Leadership case study

Leadership case study

Chapter 2

Case 2.3: Recruiting for the Bank

Based on the skills mentioned in the case, I think that Pat searched for the right characteristics for bank workers. Some of the traits needed for bank workers are interpersonal skills, confidence with poise, and initiatives. I believe that Pat recruits the right people with the necessary ethics and strong analytical and technical skills.  By following the right recruitment process, Pat has hired people from the same schools, meaning she recruited the right personnel. It is, therefore, possible that high employee turnover is caused by other factors unrelated to Pat’s recruitment process. Being that the Bank has had similar cases in the past, even with Pat’s best recruits, other factors such as low rewards and benefits might have resulted in a high turnover rate. Since Pat’s recruits have interpersonal skills and strong analytical skills needed for the job, the workers fit the banks hiring requirements. When the employees leave, there must be a reason from the top management why they leave. I, therefore, think that Pat looks for the right traits while hiring employees for the Bank. It is also possible that the employee retention problem is not related to the hiring process.

Chapter 3

Case 3.3: Andy’s Recipe

Andy’s success is based on her business background, which started with her ancestors. She has known the place for long, and the business is built on a good rapport with the locals. Further, success is based on her confidence in her business. She is sure of what she does since the business has run for 25 years. As the manager, Andy understands her restaurant business, meaning she can easily tackle problems that arise. Besides, Andy ensures that her services meet customer’s needs. By providing quality services, customers are sure of what they will get from her food. Andy also understands her customers since she can connect with them. This has created a good relationship between restaurant workers and customers. Finally, Andy has proficient and qualified employees. Her employees, like Kelly, Danielle, and Patrick, are dedicated to their work.  They are also experienced in the restaurant business having interpersonal skills to keep customers around. Patrick lacks interpersonal skills, and he is also weak hence treating customers as faceless. He, therefore, needs to interact more with customers by starting to work in front and not at the back. Danielle is hospitable but lousy with numbers. Her problem can be solved by acquiring technical skills. Andy is competent in her management skills. She believes in professional development through learning.

                                                                      Chapter 4

Case 4.2: Eating Lunch Standing Up

Susan’s leadership is authoritative and strict. It can also be described as a bureaucratic leadership style whereby employees have to play by the rules. Eating while standing to show employees how busy they can get is scaring the employees. However, much the amount of work that awaits, Susan needs to get time for herself. The type of leadership style demonstrated by Susan is not healthy for the organization as employees may opt to leave. Her leadership behaviors cause a pronounced reaction from the employees since she is not accommodative. She has a tight schedule, not giving workers space to even eat and take a break. Susan is too driven, and her only goal is to get the job done no matter the consequences. Knowing her by what she likes is difficult since she has no time to hang out with the staff. This makes it hard to relate with employees who feel left out in the management.

In my opinion, Susan needs to shift her leadership method to be more accommodative and tolerant. I believe she should change her behavior and create a positive relationship with her employees. It is not all about organizational goals but also the welfare of those around you and yourself. Therefore, Susan needs to create time for herself, the family, and her workers too. If she changes her attitude towards free time and her general leadership style, then I believe she will be effective as a manager.

Chapter 5

Case 5.3: Getting the Message Across

The problem at WCBA proper communication of legal obligations for broadcasting. The students require proper orientation and proper examples of how essential it is to obey the federal communication commission rules. I think Ann needs to put serious consequences for students who disobey the rules and use one to serve as an example.

Further, another problem is that Ann has been so friendly to the students until they do not take her seriously. Getting used to the students too much makes them not to take your words seriously. By describing Ann as the best around means that they probably enjoy her accommodative nature and take advantage even when it comes to serious matters like obeying FCC rules.

Apart from giving handouts and knowing the students personally, Ann should select students who participate in the station activities. First years should not be allowed to present without assistance from an experienced person. Further, there should be an orientation program before a student is allowed to participate in the studio. A training program for the new students would help them familiarize themselves with the FCC rules. Ann needs to give an example of what happens when the rules are not followed at the station. For example, she should cite previous cases of disobeying rules and how they were handled. Finally, Ann needs to be authoritative to be taken seriously by the students.

Chapter 8

Case 8.2: An Exploration in Leadership

From our previous learning, exploration leaders pause to ask people their views and how they are doing instead of only being interested in listening to those who share their views. In this case, Dr. Cook can be noted to be an explorative leader. He allows all the participants to take part in the excavation process. He listens to all of them and gives them room to participate in the process. Students are allowed to give their views and what they think about the learning process. By reminding the students that they share the duty of positive outcome of the venture and that they have self-obligation to design and schedule their work proves that Dr. Cook practices explorative leadership.

Dr. Cook’s strength lies in inspirational motivational and contingent reward. It can be noted that Dr. Cook speaks with high expectations for students about the excavation process. Both the leaders and the led share the same vision of expanding their knowledge. His leadership style enhanced team spirit, and the students would want to learn more about the excavation. This motivates the students to learn more about the archaeological dig. Further, another strength is in contingent reward since by explaining to the students about the topic, the leader gets a reward of expanding his knowledge about the subject. The vision that Dr. Cook has for the excavation is to help him learn more about archaeology, and the outcomes help him in his scholarly work.

Chapter 10

Case10.1: Everyone Loves Mrs. Noble

Mrs. Noble has several servant leadership behaviors such as serve first, empowering, building trust, listening to students, adding value to others, and conducting herself according to the standards (Northouse, 2018). By helping students in various areas that are not of her job description, such as assisting them in taking advance placements courses and baking sales, Mrs. Noble portrays behaviors of servant leadership. She never mocks students when they are wrong instead corrects them respectfully. Even the parents know how dedicated she is to her work and how much she helps their students at the school. Of interest is that she spends extra hours assisting students in finishing their work and ensuring that their applications are submitted. She is a great listener to students, principle, teachers, and parents. Going the extra mile to help a student who had a car accident submit her assignments delivered shows that Mrs. Noble is a servant leader.

Mrs. Noble’s followers are the students, teachers, and parents. She has managed to obtain servant leadership outcomes such as societal impact and follower performance and growth. She has successfully impacted back in society by helping students complete their school process. Further, by her actions, many learners must have copied her servant leadership behaviors and would want to practice in the future. Her main followers, who are the students, have growth and performance through her assistance. When I read about Mrs. Noble, I think of my computer lab technician, who was always dedicated to ensuring that every student feels comfortable. She used to help my colleagues and me with the lab projects until late hours.

Chapter 11

Case 11.3: Redskins No More

The people were avoiding a change of a name that represented their identity. Gooding people avoided the changes since they were used to the original name for at least fifty years, and they were not ready to adopt another name that does not portray their identity. The community avoided the change via two tactics; first, they changed the recalled the board and left those who belong to the natives. The two natives who remained at the board were against the change, and they voted against the name change. Secondly, the people tried to influence the students voting for the change.

I would describe efforts of Scoot and the school board as not adaptive sine they ought to have considered the concerns raised by the locals who had been the main stakeholders in the club. Even though the name offended some individuals, the school team deserved to retain their name since they have used it for fifty years. The holding environment presented by the board was not adaptive since most of the board members had to be recalled

The school board did not engage in getting on the balcony by listening to all the participants. They did not maintain disciplined attention since they ignored the students, and lastly, they did not give the work back to the people to decide through votes. The low-status group was the students who voted for Redhawks and were never listened to by the board.

Reference

Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.