to make the day-to-day decisions related to getting tasks accomplished, but determining what tasks need to be accomplished is a mutually agreed upon decision. In this case, the leader is more like a facilitator of a follower\u2019s work instead of dictating the follower\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

Delegating<\/h3>\n

Hersey and Blanchard\u2019s final type of leader is the\u00a0delegating leader. The\u00a0delegating leader is one where the follower and leader are mutually involved in the basic decision making and problem-solving process. Still, the ultimate control for accomplishing tasks is left up to the follower. Followers ultimately determine when they need a leader\u2019s support and how much support is needed. As you can see from Figure 2.1, these relationships are ones that are considered highly developed and ultimately involve a level of trust on both sides of the leader-follower relationship.<\/p>\n

This section is derived from Interpersonal Relationships at Work<\/span><\/a> in Interpersonal Communication \u2013 Simple Book Publishing<\/span><\/a> Copyright \u00a9 by Jason S. Wrench; Narissra M. Punyanunt-Carter; and Katherine S. Thweatt licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License<\/span><\/a>, except where otherwise noted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-43","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":37,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/43","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/43\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44,"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/43\/revisions\/44"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/37"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/43\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=43"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=43"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryresources.nse.org.ng\/professionalandtechnicalcommunication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=43"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}