Direct, manage, coach, lead

In one paragraph

Four stages in bringing someone up to full autonomy. The amount of support you give rises and then falls; the amount of freedom they have rises throughout.

Direct. Clear, detailed direction. Specific tasks and quality control, formal procedures and policies, induction and ongoing training. Support is low here only because the relationship is new — the instruction is heavy.

Manage. Introduce KPIs, monitor and measure, reporting, meetings. Support peaks around here: you are investing real time.

Coach. Ask for improvement ideas, brainstorm together, be a sounding board. A reduced level of management, and the shift from telling to asking — see [ask, don't tell].

Lead. Expectations clear and KPIs being met. Increased accountability and awareness, innovative and efficient, mastery of role. Your support drops away because it is no longer needed.

The support curve is the interesting part. It rises through Direct and Manage, peaks at Coach, and falls through Lead. Managers who never let it fall have not empowered anybody; they have built a dependency.

Where it goes wrong in a small business

Two failures, both common. Directing someone who is ready to be coached — micromanagement, and they leave. Or leaving someone at Lead who was never taken through Direct, calling it empowerment when it is really abandonment.

How to actually use it

• Place each person on the four stages for each part of their job. Most people are at different stages for different tasks, which is why blanket management styles fail.
• If you are still directing someone after a year, either the training never happened or you are the problem. Both are fixable and they need different fixes.

Where it breaks down

• The original situational leadership research has been criticised on evidence, so treat it as a well-used practical model rather than a proven one.
• It assumes the person wants autonomy. Some people are happier being directed and that is a legitimate preference, not a failure.

If you are being examined on it

Compare with Tannenbaum and Schmidt's continuum of leadership behaviour — same idea, different axis.

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