Discussion questions:

1. What leadership skills would work best in this setting?

Based on the case at hand I feel that the best leadership skill in this case would be the

skill of facilitation along with the skill of group consultation. This is because based on the

case it shows that there is quite the issue with communication between Laura and the other

managers most probably due to the nature of the busy schedule. By using the skills of

facilitation along with group consultation I feel that Laura will be able to better find the

issues within the organisation such as in the case of the decrease in employee morale due to

their pessimistic conversational approach. Along with that with the use of group consultation

and better communication between her and the other managers, the other managers will be

able to better allocate tasks amidst the increase of staff turn over.

2. How can Laura most effectively use the leadership skills in her role as associate director?

As an associate director I feel that Laura can very much benefit by using their skills in

order to communicate better with not only the managers of the company but also the staff

below them. With this Laura will be able to better delegate the tasks to the managers and also

allow the staff to feel that their views and opinions within the company matter and that their

concerns are heard. By doing so Laura will be able to possibly raise morale amongst the staff

and also increase the productivity as a whole as everyone would be well informed and also be

in better spirits to face the tasks at hand. Along with this effective communication with the

relatively new managers will be key in the productivity of the team as a whole.

3. Explain the steps that could be taken to build staff confidence?

 The steps to build better staff confidence will be firstly to know the team that is at

hand, by this I would mean to communicate with the team and know the team's concerns and

wishes within the company. By doing this the management will be able to highlight the

shortcomings from the side of the team and also bring to light outstanding problems which

may have been brought up. With the knowledge on what to work on the management should

then start discussing on ways to tackle the problems which have been noted, by quickly

working on fixing the issues that have been brought up the team themselves will be more

trusting of the management as they would feel as it the feedback that has been shared on their

part has been taken seriously. Next up, specific praise should be given to those who do good

during their work. This specific form of praise will pinpoint the strengths that the employee

has developed and allow them to develop those strengths better (Hurt, 2016). Finally, any

mistakes made should be pointed out in a constructive way where the employee is able to

work on their mistakes and better themselves.

4. Suggest how Laura can improve her leadership skills and how the managers can improvise

their management skills?

The first way Laura can learn to be a better leader is for her to first work on her

listening skills. A good leader must be able to properly communicate to their subordinates as

communication is very important to any leader, without communication information from the

side of the management or from the side of the employees can get lost or even just

overlooked. A second suggestion to improve leadership skills is to be disciplined in the way

one is to carry out tasks. A good leader should be able to formulate a proper schedule to reach

their desired goal and must also be able to follow that schedule. By doing so they are able to
complete tasks and lead others in an organised way. A final suggestion to improve leadership

skills would be to be active and take the initiative to contact the team more often (Prossack,

2021). And as for the improvement on the side of the other managers the methods for

improvement in their case is very similar to that of Laura where their improvement can stem

from the improvement of their communication skills along with their planning skills as these

two skills are just as important to managers as they are to leaders such as Laura.

5. Apart from the above-mentioned leadership style, discuss other leadership styles that you

would recommend in this situation?

Based on the case I feel a good leadership style that can be adopted by the company is

the Democratic leadership style. This leadership style is one that will look to the whole

organisation when moving forward to reach their goals, it is one that allows for ample

communication from both the sides of the management and also from the side of the

employees. In the case it has been highlighted that Lauren the associate director does not

communicate well with the team as a whole, but with a change to a democratic leadership

style there would be much less cases where communication is lacking. In this same way the

employees themselves will also be able to voice out their concerns too. As a whole a swap to

such a leadership style would also allow Lauren to gain some information from the side of

her two managers below her which would allow for a more in depth discussion amongst them

to be had (Martinuzzi, 2021).

References

Hurt, K. (2016, 1 13). 7 Ways to Build Your Employees’ Self-Confidence.

www.success.com. Retrieved 10 2, 2021, from https://www.success.com/7-ways-to-

build-your-employees-self-confidence/

Martinuzzi, B. (2021, 7 23). Leadership Styles and How to Find Your Own.

www.americanexpress.com. Retrieved 10 6, 2021, from

https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-and-insights/articles/the-7-

most-common-leadership-styles-and-how-to-find-your-own/

Prossack, A. (2021, 6 29). 4 Ways To Improve Your Leadership Skills.

www.forbes.com. Retrieved 10 2, 2021, from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashiraprossack1/2021/06/29/how-to-unlock-your-full-

leadership-potential/?sh=581cbee644ac