Hershey and Blanchard's Situational Theory

#1. You are an elementary school principal--Your Instructional Leadership Team is usually able to take responsibility for their efforts; however, they are not responding to your recent redefining of the ILT’s job responsibilities and expectations.

• S1-Telling Style

• S2-Selling Style

• S3-Participating Style

• S4-Delegating Style

You are a superintendent--Members of your negotiations team are unable to solve a salary problem themselves. You have normally left them alone to negotiation on your behalf and on the Board’s behalf. Group performance and interpersonal relations are generally good. Out of 5 negotiators, you have 3 new negotiation team members.

• S1-Telling Style

• S2- Selling Style

• S3 Participating Style

• S4- Delegating Style

You are a Chief Student Services Officer at your school district--your ESS Director (who reports to you) is considering a change to her department’s organizational chart and reporting structure. Your ESS Director and members of her team have made suggestions about the need for change. Their team is team-oriented and demonstrates thoughtfulness and openness in their decision making. You trust both her and her team’s judgement.

• S1- Telling Style

• S2- Selling Style

• S3- Participating Style

• S4- Delegating Style

#4. You are a new superintendent--You’ve stepped into an efficiently-run organization. The previous leader tightly controlled the district. You want to maintain a productive environment but you would like to begin building interpersonal relationships among your leadership team.

• S1=Telling Style

• S2= Selling Style

• S3= Participating Style

• S4= Delegating Style

#5. You are Vice President for Enrollment Management at Blunck University--you have appointed a leadership team to study enrollment declines and financial aid concerns for your institution. The group is not clear on their goals. Attendance at meetings is poor, and the meetings have turned into social gatherings.

• S1= Telling Style

• S2= Selling Style

• S3= Participating Style

• S4= Delegating Style

#6. You are President of Blunck University’s Board of Trustees-Differences of opinion regarding the current Presidential search indicate internal difficulty among your fellow Board members. That said, the group has historically a strong record of accomplishment. They have effectively maintained long-range goals and have generally worked in harmony. All members are well-qualified to make sound decisions and work together.

• S1= Telling Style

• S2= Selling Style

• S3= Participating Style

• S4= Delegating Style

#7. You are a high school principal--Your two instructional coaches are not getting into the classroom as frequently as you would like and their observable performance is declining. You have made them well aware of their responsibilities and expected standards of performance and they seem unconcerned about meeting objectives.

• S1=Telling Style

• S2= Selling Style

• S3= Participating Style

• S4= Delegating Style

#8. You are the CEO of a non-profit--Your community outreach division is productive and regularly meets their goals. They understand their roles and responsibilities and have a solid record of accomplishment. They are interested in implementing a new outreach strategy that they learned from a national conference. Several other non-profits in your region also use this strategy.

• S1=Telling Style

• S2=Selling Style

• S3= Participating Style

• S4= Delegating Style