Art of Leadership
Q.1 Case study
Laura is the associate director of a non-profit
agency that provides assistance to children and families. She is the head of a
department that focuses on evaluating the skill-building programs the agency
provides to families. She reports directly to the agency leadership. As a
whole, the agency has been cautious in hiring this year because of increased
competition for federal grant funding. However, they have also suffered high
staff turnover. Two directors, three key research staff, and one staff person
from the finance department have left. Laura has a demanding schedule that
requires frequent travel; however, she supervises two managers who in turn are
responsible for five staff members each. Both managers have been appointed
within the last six months.
Manager 1: Kelly has a specific background in
research. She manages staff who provide research support to another department
that delivers behavioral health services to youth. Kelly supports her staff and
is very organized; however, she often takes a very black and white view of
issues. Upper level leadership values Kelly’s latest research on the
therapeutic division’s services. Kelly is very motivated and driven and expects
the same from her staff.
Manager 2: Linda has a strong background in social
science research and evaluation. She manages staff that work on different
projects within the agency. She is known as a problem solver and is extremely
supportive of her staff. She is very organized and has a wealth of experience
in evaluation of family services. Linda is very capable and can sometimes take
on too much. The managers are sensing that staffs are becoming overworked as
everyone takes on increased responsibilities due to high staff turnover. Staffs
have also mentioned that Laura’s "glass half-empty" conversation
style leaves them feeling dejected. In addition, Laura has not shared budgets
with her managers, so they are having difficulty appropriately allocating work
to staff. Laura said she has not received sufficient information from the
finance department to complete the budgets. The finance department said they
have sent her all the information they have available. As staff becomes
distressed, the managers are becoming frustrated. They feel like they are
unable to advocate for their staff or solve problems without key information
like the departmental budget.
1.Skills in her role as associate director? What
combination of the two do you
think
would work best in this setting?
2. What steps could be taken to build staff
confidence?
3. What advice would you give Laura on improving
her leadership skills and
to the managers on improving their management
skills?
4. Which leadership style do you think a leader
would need
Assignment – 2
Subject: Art of
Leadership
Q.2 Case study
In
a small community with a long tradition of art appreciation, a board managed
the policies of the local arts council. Over the course of many years, the
reputation of the community’s appreciation of the arts grew state- wide. For
decades, the arts council thrived and the community benefitted greatly from the
business, industry, and education that developed through local pride in the
arts. One year a new member of the board became disenfranchised with the
director of the arts council because he did not include the board member’s art
piece in the annual art exhibit. The director assured the board member t at the
artwork was judged to be good by the advisory committee that selected art for
the art exhibit, but many other art pieces were superior to that piece of
artwork. For decades, the selection of art for the annual exhibits by the
advisory committee was sacrosanct. The thought of interference in the selection
process by a board member of the arts council was unthinkable. The new board
member was selected by his peers primarily because of his financial standing in
the community, not because he had a history of supporting the arts. In fact, he
had shown very little interest in the community’s arts endeavours and exhibits
before joining the board. This was widely known by many others on the board and
by the director; yet, he was added to the board. It became obvious soon after
his appointment that the board and the director had sacrificed its purpose and
commitment to the arts for the status of and possible financial contributions
from the new board member. It was also obvious that the new board member was
not committed to the arts and he had no respect for the long-standing process
of selecting art for the annual exhibit. After the director explained the
process of selecting art for the exhibit and the critical role of the advisory
committee, the new board member was unmoved. He insisted that his artwork is
included in the exhibit. The director informally and formally addressed the
issue with the other board members. Rather than maintaining its integrity and
focus on the traditional process of artwork selection; instead of standing
strong against one board member’s inappropriate demands; instead of
appreciating and respecting the authority and responsibility of the director’s
position and key role in the council and community; instead of standing on its
own principles, all of that was compromised and the questionable artwork was
included in the exhibit. This unfortunate and ill-advised decision by the board
and director created chaos. Other board members began to question the art show
selections by the advisory committee and each one began to name their own
favorite art pieces. Over a brief period, the selection process broke down
completely; the quality of the art exhibit declined; the trust of the director
diminished, and the once broad community support of the arts council started to
erode. The director was removed and without a succession plan for the
leadership position, a director was selected that was unqualified for the
position and who was told by the board that he was not to operate independently
of the board. In other words, the board made it clear that they would run the
organization.34 Years later that once proud and prestigious arts council became
a shell of its former existence, and its decline started with one board member
who put himself over the best interests of the organization and was supported
by a board and leader that failed to carry out its duties and responsibilities
when they abandoned the organization’s purpose and traditions. Once the trust
was eroded and the focus of the organization shifted from its mission to
individual self-interests, the core of the organization was damaged from the
inside out. The purpose of leadership was lost. But more importantly,
sustainability of the effectiveness of the organization suffered.
