Encyclopedia of Leadership

One very popular situational leadership model was developed by Paul Hersey and Ken

Blanchard. They define four leadership styles:

1. Telling—a leader provides detailed instruction and closely coaches the follower.


2. Selling—a leader provides explanations and principles, engages the follower in a dis-
   cussion of the work, and coaches as needed.


3. Facilitating—the leader assists the follower with goal clarification and ideas, then
   coaches as needed


4. Delegating—the goal is clarified and the work turned over to the follower.

Any or all of these leadership styles can be used effectively, depending on the readiness of the

follower as determined by:

•The abilityof the person to do the job—has the necessary knowledge and skills to do

the work.

•The willingnessof the person to do the job—has the necessary confidence and com-

mitment to do the work.

Hersey and Blanchard neatly summarized this into the model shown here:

268 SECTION 9 TOOLS FORLEADING ANDINFLUENCINGOTHERS

Reprinted with permission from Prentice Hall. Paul Hersey, and Ken Blanchard. Management of Organizational Behavior: Utilizing Human Resources, 7th
ed., 1996, p. 215. All rights reserved.