Situational Leadership^® In-house, Public, Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT), and Trainer Accreditation courses

GBS Corporate Training is the UK provider of Situational Leadership^® training.
The Situational Leadership® model is arguably the most recognised, utilised and effective leadership and influence tool in the history of the behavioural sciences.

To be successful in today’s work environment, a leader must learn to appropriately balance their task direction with the proper relationship behaviour, leading to high levels of consistent performance across team members.

Situational Leadership ^® Training Accreditation Programmes

• Situational Leadership®: Building Leaders

  The need for effective leadership is greater than ever. A recent CMI report found that 43% of workers rate their line managers as ineffective, failing to recognise or support their talents. The Situational Leadership® model is arguably the most recognised, utilised and effective leadership and influence tool in the history of the behavioural sciences. Leaders who use the model are equipped with the necessary tools to navigate the demands of an evolving business landscape and an increasing diverse workforce.

  So it’s no surprise that 70% of Fortune500™ companies consider the tool as a critical component of their leadership development strategy. It transcends cultural and generational differences with a success rate that speaks for itself. Situational Leadership® is a proven model of effective leadership that has endured the test of time. It’s a practical approach which helps your people to be more effective in achieving their goals, and shows you, as a leader, how best to respond to their performance needs. More than ever, businesses need well-equipped and adaptable leaders.

  Participants who complete the online assessments (LEAD Self and LEAD Other) gain valuable insights into their primary leadership behaviours and the leadership styles they typically draw upon.

  We can help you rise to the challenge.

  Please note, this course can be delivered as virtual instructor led training (VILT), face to face, or it can be delivered with a blend of both formats. We will customise the content and duration in line with your learning and development requirements.

  Course dates

  11th and 12th June 2025: 9:30am to 1:30pm (delivered as VILT)

  18th and 19th September 2025: 9:30am to 1:30pm (delivered as VILT)
• Situational Leadership® - Certification

  Situational Leadership® certification can be awarded to an organisation’s internal trainer(s) who successfully complete(s) the three day Situational Leadership® programme.

  The certificate is designed to equip trainers with the necessary skills and knowledge to deliver licensed Situational Leadership® within their own organisation. A licensed ‘Administration Resource Kit’ is provided for each of the certificated trainers to deliver Situational Leadership® training in-house. Its use is restricted to the host organisation only and the licence remains valid as long as the organisation has their own certificated trainers.

  The first part of the certificated process involves experiencing the Situational Leadership® programme as a participant. The aim is to ensure participants understand how the Situational Leadership® model can become a tool to help them interact with others in a way that focuses on performance, helping realise potential. Self-assessment and 360° feedback (online pre-work) of preferred leadership styles are introduced to enable specific development actions to be planned.

  Participants then undergo ‘teach-back’ where they prepare and deliver an agreed section of the Situational Leadership® programme. Accurate demonstration of knowledge and understanding of the model will result in certification. (It should be noted that individuals’ training skills are not assessed).

  Please note, this course can be delivered as virtual instructor led training (VILT), face to face, or it can be delivered with a blend of both formats. We will customise the content and duration in line with your learning and development requirements.

• Leading With Emotional Intelligence®

  One day workshop

  Harness the power of Emotional Intelligence and effectively motivate, engage, strengthen cooperation within teams and ultimately drive higher levels of performance.

  The workplace is more diverse than it’s ever been. Combine this with an increase in teams working cross-functionally, the ability to be able to understand and use emotion as source of insight, creativity and influence is now more important than ever. Emotional Quotient levels (EQ) change over time (unlike Intelligence Quotient which remains static), so it can be developed, refined and enhanced over the course of your life.

  This one day workshop is an introduction to the concepts of Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Emotional Quotient (EQ). It provides an in-depth understanding of the impact emotions have on thoughts and actions. By completing the EQ-i 2.0 self-assessment, participants gain an in-depth understanding of the influence that emotions have on actions and behaviours. All this ultimately determines the true effectiveness of a leader.

• Leading With DiSC ®

  ​One day workshop

  Influencing performance

  The ability to recognise and adapt to the unique behavioural tendencies, communication preferences, and priorities that drive an individual’s performance is critical to managerial success.

  Leading with DiSC guides you on a path of self-discovery to develop your own unique management style and identifies potential challenges and opportunities that you may encounter when working with individuals that exhibit behaviours and preferences that are vastly different to your own.

