SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP®

Shriver and Bishop present a multistep guide for leadership management.

In their debut nonfiction collaboration, Shriver (executive vice president at the Center for Leadership Studies) and Bishop (vice president of product development at the center) draw on their extensive professional experience and various research studies to create the structure of what they call Situational Leadership, a model that “removes all the guesswork” and allows for clear, effective leadership anywhere, any time. All leadership, they write, is driven by power, which they define as the potential to influence: “The more power a leader has, the more effective they’ll be as an influencer across all levels of an organization.” In the paradigm of Situational Leadership, this influence is based on a foundation of four core skills: the ability to diagnose the needs of a specific situation (and what the authors call the “Performance Readiness” of the people involved), the ability to adapt by choosing the best leadership approach for the required performance, the skill to communicate effectively in order to guarantee understanding, and the willingness to advance, acting “as a catalyst for progress by accelerating development or redirecting regression.” In successive chapters, the authors examine each element of Situational Leadership in detail, followed by “Reflect and Apply” discussion questions like “Where have you seen someone’s confidence or motivation shift recently?” Shriver and Bishop position SL as a framework that builds trust, fosters respect, and creates “environments where people feel safe enough to take risks, think creatively, and grow.” The authors energetically present their model in punchy, readable prose that brims with confidence. Some readers may wonder if some of this material is a corporate version of reinventing the wheel; companies that need to be reminded to treat people with respect, listen to feedback, and check in regularly about task performance probably have deeper problems than mere styles of leadership. But calls for leaders to “stay present, empathetic, and decisive” are always welcome, and much of the thinking in these pages is useful.

A forcefully worded appeal for flexible, hands-on corporate leadership.