Will and Skill - insights on context
Good leaders know that:
there are multiple leadership styles to choose from; and
their choice of leadership style should be determined by the context.
One of the tools that you can use to help you to determine which style is right for the context that you are in is the contextual leadership framework, also known as the ‘will-skill matrix’, a tool designed by Paul Hershey and Ken Blanchard to help leaders determine how to best engage their employees.
This tool is useful - as it combines a set of data points that so many of us know to be true when looking at them individually, yet when we look around, we know that many struggle to apply these data points together in the situation where the insights are most valuable. While this may seem obvious, the data points I’m referring to are:
people have various levels of capability (skill) in various tasks; and
people have various levels of engagement (will) with different topics; and
these two factors (will and skill) vary depending on the context at hand
Good leaders don’t have a singular ‘one size fits all’ approach. They have Real conversations with their teams to know what support their teams need to help them to achieve success. If you know a leader that has only one ‘tool’ (a.k.a. leadership style) in their leadership ‘tool belt’ - a tool such as a dictatorial / command-control style, then they may find some unintended consequences arise (such as low employee engagement, or high staff turn-over).
Yet, while the will-skill matrix is useful for leaders to understand when choosing whether to delegate, direct, coach, support or mentor their individual employee, it is also useful for any employee to know too. If an employee knows that the task they are charged with is exciting to them (high will), but that they don’t have the experience that they want yet on this (low-medium skill), then they know they may benefit from support or mentorship to truly achieve, and they can ask for this.
Ideally managers and employees can work situationally, contextually, and collaboratively to achieve results and develop performance.
The ‘will-skill matrix’ is but one of many tools that can help them to do so.
To learn more about this and other Insightful ideas to help you and your teams succeed, please contact me. I look forward to helping you walk the path to insight!
