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Readiness Defined
by
Charles Lamson
Readiness in Situational Leadership is defined as the extent to which a follower demonstrates the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task.
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People tend to be at different levels of readiness depending on the task they are being asked to do. Readiness is not a personal characteristic; it is not an evaluation of a person's traits, values, age, and so on. Readiness is how ready a person is to perform a particular task. This concept of readiness has to do with specific situations---not with any total sense of readiness. All persons tend to be more or less ready in relation to a specific task, function, or objective that a leader is attempting to accomplish. Thus, a salesperson may be very responsible in securing new sales, but very casual about completing the paperwork necessary to close on a sale. As a result, it is appropriate for the manager to leave the salesperson alone in terms of closing on sales, but to supervise closely in terms of paperwork until the salesperson can start to do well in that area, too.
In addition to assessing the level of readiness of individuals within a group, a leader may have to assess the readiness level of the group as a group, particularly if the group interacts frequently in the same work area, as happens with students in the classroom. Thus, a teacher may find that a class as a group may be at one level of readiness in a particular area, but a student within that group may be at a different level. When the teacher is one-to-one with the student, the teacher may have to behave very differently than with working with the class as a group. In reality, the teacher may find a number of students at various readiness levels. For example, the teacher may have one student who is not doing the assigned work regularly, and when the work is turned in, it is poorly organized and not very well done. The teacher may have to initiate some structure and supervise that student closely. Another student, however, may be doing good work but may be insecure and shy. With that student, the teacher may not have to engage in much task behavior in terms of schoolwork, but may need to be supportive, to engage in two-way communication, and to help facilitate the student's interaction with others in the class. Still another student may be competent and confident in the schoolwork and thus can be given minimum assistance. So leaders have to understand that they may have to behave differently one on one with members of their group from the way they do with the group as a whole.
The two major components of readiness are ability and willingness.
Ability is the knowledge, experience, and skill that an individual or group brings to a particular task or activity.
The components of ability are demonstrated knowledge, skill, and experience. They are defined as follows:
When considering the ability level of others, one must be task-specific. A person who has a Ph.D, in music and 20 years of professional experience playing the piano may be of little help in the design of a new jet engine. It is essential to focus on the specific outcome desired and to consider the ability of the followers in light of that outcome.
The components of willingness are demonstrated confidence, commitment, and motivation. They are defined as follows:
Willingness is only one word that describes the issue. Sometimes, it isn't so much that people are really unwilling, it is just that they have never done a specific task before. Perhaps they do not have any experience with it, so they are insecure or afraid. In general, if it is an issue of never having done something, the problem is insecurity. The term unwilling might be most appropriate when, for some reason, the individuals have slipped, or lost some of their commitment and motivation. It might imply that they are regressing.
Even though the concepts of ability and willingness are different, it is important to remember that they are an interactive influence system. This means that a significant change in one will affect the whole. The extent to which followers bring willingness into a specific situation affects the use of their current ability. And it affects the extent to which they will grow and develop competence and ability. Similarly, the amount of knowledge, experience, and skill brought to a specific task will often affect confidence, commitment, and motivation. Readiness levels are the different combinations of ability and willingness that people bring to each task (see Figure 1).
The continuum of follower readiness can be divided into four levels. Each represents a different combination of follower ability and willingness or confidence:
 Ron Campbell of the Center for Leadership Studies has expanded the continuum of follower readiness (see Figure 1) to include behavioral indicators of the four readiness levels. Each level represents a different combination of follower ability and willingness or confidence. As shown in Figure 2, indicators of a person at R1 for that specific task would be such behaviors as not performing the task to an acceptable level or being intimidated by the task. Figure 2 Readiness Level 1 (R1) 
Because it is important to assess whether a person is unable and insecure, Campbell further refined these readiness indicators to help differentiate between the two R1 readiness states. Specifically, an unable and unwilling R1 would exhibit:
An unable and insecure R1 would exhibit:
The following paragraphs will present indicators for the three remaining readiness levels R2's indicators are indicated in Figure 3. Specifically, an unable but willing or confident R2 would:
Figure 3 Readiness Level 2 (R2)
R3's indicators are illustrated in Figure 4. Specifically, an able but unwilling R3 would:
Figure 4
Readiness Level 3 (R3)
An able but insecure R3 would:
R4's indicators are illustrated in Figure 5. Specifically, an able and willing or confidant R4 would:
Figure 5 Readiness Level 4 (R4)
These indicators are important clues to follower readiness. Just as a physician must use clues in diagnosing patient illness, leaders must be alert for clues in follower behavior as a critical step to correctly diagnosing readiness.
*SOURCE: MANAGEMENT OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: LEADING HUMAN RESOURCES, 8TH ED., 2001, PAUL HERSEY, KENNETH H. BLANCHARD, DEWEY E. JOHNSON, PGS. 175-180*
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