Case Study Week 4

Leadership and Team Building

6.1 Three Shifts, Three Supervisors

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This case study uses three supervisors and their respective styles to illustrate the potential

shortcomings if a leader never wavers from using one set style. As with nearly everything related

to leadership, there has to be balance. Examples of leadership behaviors are directive, supportive,

participative, and achievement oriented.

The case study paints Art out to be directive in nature. He is very structured and routinely

has oversight of his people. This approach isn’t ideal because all the employees are competent,

as the job is very basic and monotonous. Bob is excessively supportive. This isn’t a bad thing,

but his lack of structure and participative input has put his shift in shambles, as their job is ever

changing and they often times don’t have the solution for the problems they’re facing. Carol is

well-rounded in all of the leadership behaviors.

Art’s leadership approach (directive) is resulting in disconnect between the employees

and him. They don’t feel as if Art truly understands their day-to-day grind. Because Art never

really polls his people for thoughts/ideas and he never really motivates them via goals/rewards,

the employees are not very committed nor are they very open. Bob is focused too much on

people and not the task. He’s employees are losing faith in him to provide them with what they

need to do the job. He fails to take their input, and he definitely fails to provide structure. This is

resulting in his shift and employees getting a bad rap. Morale is likely to dwindle quickly in this

section. Lastly, Carol is a study. She is very balanced in her approach. She conforms to what

each task or situation requires; she is perceptive. Her employees are very competent and

motivated. The only problem occurs when they transition to another shift. It’s essentially shell

shock for them and they revert back in their developmental level.

If I were consulting Brako, I would recommend moving Bob to the first shift, where the

job is mundane, people know exactly what to do, and support and relationships would go a long
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way in boosting morale. Art would switch with Bob and take on the second shift. Art would

provide some much needed structure and oversight. The only change that Art would need to

make would be to engage with his employees in a more participative manner and find a solution

to the problems they’re facing. Carol could either stay on third shift, or she could temporarily go

to the second shift to get things squared away for Art.

6.2 Direction for Some, Support for Others

Daniel is the manager of a very successful copy store. His leadership style is credited

with sales that top two other local chain stores combined. There are two types of jobs at the copy

store: easy and tedious duplicating and complex/creative desktop publishing. Each section

requires a much different approach, and Daniel knows this.

Daniel’s perception is spot on. He understands what his employees need in each

environment. He knows the duplicating job takes a low level of skill and requires little to no

direct supervision. In an effort to keep commitment and moral up, Daniel is very supportive and

allows employees to do things that makes their job fun. He routinely engages with them routinely

and has developed good open relationships with the employees. On the other side, Daniel knows

the job is difficult and he looks for a certain type of person to fill that position. That person is

very D4, therefore Daniel provides an S4 style of leadership. With that being said, when/if the

employees need help, Daniel is quick to jump in and show them what needs to be done. He is

participative when problems do occur. He utilizes the entire staff to troubleshoot and resolve

issues.

Obviously, his leadership style has a positive effect on his employees. He works with

them to avoid scheduling conflicts, which helps maintain employment, he allows them to do

things that make tedious jobs interesting, and he provides competent and committed people with
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the necessary space to do their own thing. Morale is very high, and sales show that Daniel and

his leadership style is effective.

As stated above, Daniel is observant and perceptive of what tasks require what skill, and

what task/skill require what leadership approach. Daniel adjusts himself to the people and the

tasks that they are performing, not the other way around. Many people get stuck in a default

style, but Daniel is able to routinely bounce in and out of different styles to better meet the needs

of his employees and the company.

Daniel’s only shortfall seems to be the achievement oriented style. According to

Northouse (2016, p. 116), “ a leader need to find out what is rewarding to followers about their

work and then make those rewards available to them when they accomplish the requirements of

their work.” In doing that, Daniel can maintain employee motivation to perform. Over time,

people have to work towards a goal or they lose the drive to perform.

7.1 His Team Gets the Best Assignments

Based on the scenario presented, it appears the Jack’s team is the in-group. Terri’s team

is equally competent but lacks the necessary attributes (personality, trust) required to get into the

in-group. Sarah’s group is content with being in the out-group because she doesn’t feel the need

to put in the extra work needed to gain the trust of Carly.

Carly’s approach is productive to this point. Jack’s team is the in-group (trusted, provided

leeway) and therefore, will continue to do things well and consistently. Eventually, if Terri and

Carly don’t build a relationship, that team will experience turnover which will negatively affect

the firm. Terri and Carly’s relationship is directing negatively influencing Julie, who appears to

be on the fence in this scenario. If Carly would make the extra effort to communicate with the

team leaders, I believe they could all come to an understanding and eventually perform even
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better and more efficiently than they are currently. Carly may not realize she’s being perceived

this way. The only way for there to be mutual trust between these respective parties is through

communication. With communication and repetition, the relationships and teams, with the

exception of Sarah’s, should advance to the in-group.

7.2 Working Hard at Being Fair

Jenny’s leadership style focuses on the individual and their unique abilities. She adjusts

her style according to the person and the task being formed in an effort to get the very best

outcome. She avoids casting the perception of in/out-groups; everyone is equal in her eyes. She

utilizes all of the path-goal theory approaches, as well.

The employees at City Mortgage respond to Jenny in a very positive way. Even though

there is disparity in income, all employees feel equally valued. They trust her and seem willing to

go the extra mile, which I guess puts all employees in the in-group.

I would do things exactly how Jenny has done them if I were in her shoes. As the last

paragraph of the case states, she is concerned that she may become burned out. There has to be a

work-life balance. She should consider delegating some of her responsibility. Whoever is in a

leadership position above Jenny should utilize the achievement oriented approach and offer her

some sort of reward for meeting lofty goals. That would likely keep her fire burning.

References:

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, California,
United States: Sage Publication, Inc.