Chameleons: Masters of Situational Leadership

What leadership animal are you?

Just kidding. Quizzes, personality frameworks and even AI representations of leadership inevitably suggest you should aspire to be a lion. Alpha energy, king of the animal kingdom, who else better represents a leader?

If leadership in the workplace today is about dominance and intimidation then the lion, the eagle and other top-of-the-food-chain creatures are not far wrong. But today’s thinking on “what makes a good leader” takes us in a different direction:

Harvard Business Review referenced a survey of 195 leaders from over 30 global organisations where five major leadership competencies emerged:

· High ethical standards and providing a safe environment

· Empowering individuals to self-organise

· Promoting connection and belonging among employees

· Open to new ideas and experimentation

· Committed to the professional and intellectual growth of employees

Safe space? Ethical standards? Lion doesn’t really spring to mind.

Forbes names the top four traits as “sincere enthusiasm, integrity, great communications and loyalty”, which sounds more golden retriever than apex predator.

What about the chameleon?

Where the lion represents power and dominance, the most celebrated attributes of leadership today are at the opposite end of the spectrum, promoting collaboration and ability to adapt to your situation.

Who better than the chameleon to represent leadership today?

Fun fact: chameleons don’t change colour to blend with their surroundings — they’re already well camouflaged. Instead, they change colour in social interactions. Like a good leader, they communicate clearly and adapt based on shifting circumstances.

They’re also hyper-aware of their surroundings. After a good meal, a lion in the wild stretches out on his back, belly up without a care in the world. This top-of-the-food-chain privilege doesn’t extend to chameleons, who are near the bottom of the food chain and can be eaten by birds, monkeys, snakes at any time.

As a result, chameleons have panoramic vision and can move each eye independently. Not a bad quality for a leadership role model, who’s highly attuned to what’s happening around them.

Lastly, chameleons are a diverse bunch. There are over 200 species and they come in all shapes and sizes. A nice reminder that leadership looks different for everyone.

If chameleons remind us that leadership isn’t a one-size-fits-all and is about adapting to your situation, what does that look like for humans? Ken Blanchard and Paul Hersey’s situational leadership theory is designed to do just that. Chameleons like to keep it simple so here’s a practical, pared-back summary.

Like what you’re reading?

What is situational leadership?

It’s all about adapting how you lead based on the specific situation or context you’re facing. This way of thinking was a lightbulb moment when I first came across it: it’s not about “finding your leadership style” (as many people say when you first become a manager) it’s about finding your leadership style in one situation, and having the skills and confidence to switch it up in the next.

Situational leaders assess the needs of their team members and adjust their leadership behaviours accordingly. What works for one individual or in one situation may not work in another.

Executive coach Judy Wolf, MS, PCC encourages us to look back to a positive experience we had with a leader when we first started work. Perhaps they thoroughly explained the task and painted a clear picture of what “good” looks like?

How would you have felt if they had behaved the same when delegating you a task five years into the role? Probably patronised and micro-managed.

Whilst this comes naturally when we work with the same individual over a long period, it’s not so easy when we’re working with someone new and unsure of their experience or working style.

Done well, situational leadership means adjusting your style to provide the appropriate level of direction and support in the knowledge that everyone has varying levels of competence and commitment.

If you’re a devil who loves detail, this is an excellent write-up of the academic framework. If you’re looking for a quick-fire “how can I use this to help me”? Keep reading.

Step 1: scrap the “what’s my leadership personality” mindset. Situational leadership is all about assessing what’s best for your team member, not what you can do best.

Step 2: reflect on where your team member is in their journey in relation to the task they’re working on: is it new to them? Is it old-hat? How will they feel about it? Will they find it easy and fun? Will they find it gruelling?

Based on this, make your best guess at their level of a) competence (low, medium, high) and b) commitment (low, medium, high). This is the key to knowing how to adjust your leadership style.

Step 3: based on the level of competence and commitment you identified, adapt your leadership style accordingly.

Direct
Low competence, high commitment

The person is likely very fresh to the task and is excited to get started, but has little knowledge of what good looks like. It’s up to you to show, tell, closely monitor and provide feedback. If there are decisions to be made, it’s on you as a leader to make them.

Coach
Low competence low commitment

This person requires clear direction but also a heavy dose of encouragement and guidance along the way to keep them engaged. This means being directive but also explaining why and asking for their suggestions. Whilst you make the final call, it helps to involve them in the decision-making process.

Support
High competence, low commitment

This person is capable but may lack confidence or willingness to do the task. You don’t need to tell them exactly what to do and how to do it, but you need to listen, encourage, support and ask the right questions. Decisions should be made together.

Delegate
High competence, high commitment

This person needs to be given the freedom to decide how to approach the task and when to check in with you for support and advice. Your role as a leader is to show them they are valued and to support their growth.

How chameleon are you today?

Are you seamlessly switching between direct / coach / support / delegate as the situation requires? What styles do you show as your default colours?

The hardest thing about situational leadership is that however closely we assess the situation, sometimes we will get it wrong.

Giving more directive instructions than required goes down like a lead balloon as it makes the team member feel patronised. Giving lots of support but not enough direction results in the team scrambling to fix work-gone-wrong.

But if we don’t experiment, take risks and fail from time-to-time, we won’t get better and nor will the team members we work with.

Shifting from support to delegate takes courage, but can result in a better experience for everyone.

Relieve the pressure to emulate the lion and use situational leadership to be more chameleon instead.

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