How can you use situational leadership to guide your facilitation style?

Situational leadership involves adapting your facilitation style to the specific needs of a group or situation. Assess the group's readiness, adjust your style accordingly, ask open-ended questions, provide resources, offer feedback, be adaptable, empower the group, maintain communication, set clear expectations, and continuously reflect to improve your facilitation.

Heard of Software as a Service (SaaS) which delivers software on demand to users? Situational leadership can be described as Leadership as a Service (LaaS) - it can be seen as delivering the right kind of leadership based on the immediate needs and maturity of the team members. It shifts the focus from a static leadership model to one that's service-oriented and customer (or employee) centric.

In the transformational leadership model, the leader stimulates collaborators' motivations and infuses the rest of the group with vision and inspiration to transcend common performance objectives and make an effort in the collective interest. The idea of diligently following the leader carrying out the assigned tasks without risking anything on one's own is a losing and, paradoxically, a very risky one. The leader manages to grasp and undermine the comfort zones of each team member. He has experience in the field that animates and develops performance and skills, combining short and medium-long-term results. Facilitating the journey from execution to contribution.

The ability to build strong connections within a workplace is essential for creating a collaborative and thriving environment. As leaders learn to engage more effectively with their teams, they not only enhance morale but also cultivate a culture of trust and support. This can lead to reduced turnover rates and increased talent retention, saving organizations significant costs associated with hiring and training new employees. Furthermore, by improving employee engagement, organizations can see boosts in innovation and overall performance, making SLII an invaluable investment for any business looking to enhance its leadership strategies.

, I've found that assessing a team's readiness is a critical step in effectively applying situational leadership. In my experience, I often start with formal assessments, such as surveys or skill evaluations, to gauge team members’ competencies. However, I have learned that informal methods can be equally valuable. For instance, during team meetings, I pay close attention to both verbal and nonverbal cues are team members actively engaging with the task at hand, offering suggestions, or appearing reluctant to participate. One memorable instance involved a project where the team was initially hesitant about their capabilities. By encouraging a culture of continuous feedback and celebrating small wins, I saw their competence grew.

In my career, I faced a situation with a cross-functional team tasked with launching a new product. Initially, the team was comprised of individuals with varying degrees of readiness. some were new to their roles, while others were highly experienced. For those team members who exhibited low competence and low commitment, I applied a directing style. I provided detailed instructions and set clear expectations, combined with regular check-ins to monitor their progress. This approach not only helped them understand their tasks better but also made them feel supported during a daunting process.

The situational leader has, more than anyone else, the ability to rationally understand any context and respond appropriately as a facilitator of change. Someone has said that a good leader can 'break the tyranny of the existing culture' and that, over time, he can create other leaders. These characteristics are achieved through knowledge and awareness of different styles, challenging and encouraging one's collaborators simultaneously. Facilitation is an act of leadership. Acting on oneself is the first step towards good leadership management and integration with the group and the company.

I consider situational leadership as a fundamental skill, not just for managing and leading teams, but in everything I do. By applying situational leadership principles as a coach, a facilitator and a consultant - it can effectively tailor their approach to the specific needs and abilities of their clients and participants. This approach can lead to more effective coaching, facilitation and consulting engagements that translate into improved performance, higher productivity and greater satisfaction for all involved.

As Goleman, author of the famous "Primal Leadership" model, suggests, the main lever for the leader is the emotional one: resonating with the reality of the collaborators allows them to understand the goals of the work and move in a positive direction. It is, therefore, necessary to start from the awareness of one's emotional state: knowing how to read one's emotions and recognize their impact, also using intuition and "gut" sensations to orient oneself in decisions. An accurate self-assessment allows you to know your strengths and areas for improvement and to have a "healthy" awareness of your values and abilities. Only in this way can we become a model for others, too. What to do after reaching this awareness?