Situational leadership

It’s always important to have a plan before going into any leadership situation but sometimes you have to adapt to changing circumstances, and thus so must to your leadership strategy. That’s what situational leadership refers to, it’s making the deliberate decision to change your tactics and strategies when the situation calls for it.

An example of this from the sporting world could be Sir Alex Ferguson, widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time, who was renowned for his ability to apply the ‘hairdryer treatment’ to poorly performing players. This was his standard approach, but when it came to players like Eric Cantona and Cristiano Ronaldo he was known to be sensitive and gentle, recognizing that a more typically aggressive approach would never get the best results from them.