A ‘Situational Leadership’ Exercise for Adaptive Management Learning

This session proposal presents the Leading the Cobra Development Team role-play, an experiential exercise that enables participants to apply and critically evaluate Situational Leadership Theory (SLT). Grounded in Hersey and Blanchard’s (1969) framework of matching directive and supportive behaviours to follower readiness, the activity situates leadership adaptability within a realistic organisational scenario. While acknowledging SLT’s empirical limitations (e.g., Fernandez & Vecchio, 1997), the exercise uses it as a heuristic for exploring diagnostic reasoning, behavioural flexibility, and context-sensitive communication. Suitable for postgraduate, MBA, and executive education cohorts, it bridges theory and practice by fostering adaptive self-awareness and critical reflection on the relevance of SLT in contemporary leadership development.