The Three-Stage Model of Effective Leadership

A successful leader must be a good communicator.

In 1988, management professors Linda Neider and Chester Schriesheim introduced a tool to help managers understand the leadership process. This tool describes a model of leadership effectiveness in three stages. The first stage involves analyzing jobs, selecting employees and providing orientation training. The second stage involves setting career paths, defining goals and providing rewards. The third stage includes assessing and monitoring performance. By maintaining an optimal environment, leaders achieve more consistent results from their subordinates, in both the short and long term.

Precursor Conditions

Successful leaders ensure precursor conditions exist to establish effective leadership. This involves communicating effectively with subordinates. Effective leaders define roles and responsibilities associated with jobs, select resources with the adequate skills and knowledge and provide appropriate training on policies and procedures. Effective leaders set clear expectations. When employees know what’s expected of them, they tend to respond positively to leadership directives. This enables leaders to achieve their strategic goals.

Maintenance Functions

The second stage of the model involves supporting and developing employees on an ongoing basis. By helping subordinates define career goals, acquire skills and knowledge and develop professionally, effective leaders improve employee morale, job satisfaction and retention. Successful leaders recognize that work gets done through committed employees. Inspirational leaders provide a compelling vision for the future and persuade employees to constantly improve processes and procedures to produce quality products and services.

Reassessment and Monitoring

During the third stage, effective leaders reassess their assumptions and provide feedback to subordinates on their performance. Through comprehensive monitoring systems, leaders validate if employees produce products and services that help the company meet its strategic objectives. For example, a leader might direct her subordinates to submit weekly status reports that provide details about operational effectiveness. By defining key performance indicators, such as sales completed, customer satisfaction rate or product errors, an effective leader tracks her business and spots trends. Then, she can act decisively to handle strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Considerations

Developing effective leadership skills involves improving communication skills, such as listening, speaking, presenting and writing. Leadership training programs prepare participants to assess a situation through observation, draw on past experience and consider alternatives. Making good decisions often includes soliciting input from peers, subordinates, superiors and business partners. Learning how to collaborate enables successful leadership. With thorough understanding of the three-stage model of effective leadership, you can establish a strong foundation that enables you to build a team of loyal, committed employees.