  This interactive workshop, combines the Everything DiSC® Management Behavioural Model with the Situational Leadership® approach and provides a learning experience that enables you to use an individuals’ DiSC style to accurately understand their level of ‘readiness’ towards a situation; this way you can then respond with the appropriate leadership style. By adapting your behaviour to meet the needs of those you lead, you are able to engage in more productive and engaging interactions which drive high achievement.

• Situational Coaching®

  One day workshop.

  Unleashing potential

  In today’s fast-paced global marketplace, it is important that managers not only lead, but actively coach their employees. Effective coaching promotes creativity, productivity and individual resilience which naturally drives a culture of continuous change – ultimately allowing your organisation to achieve that ‘competitive’ edge.

  Situational Coaching® is a highly interactive workshop which blends coaching with the Situational Leadership® Model. The workshop provides you with the tools to unlock and enhance the performance and capabilities of your teams and drive performance levels forward.

  With opportunities to interpret and discuss complex behaviours, combined with application activities dedicated to practice Situational Leadership®, this workshop provides you with all the tools to enhance your communication skills and drive your employees’ performance.

Dr Paul Hersey’s task-specific, original Situational Leadership® model is based on the relationship between leaders and followers and serves as a framework to analyse each situation based on the:

• amount of guidance and direction (task behaviour) a leader gives
• amount of socio-emotional support (relationship behaviour) a leader provides
• readiness level that followers exhibit in performing a specific task, function, or objective

What is Situational Leadership®?

Deployed in more than 70% of Fortune 500 companies, Situational Leadership® equips leaders in your organisation with the tools necessary to skilfully navigate the demands of an increasingly diverse workforce and evolving global marketplace. Infinitely adaptable to any circumstance, the model prepares leaders to address the most pressing challenges pervasive in today’s work environment.

The Strengths of Situational Leadership ^®

• Situational Leadership^® is a very well researched and practical model. It provides a framework that will allow people to know precisely how and when to deliver the behaviours required to demonstrate successful and effective team leadership with a common language and an easy-to-understand approach
• Situational Leadership^® has evolved from a control leadership form to an influencing model which can be used by anyone who needs to influence others
• Situational Leadership^® can be described as packaged common sense. Once learnt the model can be quickly applied. The model is not intellectually challenging but it can be behaviourally challenging
• Situational Leadership^® focuses on the here and now reality of delivered performance not aspirational performance. So your organisational effectiveness can be improved through the application of the model
• Situational Leadership^® and behavioural coaching have been proven to help increase performance in controlled experiments. This means organisational effectiveness can be improved through identifying key targets on the training and then receiving coaching post training
• Situational Leadership^® also gives guidance on how to manage change, dependent upon the readiness of individuals and groups to implement the planned change
• Situational Leadership^® training excites people and is popular across the board at all levels
• Situational Leadership^® is linked very closely to Malcolm Knowles's adult learning model

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is Situational Leadership®

  The theory of Situational Leadership® was developed by Ken Blanchard and Paul Hersey in 1969. It works on the principle of adapting a leadership style in order to successfully influence a task or meet the needs of the team or team members. The Situational Leadership® model provides a framework in order to diagnose a situation, task or person so that they can use a style which will produce a positive outcome.

• What Are the Four Leadership Styles of Situational Leadership®?

  The four leadership styles described in Situational Leadership® have been designed to provide a leader with the highest probability of success in each situation they may encounter. They are designed to be used flexibly in reaction to a particular situation, individual or team member.

  Style 1: Telling, Directing or Guiding

  Style 2: Selling, Coaching or Explaining

  Style 3: Participating, Facilitating or Collaborating

  Style 4: Delegating, Empowering or Monitoring

• What is an Example of Situational Leadership®?

  One example of Situational Leadership® is when a leader adapts their style to meet the needs of an individual who is approaching a new task and the leader would select to use a more directing style in order to assist them. This involves changing the way they communicate, give instruction, or provide support based on what would be most effective for the team or individual in that situation.

  Situational leaders should have a good understanding of their team members’ strengths or needs.

• What Makes a Good Situational Leader?

  There are many factors that make a good situational leader. However, the most important one is the ability to adapt to different people in different situations. Flexing a leadership style which can seamlessly change in a moment’s notice is critical to business success and the simplicity of the model focuses on what is needed ‘in the moment’ and how to influence others in order to achieve it.