Learning How to Manage

A few weeks back I had to attend some training for work. This training was to prepare me for basically becoming a "middle manager." Probably the most beneficial and rewarding part of the week of training was the time spent on leadership, or how to manage people well. The material I was trained on (or in) was called Situational Leadership (by the Ken Blanchard Companies). 

The first thing that I learned was about my leadership preference style, which for me was S3. Now, it needs to be noted that there is no one style that is preferred instead a leader/manager is to use the leadership style that goes with the development level of the person.

Situational Leadership Chart

Much of the time was spent learning how to diagnose well where a person is in their development and then using the situational leadership style that fit. For example if a person is a D4 then the style of leadership to be used is a S4 style.

Learning this has completely change the way that I think about leading in all contexts. To maximize effectiveness of those I lead, whether in my job or other situations, I know this material is going to help me. I am thankful for this material and I now feel like I am learning how to manage.