A new employee, Jerry, has just joined your social media marketing team. He has limited experience with social media advertising and the specific media platforms that your company uses. He is unsure about how to approach his first project. According to Situational Leadership Theory, how should you best lead Jerry?

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

When approaching a new employee with limited experience in social media advertising, the reasoning process should evaluate how leadership style fits the level of follower readiness described in Situational Leadership Theory.
Option 1: 'Discuss the specific project objectives/goals and the importance of adhering to coding standards with Jerry. Ask for Jerry's ideas about how to complete the project and provide support to help him implement his ideas.' This option emphasizes setting objectives and seeking input, which aligns with a more participative style. However, given Jerry's limited experience, simply discussing goals and asking for ideas without providing explicit task-level guidance and a concrete plan may leave him unsure of the exact steps to take. The potential mismatch is the balance between direction and support; more structure is typically required for low-competence, low-confidence situations.
Option 2: 'Listen to Jerry's concerns, but assure him that he has the ability to complete the project. Ask him for his ideas and provide him positive feedback.' Here, there is an optimistic stance about Jerry's capabilities, but the approach still leans toward encouragement without sufficient directive instruction. For a new employee with limited experience, relying largely on self-discovery and varied feedback can result in ambiguity and slower progress.
Option 3: 'Sit down with Jerry, provide a detailed project plan, explain the social media platform that he should use, and outline the specific tasks to be completed. Offer clear instructions and answer any questions to ensure the Jerry understands what is expected and how to proceed.' This option provides high clarity, explicit tasks, and concrete steps, which matches the directing (high directive, low support) style appropriate for someone new and inexperienced. It reduces ambiguity and builds a solid foundation for successful initial performance.
Option 4: 'Tell Jerry that you have confidence in him and allow him to complete the project as he sees fit.' This is a delegating approach, which assumes a higher level of competence and confidence than Jerry currently demonstrates. For a novice, stepping back with minimal guidance risks misalignment, errors, and delays, making this option unsuitable for the given situation.
Overall, the most suitable choice emphasizes giving Jerry a clear plan, defined tasks, and explicit guidance while remaining available for questions, which helps build competence and confidence appropriate to Situational Leadership in early stages of role onboarding.

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