Henrik Svensson is certain: "I'm crazy about SLII." For two decades, Henrik has included the SLII concept in his toolbox as a leadership consultant. Since then, he has used SLII in various situations and organizations of different sizes and at all levels of leadership. This leadership concept holds fundamental relevance for both individual leaders and employees and their collaboration on tasks.

By Annette Franck, Senior Advisor in CfL, August 2023

When Henrik teaches SLII, participants gain a common foundation for understanding what leadership is.

"We grasp the world through our concepts," Henrik observes. His experience is that SLII provides practical concepts to understand the need for leadership in a specific situation.

Each profession has its own language with specialized terminology, as Henrik describes. Therefore, each department internally understands each other. But when we meet in management teams or cross-functional teams, we may lack a common language.

"In many cases, the field of leadership has unclear concepts. Professionally, people come from different backgrounds and speak different languages. With SLII, we can connect to each other's management tasks and engage in a professional conversation about leadership," says Henrik.

Read the SLII-interview with Henrik Svensson in danish

Specific action

It doesn't end with conversation, as SLII distinguishes itself from many leadership tools by providing actionable guidance: "What does my employee need?" or "What should I do to support my team?"

With insight into SLII, a leader can diagnose an employee's development level in collaboration with the employee. This provides the leader with a basis for matching a leadership style that meets the need in the specific situation.

"Good leadership is defined in the specific situation. Therefore, leadership is always dynamic," says Henrik, "and this leadership concept accommodates that. SLII is more than simply 'four boxes' of leadership styles and leadership needs. It's a tool that easily helps us communicate and act dynamically in specific situations."

The article continues below the box.

Increasing relevance in a changing world

It is Henrik’s experience that his clients are finding SLII increasing relevant because the world is changing so rapidly. Our tasks shift, and we need to learn faster in our jobs, according to Henrik. Therefore, it is a strategically necessary skill for leaders to understand how to best support learning and development.

"It's thought-provoking that an old, well-known leadership tool like SLII is becoming more and more relevant precisely because of fast-paced development," says Henrik.

SLII is for everyone

The need for this competence applies to all levels of leadership, from the new team leader to the experienced CEO, according to Henrik's experience. Regardless of the organization's size. The smallest organization that Henrik introduced to SLII had 25 employees, of which four had leadership roles. Here, there was a need for a professional language for leadership and collaboration, as collaboration is typically more informal when everyone knows everyone. It can be difficult to identify leadership tasks in such cases. Henrik also notes that in smaller companies, individuals often face significant shifts in their tasks, increasing the need for situational leadership based on specific tasks.

"What binds us together is the language, and that's why our conceptual framework becomes so crucial for collaborating and communicating professionally" - Henrik Svensson

In larger organizations, Henrik sees that collaboration is often team-based and organized around projects. Colleagues and employees from various backgrounds often work together with people they don't already know.

"What binds us together is the language, and that's why our conceptual framework becomes so crucial for collaborating and communicating professionally," he states. In larger companies, Henrik uses SLII to create a shared understanding of leadership in the specific situation:

"SLII becomes a shared language in the team. The many benefits at the individual level are well-known, but it can be elevated to team level. Blanchard's leadership concepts also provide insight into a team's development level and, thus the needed leadership style. If the team is in the process of forming, there is a need for goals and guidelines, i.e. U1-level. However, it doesn't work to match with S3 leadership, where the leader primarily supports as a sparring partner and facilitator for the team.”

Ambition: More Blanchard in the toolbox

Henrik also uses other Blanchard concepts and is certified in Leadership Bridge, which links SLII to JTI. It is easy to connect SLII to other leadership tools, he says, and the effect is significant. Since SLII is action-oriented in the specific situation, where there may be a need for supportive or directive leadership, personality profiles such as JTI type codes can be linked to SLII leadership. This allows the leader to tailor  leadership to both the employee's preferences and competencies in combination with mathcing the employe’s need in the specific situation. The possibilities are many, which is why SLII is the tool that Henrik recommends to his clients when there is a need for a focused and action-oriented framework for leadership and collaboration.