situational leadership

I met with some of the interns on Friday.  They will be introducing themselves on the blog soon.  Today, I used the skill called Situational Leadership to help guide the interns in to their first shift.  Although there is a team leader, she does not yet know everything that needs to be done with the site.  Part of the situational leadership model is that when a new group is forming, there is lots of enthusiasm but low skills and knowledge amongst the team members.  Therefore, the leader needs to use a directing style of leadership to eliminate confusion.

Because this is an internship, the interns will be creating their own projects but today I sent them a long e-mail detailing what they should do for their first shift.  I’m also going to stop by halfway through to check on them.  As they become a more solid team, I will be able to back off and only occasionally have to delegate tasks; the team will run itself.  Most of my work for this internship is going to be at the front end.  Once things become more established I think we are going to see the synergistic effects of teamwork!

I learned about situational leadership through the National Youth Leadership Training Program, The Shelton Leadership Center, The Caldwell Fellows and LeaderShape.  Here’s a good graphic that explains it:

Situational Leadership