leardership
Chapter 5 I Situational Approach 111
Steve Lynch is the manager of production and has been with the com-
pany since its inception. Steve started out with the company just out of
high school,working on the line. and moved up in the company as a result
of his hard work. His goal is to streamline production and decrease costs
by lo%. He knows production backward and forward but is a bit appre-
hensive about his new role as production manager. In fact, Steve is afraid
he might fail as manager. He does not know whether he is ready to have
others depend on him when he has always been the one depending on
others. The owner. Bruce, has great faith in Steve and has had several
meetings with him to clarify his role and reassure him that he can do the
work. He is certain that Steve will be an outstanding production manager.
Bruce meets weekly with each of his managers to talk about how their
groups are fitting in with the overall company goals. In his upcoming
weekly conference, he wants to discuss with them what new procedures
they could implement within their departments to improve their long-
term performance. Bruce is wondering how he should approach each of
his managers.
Questions
I. According to the basic assumptions of situational leadership, where
would you place the three managers in regard to levels of develop-
ment in the SLll model (see Figure SJ)?
2. If you were Bruce, would you act the same toward each of the three
managers?
3. Which conference would be the hardest for you, and which would be
the easiest? Why?
C A S E 5 . 2
Why Aren’t They Listening?
jim Anderson is a training specialist in the human resource department of
a large pharmaceutical company. In response to a recent companywide
survey,jim specifically designed a 6-week training program on listening and
communication skills to encourage effective management in the company.
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112 LEADERSHIP J THEORY AND PRACTICE
(Continued)
Jim’s goals for the seminar are twofold: for participants to learn new com-
munication behaviors and for participants to enjoy the seminar so they will
want to attend future seminars.
The first group to be offered the program was middle-level managers in
research and developmentThis group consisted of about 25 people, nearly
all of whom had advanced degrees. Most of this group had attended several
in-house training programs in the past, so they had a sense of how the
seminar would be designed and run. Because the previous seminars had not
always been very productive, many of the managers felt a little disillusioned
about coming to the seminar.As one of the managers said, “Here we go
again: a fancy in-house training program from which we will gain nothing.”
Because Jim recognized that the managers were very experienced, he
did not put many restrictions on attendance and participation. He used a
variety of presentation methods and actively solicited involvement from
the managers in the seminar. Throughout the first two sessions, he went
out of his way to be friendly with the group. He gave them frequent cof-
fee breaks during the sessions; during these breaks, he promoted social-
izing and networking.
During the third session, Jim became aware of some difficulties with
the seminar. Rather than the full complement of 25 managers, attendance
had dropped to about only I5 managers. Although the starting time was
established at 8:30, attendees had been arriving as late as lO:00. During
the afternoon sessions, some of the managers were leaving the sessions
to return to their offices at the company.
As he approached the fourth session, Jim was apprehensive about
why things had been going poorly. He had become quite uncertain about
how he should approach the group. Many questions were running
through his mind: Had he treated the managers in the wrong way? Had
he been too easy regarding attendance at the sessions? Should he have
said something about the managers skipping out in the afternoon? Were
the participants taking the seminar seriously? Jim was certain that the
content of the seminars was innovative and substantive, but he could not
figure out what he could change to make the program more successful.
He sensed that his style was not working for this group, but he didn’t
have a clue as to how he should change what he was doing to make the
sessions better.
Chapter 5 l Situational Approach 1
Questions
I. According to the SLll model (see Figure 5. I). what style of leadership
is Jim using to run the seminars?
2. At what level are the managers?
3. From a leadership perspective, what is Jim doing wrong?
l 4. What specific changes could Jim implement to improve the seminars?
(15 E 5 . 3
Getting the Message Across
Am Caldera is the program director of a college campus radio station
(WCBA) that is supported by the university. WCBA has a long history
ad is viewed favorably by students, faculty, the board of trustees, and the
pople in the community.
Ann does not have a problem getting students to work at WCBA. In
it is one of the most sought-after university-related activities.The few
fidents who are accepted to work atWCBA are always highly motivated
se they value the opportunity to get hands-on media experience. In
n, those who are accepted tend to be highly confident (sometimes
so) of their own radio ability. Despite their eagerness, most of them
a full understanding of the legal responsibilities of being on the air.
One of the biggest problems that confronts Ann every semester is how
train new students to follow the rules and procedures of WCBA when
are doing on-air announcing for news. sports, music, and other radio
s. It seems as if every semester numerous incidents arise in which
znouncer violates in no small way the FCC rules for appropriate airtime
nication. For example, rumor has it that one year a first-year student
jockey on the evening shift announced that a new band was playing in
7 the cover was $l 0, and everyone should go to hear the group. Making
anouncement such as this is a clear violation of FCC rules: It is illegal.
Am is frustrated with her predicament but cannot seem to figure out
i keeps occurring. She puts a lot of time and effort into helping new Djs,