1.
How do you manage a conflict situation?
2.
Which supporting skills do you think are more important for a leader?
3.
Tell me/us about the time you demonstrated leadership skills at work?
4.
What is your leadership style?
Assignment 3
Subject: Art of
Leadership
Q.3 Case study
ESMT Case Study Leadership styles Konstantin
Korotov
Vignette 1: Fire alarm in Bucharest An engineer
from the Bucharest office of a global company describes a recently experienced
situation. We were sitting at an extraordinary staff meeting in a windowless
office in our company’s building in Bucharest. Almost all of the Romanian
office people were invited to listen to a big boss from Munich. One could
clearly see that our local managers were trying to do everything possible to
leave a positive impression with the guest from headquarters. Our local top
brass people were smiling and nodding all the time when the visitor spoke, and
the Romanian general manager was even taking notes on his tablet computer,
something that he never does.
The visitor from Munich was talking about the
responsibility each of us had for cutting costs. Suddenly the meeting room went
completely dark and a fire alarm sounded. Everyone stayed sitting at their
places, waiting for instructions. The visitor from Munich went silent, but our
local bosses for some reason were silent too. Finally someone from the audience
lost patience and shouted: “For how much longer are we going to sit here? Do
you want to burn here? It’s time to get out.” People jumped from their seats
and started making their way to the exit. They were stepping on each other’s
feet and bumping against the furniture. When we were finally out of the
building it became clear that a fire had started in one of office’s electric
rooms, and fire-fighters were already handling it.
Luckily, nobody was injured. When the situation
cleared, the engineer found himself thinking about the behavior of the managers
in this situation: This case study was prepared by Konstantin Korotov of ESMT
European School of Management and Technology. Sole responsibility for the
content rests with the author. It is intended to be used as the basis for class
discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling
of a management situation.
1.
Which Goleman
Style? Justify
Cont…
2. Since this
incident, I have often thought about why our managers remained silent when the
fire alarm went off. Usually they have no problemgiving orders or telling us
how to do things. This time, however, they were quiet and indecisive. Could it
be that the presence of the higher-ranking boss from Munich had an impact on
their behavior?
Assignment 4
Subject: Art of Leadership
Case study
Just 2 months out of training you were assigned to
the Logistics Readiness Squadron in Minot, North Dakota. After in-processing
with the unit, you sit down with your squadron commander, Major Carnage, and
relay your lack of experience and uncertainty about the job. “Sir, I was open
to anything the Air Force handed me,” you said to the commander, “but logistics
in North Dakota wasn’t even close to being on my dream sheet. How am I going to
lead if I don’t even have the skills to tell people how and what to do?” The
commander replied, “As an officer you should be ready to lead anywhere and
anytime you are put into a position, no matter what training you’ve had. Don’t
worry about it though--you’re going to be the assistant flight commander for
Bravo Flight under the eyes of Captain Vogel, the Bravo Flight
Commander.”
After 7 months on the job, Captain Vogel tells you
he is leaving in 2 weeks for Columbus AFB MS for Undergraduate Pilot Training
(UPT) and will be handing the Bravo Flight reigns over to you permanently. You
shudder at the thought but quickly remember what your commander had said about
officers leading anytime and anywhere. You take the job head-on, using the same
techniques Capt Vogel applied to lead the flight. For some reason, the 15
personnel under your supervision randomly disregard your orders and quickly
fall behind on the vehicle maintenance schedule. The commander calls you into
his office one day to discuss the decline in flight morale and unit
effectiveness. You begin to think about the situation and the variables at hand
and say, “I’m a second lieutenant with some job knowledge, I’ve already sat
down with the members of Bravo Flight and told them what I expect from
them--just to let them know who’s boss. I take care of tasks they should be
doing to show I care about them, I give each member as much ‘down time’ as
needed; I don’t nag them about accomplishing their jobs because that would be
considered micromanagement, and I even give them leeway with mistakes by not
reprimanding or correcting them. I thought they would like me for being down to
earth and joking around with them. What the heck am I doing wrong?”
