Question

I am consulting you on this situation, individually, for your expert advice. We have been approached by a large restaurant franchise that is having trouble staying competitive in the casual dining market. This client’s performance had been slipping, employees are becoming disengaged. As part of their strategy to stay competitive, the company has strategically decided to add a line of upscale food and alcoholic beverages to their menu. The CEO of this company has asked for our consultation services. She knows that to make the new strategy work she will need the full support of the employees from the servers up through the ranks to the managers and supervisors.

The employees range in age from 18 to 46. The experience levels of the employees range from newly hired to six years at this particular restaurant. Each employee has their food handling permit but none have a bartender's license. There are three (3) shifts from the clean-up crews that start after the restaurant closes in the evening, the food preparers that start in the early morning hours, and over-lapping shifts of servers, hostesses, and bussers that work the hours that the restaurant is open to the public. All employees were trained in promoting customer relations, as well as their particular job function, when they first started with the company, without additional training thereafter. Some of the employees are looking elsewhere for positions that offer career advancement and motivation. The building is in the older part of the city but is maintained well. There is ample parking space and lighting available. The restaurant atmosphere has not been updated since the restaurant opened 10 years ago and the menu has remained the same. There have been a few price increases to offset the increase in operating costs of food, utilities, and rent.

Directions:

On your own, please advise the CEO as to how she should lead the company to successfully implement the new strategy. Using the material from the course, I would like you to:

1. Explain to her why there is more than one way to be an effective leader; and

2. Provide her with 2 different leadership styles (See below - choose 2 styles which are discussed in your text) you suggest she could use. Be sure to use headings in your paper and explain why you chose these leadership styles; and

3. Identify one leadership style (from the list below) that would be the least effective and Be sure to use headings in your paper and explain why you chose this leadership style.

• Transactional Leadership
• Empowering Leadership
• Servant Leadership
• Ethical Leadership
• Passive Leadership
• Transformational Leadership

Answer 1

1. I really admire the Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership model. This model suggests that there is no specific style followed by a leader of an organization. The leader needs to mold his leadership style as the gravity of the situation, faced by the organization, demands. The characteristics of leadership style may also depend on the maturity of the followers. As the leader will be portraying different leadership styles as per the gravity of the situation, we can conclude that there can be more than one way of becoming an effective leader.

2. The leadership theories which are applicable in the given workplace setting are as follows:

• Empowering Leadership: The leader empowers the employees and gives them the freedom to handle their work independently. This keeps the employees motivated to work hard and perform their best for the company
• Transformational Leadership: The leader acts as a change agent for the overall society. The leader is quite inspiring and has the vision for the better future of the overall society. There are various employees in the company, who are looking for switching options. A transformational leader will influence them to stay with the company and give their best.

3. Passive leadership style is the least effective. This is so because a passive leader is quite negative and has the potential to turn the employees toxic. A toxic employee can prove to be quite dangerous for the overall development, performance as well as sustenance of the company.