Question

Scenario 1. You are volunteering with a religious organization and are a youth leader encouraging teens to live meaningful lives and be kind to each other

Scenario 2. You are a new hire in an organization and over the first six months, one of your staff member's performance drops considerably and you need to lead them effectively

Scenario 3. You have been working for an organization for 10 years with 5 staff and everyone is performing well, and then your company is bought out by a larger organization and you need to lead your team through the change (with layoffs expected)

Here are the questions for ease of reference to complete the activity:

1. Was your style consistent across all three scenarios?

2. What influenced your decision-making?

3.Which of the leadership theories presented in the chapter is most useful for explaining what you’ve concluded about your leadership?

4.What types of roles presented in the scenarios required you to be more of a manager rather than a leader?

Answer 1

1. My leadership style was not consistent in the 3 situations. In Scenario 1, I acted as a transformational leader. I had to encourage teens to live meaningful lives. My communication skills helped in this regard. In Scenario 2, I acted as a coach leader. I counselled my staff member, identified his issues affecting his performance and eventually helped him to get better. In Scenario 3, I acted as an effective leader. I had to evolve my team to act as change agents. I aligned their thought process with that of the company and hence was able to facilitate the change transition effectively.

2. The situations and the requirement of each affected my decision making. Every situation is quite different from the other. Moreover every situation has a different set of stakeholders. Hence it was quite necessary to keep their requirements and issues in mind, while taking a decision.

3. I feel Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership theory is the most appropriate in the given scenarios. In the current times, when business scenario is not stable, a leader is required to have flexibility to address situations effectively. As per situational leadership model, the leader assesses the situation in hand and accordingly adapts his leadership style. This helps in solving the issue quite comprehensively.

4. All 3 scenarios required the role of a leader than a manager. A manager just aspires to get things done effectively. On the other hand, the leader is required to bring a transformation. All the 3 scenarios required the insight of a leader.