Topic: Leadership and Situational Leadership in Project Management
1. Recap – Why Teams Fail
We began with Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team, a model that explains why teamwork breaks down. The five layers are:
- Absence of trust
- Fear of conflict
- Lack of commitment
- Avoidance of accountability
- Inattention to results
These layers build on each other. When something goes wrong in a team, the first task is to identify on which layer the dysfunction originates. Leaders cannot order people to trust each other, but they can create conditions in which trust becomes possible: openness, safety for admitting mistakes, constructive debate, and a culture where disagreement is not personal.
Example: If a project team avoids conflict, the root cause may not be “conflict issues” at all, but missing psychological safety on level 1. In such cases, the leader’s job is not to avoid conflict, but to make conflict safe.
2. What Leadership Really Is – Two Perspectives
Leadership is more than coordination or planning. Two classic definitions capture this:
- Peter Drucker: “The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers.”
→ Leadership means moving people toward an idea. Without willing followers, there is no leadership. - John C. Maxwell: “Leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.”
→ Leadership is not a title; it is impact.
From this, two essential questions define every leadership role:
- Do I know what needs to be done (clear goals, strategic direction)?
- Can I get my organisation to actually do it (mobilisation, commitment, follow-through)?
This applies to CEOs and to project managers alike. Project management is always leadership on a temporary stage.
3. Movements Are Created by “First Followers”
The TED clip “How to start a movement” shows this clearly: one person dances alone and is laughed at. Then someone joins. That first follower transforms the “lone nut” into a leader. Momentum builds quickly. People follow the follower more than the initiator.
Key insight: Leadership is often overrated. The first follower is the true catalyst.
Application to teams:
Every team has a few individuals who understand early, care early, and engage early. These “first followers” shape culture, accelerate understanding, and amplify motivation. Leaders should identify them quickly, treat them as partners (“embrace as equals”), and deliberately involve them in communication.
Paper airplane exercise:
To illustrate this, the class uses a paper-folding simulation: a team captain knows how to fold a complex airplane but may not touch anything, only explain verbally. The team with a fast first follower – someone who understands the pattern and helps others – almost always wins.
→ The lesson: leadership emerges within the group. Support travels faster through peers than through top-down instruction.
4. The Orchestra Metaphor – Four Conductors, Four Leadership Styles
Conducting an orchestra is an excellent metaphor for organisational leadership. Four famous conductors illustrate four distinct leadership archetypes.
a) Carlos Kleiber – The Cooperative Leader
Kleiber radiates ease, fluidity, and joy. His gestures are light, expressive, almost playful. His orchestra appears relaxed yet deeply focused. He leads primarily through atmosphere, emotion, and connection, not authority.
When something is off, his posture and gestures change instantly: sharp focus, clear signals, targeted correction.
→ This is Management by Exception: give autonomy when things run well; intervene precisely when they do not.
Characteristics:
High relationship orientation, medium task orientation.
Strengths: Motivation, ownership, psychological safety
Risks: Lack of structure in less mature teams
b) Riccardo Muti – The Authoritarian Leader
Muti is the definition of precision and perfectionism. His gestures are exact, his expression serious, his demands uncompromising. He believes in total responsibility – every nuance must be correct.
His musicians admired his excellence, but eventually wrote him a collective letter asking him to retire because the intensity was exhausting.
Authoritarian leadership can be highly effective in crises, when errors are costly and speed matters. In stable environments, however, it suppresses creativity and creates fear.
Real-world example: Perfectionistic managers produce outstanding results, but also anxiety. Public criticism or shouting destroys trust. Criticism should be given privately, not in front of the whole team.
Characteristics:
High task orientation, low relationship orientation.
Strengths: Precision, discipline, clarity
Risks: Fear, passivity, loss of initiative
c) Herbert von Karajan – The Laissez-faire Leader
Karajan often conducts with closed eyes. No eye contact, minimal interaction. He expects the orchestra to “listen to itself” and self-organise.
The result can be:
- Autonomy and mastery with highly mature teams
- Confusion and lack of alignment with less mature teams
This mirrors leaders who are rarely present, give little feedback, and assume the team will “figure it out”.
Characteristics:
Low task orientation, low relationship orientation.
Strengths: Freedom, autonomy
Risks: Isolation, frustration, declining performance
d) Leonard Bernstein – The Appreciative Leader
Bernstein leads almost without conducting in the classic sense. He uses facial expression and emotional presence. At the end, he steps aside and highlights the orchestra instead of himself. This is leadership as recognition.
He demonstrates trust, humility, and deep belief in the team’s competence.
Characteristics:
Very high relationship orientation, low task orientation.
Strengths: Motivation, pride, emotional connection
Risks: Lack of clarity or direction if not balanced
Interim conclusion: two axes define leadership
All four styles can be placed on two axes:
| High task orientation | Low task orientation | |
|---|---|---|
| High relationship orientation | Cooperative (Kleiber) | Appreciative / Charitable (Bernstein) |
| Low relationship orientation | Authoritarian (Muti) | Laissez-faire (Karajan) |
Takeaway: There is no universally “right” or “wrong” style. Effective leadership is situational. Self-awareness and flexibility are crucial.
5. Evolution of Leadership Theories
Leadership research does not replace older theories the way physics replaces old models. It adds perspectives.
- “Great Man Theory” (disproven): the idea that leaders are born, not made. Modern evidence shows leadership is learnable.
- Michigan Studies (1950s): first empirical proof that employee-oriented leadership produces better results than purely task-driven leadership.
- Later models: add nuance, but the two central axes remain: task orientation and relationship orientation.
6. Situational Leadership (Hersey & Blanchard)
Core idea: leadership must adapt to the follower’s maturity level, defined by ability (can) and motivation (will).
| Category | Ability | Motivation | Leadership style | Key behaviour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | Low | Low | Directing | Clear structure, step-by-step guidance |
| S2 | Low | High | Coaching | Training, feedback, close support |
| S3 | High | Low | Supporting | Understand causes, rebuild motivation |
| S4 | High | High | Delegating | Grant autonomy, trust, light monitoring |
Case example (“Petra”): A long-term top performer (S4) suddenly underperforms. Not because of skill, but because of private stress: partner’s illness, mother’s death, family conflict. The decline is a symptom, not the root cause. Supporting her required difficult conversations, temporary project removal, and space to recover.
Leadership is not textbook perfection. It is a balance between empathy and accountability.
Important principles:
- Motivation cannot be commanded.
- Learning happens only when willingness exists.
- 360-degree feedback helps uncover blind spots.
7. Application in Project Context
Projects are temporary organisations. They assemble new people, new goals, and new constraints. This makes deliberate leadership even more important.
Good project leadership means:
- Building trust quickly
- Identifying and empowering first followers
- Intentionally shaping the team atmosphere
- Using management by exception – intervening only when necessary
- Using appreciation as a consistent source of motivation
Reminder: “Project management is leadership on time limits.” It combines clarity, empathy, and self-reflection.
8. Conclusion
Leadership is not a fixed formula, but a dynamic interplay of influence, trust, and situational adjustment.
- Kleiber teaches that joy is contagious.
- Muti reminds us that discipline needs empathy.
- Karajan shows that absence is not autonomy.
- Bernstein demonstrates that recognition is more powerful than authority.
The situational leadership model provides a map. The leader provides the movement. The team provides the music.