1. Given this scenario, what have
you been doing wrong as a leader? If you were the commander of this
organization, what would you do with the Lt?
Assignment 5
Subject: Art of
Leadership
Case study
Being a new leader
is quite difficult because organizations often face tough problems and
challenges that need quick responses. For a new leader, this is challenging
since the atmosphere of crisis provides no time or patience for learning.
Secondly, most organizations are rigid and sticks to the old belief that “old
is gold”.They do not allow room for raw talent, training, making mistakes and
experimentation. Most organizations believe that an effective leader is that
who has long years of service.
A leader as
defined by some scholars refers to someone with commanding authority and
influence. Others define it as a person’s ability to influence people and
groups within the organization and hence helping them set up their goals and
guide them towards achieving those goals set by the organization (Afsenah,
2012).
Jack Hartnett’s leadership
skills encompasses all the above. Though he appears bossy and autocratic, he
puts into consideration the welfare of his employees and listens to them. He
adopts the no-nonsense attitude and develops it into a culture in the
organization. An organization can develop a culture where the employees share
common values and beliefs on work- related issues. This is what jack does and
it indeed produces results and leads to the success of the company.
He allows his employees to
balance their family life with work and when they face problems he acts as
their counselor and helps them resolve their issues. His autocratic and
intolerance enabled him to succeed. He sets the rules which his employees must
follow. He ensures that his employees are happy because he believes that
unhappy people do not produce results. As a result, he has managed to create an
organization that is dynamic and successful.
In choosing the
person to represent them, a leader needs to understand the cultural context of
the host country. Discrimination is one of the factors influencing the leader’s
choice of the person to go to Saudi Arabia. In countries like Saudi Arabia,
defined by Edward Hall’s model as high context countries (Hall, 1976), cultural
nuances communicate more and determines the kind of response received and if
not handled well, this can lead to the loss of a business deal. It determines
whether a business deal will succeed or not.
Women in the country are the
most discriminated and disadvantaged and this is not based on their abilities
or actions, but based on cultural factors. Women face obstacles and barriers of
becoming leaders and men prevent them from moving to the highest levels of
organizations. In Saudi Arabia, women experience gender segregation and are
barred from participating in public life including work places. Choosing a
woman to go on this mission would seem disrespectful for the culture adopted by
the Saudi Arabian government and automatically lead to the failure of this
enterprise. Thus, leaders are to know the culture of the people in question to
enable them to make the necessary decisions.
In an
organization, what determines high compensation packages usually is the place
that one holds. Top executives in any organization, both public and private,
wield large amount of power. The legitimacy of their positions enables them to
get high compensation packages. Compared to other employees, they enjoy many
privileges because of their power.This is because they are usually the ones
responsible for allocation of resources to themselves and to those in lower
positions. Furthermore, these executives are usually in high demand and
organizations compete with each other to acquire them.
Understanding the
impact of culture is important to a leader since leadership is a social and an
interpersonal process. The leader needs to research and understand the
different cultures so that he can make more informed decisions. As a leader,
choosing this man to represent his company would be the most favorable thing to
do as it will enable him to attain his set goals and succeed in closing
profitable deals. Since the man in question does not have experience, this can
offer a perfect opportunity for him to develop his skills and experience hence
benefiting the organization.
For the woman who
is more experienced and more qualified, the leader can explain to her the
cultural obstacles involved hence not hurting her feelings. The leader can send
her to go on missions in other countries that are low- contexts and that
encourages women taking leadership roles. Training and education can help
people be aware of their biases, understand their own
and others’ cultural point of
view and accept their differences. By having diverse people in leadership
positions, an organization “walks and walk” and
1. What are the challenges you
are likely to face as the new leader?
can prove its
commitment to diversity.
2. What are some of the
actions you would take to help smooth the transition?
3. What cultural
factors do you need to consider?
4. What are the implications
of your decision for your business and the message you send as a leader?
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