It’s impressive that you took the time to revisit the SLII questionnaire and actively worked to improve your understanding of the model. Your approach of using the SLII Model alongside the questionnaire highlights a thoughtful way to align leadership style with team needs. I appreciate your insight into taking a moment to slow down and remove emotional or situational "lenses" to better assess the situation—that’s a lesson we can all benefit from.

You mentioned your preference for a hands-off leadership style. How do you adjust when a team member needs more direction or support, especially if they're struggling to move from S1 to S2?

Hi Chia-Li,

It's interesting to see the difference in your results after taking some time to sit with the scenarios for a bit to consider them. Our conversation Tuesday helped me understand this model better too, especially as you described your first hand experience with confucianism and taoism. While some of our followers may general operate in the D4 realm, there are certain projects or tasks that we will assign to them that will actually move them to different points on the development scale which will require us to take different approaches than we usually would take. That can potentially be jarring for both parties! I'm thinking about how to make those transitions work seamlessly. Thanks for sharing!

@keithryniakgmail-com Thanks for the encouragement. You are correct that I took a mostly hands-off approach after I got my team members into the S3/S4 stage. It's never easy to move people from S1 to S2. But I trust people do the best they can! Thanks!

@rob-hughes Thanks for the encouragement. You are correct; when folks are on a project, there are far better structures and accountabilities to complete things on time and within budget. However, working with folks who prefer not to use a project management framework tends to be a lot more difficult, especially moving them from S1. The reality is that many of the leadership team members may or may not know the industry enough to help their team members move from S1. We cope the best we can to move things forward little by little.

@jollychialichien-com As we discussed, it really depends on the situation. I wouldn’t shift a seasoned leader with a strong track record to S1 or S2, but even the most experienced leaders have areas for growth or blind spots. For example, introducing them to new technology like AI provides a great opportunity to collaborate closely, helping them expand their knowledge and stay up-to-date with industry trends while fostering continuous learning.

@jollychialichien-com Dr. Jolly, you have great awareness of knowing where you tend to lead (Delegating) based on the readiness and maturity of your followers. And I'll echo what the other members stated: What a great exercise to take twice after allowing the information to process. I greatly appreciate your lesson that you need to take the time to understand the situation thoroughly; now you know why they call it Situational Leadership Theory!! 🙂

Tracey

Chia-Li -- I love your honesty and candor about what happens when you feel rushed (skip details etc.).  That is great self awareness and I see you took steps to regulate your nervous system and see things from a different perspective. BRAVO!