- (Five paragraphs including a conclusion) List and explain different theories in leadership practice. List three references in APA style.
- Include a summary of the leadership behavior questionnaire
- Share why you selected this case study from your chosen leadership approach. Compare and contrast how the leader addressed and responded to the situation with how you would have addressed/responded to the situation.
Case study
Case 4.2 We Are Family
Betsy has been hired as the director of marketing and communications for a medium-sized college in the Midwest. With a long history of success as a marketing and public relations professional, she was the unanimous choice of the hiring committee. Betsy is excited to be working for Marianne, the vice president of college advancement, who comes from a similar background to Betsy’s. In a meeting with Marianne, Betsy is told the college needs an aggressive plan to revamp and energize the school’s marketing and communications efforts. Betsy and Marianne seem in perfect sync with the direction they believe is right for the college’s program. Marianne also explains that she has established a departmental culture of teamwork and empowerment and that she is a strong advocate of being a mentor to her team members rather than a manager.
Betsy has four direct reports: two writers, Bridget and Suzanne, who are in their 20s; and Carol and Francine, graphic designers who are in their 50s. In her first month, Betsy puts together a meeting with her direct reports to develop a new communications plan for the college, presenting the desired goals to the team and asking for their ideas on initiatives and improvements to meet those goals. Bridget and Suzanne provide little in the way of suggested changes, with Bridget asking pointedly, “Why do we need to change anything?”
In her weekly meeting with the vice president, Betsy talks about the resistance to change she encountered from the team. Marianne nods, saying she heard some of the team members’ concerns when she went to lunch with them earlier in the week. When Betsy looks surprised, Marianne gives her a knowing smile. “We are like a family here; we have close relationships outside of work. I go to lunch or the movies with Suzanne and Bridget at least once a week. But don’t worry; I am only a sounding board for them, and encourage them to come to you to resolve their issues. They know you are their boss.”
But they don’t come to Betsy. Soon, Bridget stops coming to work at 8 a.m., showing up at 10 a.m. daily. As a result, she misses the weekly planning meetings. When Betsy approaches her about it, Bridget tells her, “It’s OK with Marianne; she says as long as I am using the time to exercise and improve my health she supports it.”
Betsy meets with Suzanne to implement some changes to Suzanne’s pet project, the internal newsletter. Suzanne gets defensive, accusing Betsy of insulting her work. Later, Betsy watches Suzanne and Marianne leave the office together for lunch. A few hours later, Marianne comes into Betsy’s office and tells her, “Go easy on the newsletter changes. Suzanne is an insecure person, and she is feeling criticized and put down by you right now.”
Betsy’s relationship with the other two staff members is better. Neither seems to have the close contact with Marianne that the younger team members have. They seem enthusiastic and supportive of the new direction Betsy wants to take the program in.
As the weeks go by, Marianne begins having regular “Mentor Meetings” with Bridget and Suzanne, going to lunch with them at least twice a week. After watching the three walk out together one day, Francine asks Betsy if it troubles her. Betsy replies calmly, “It is part of Marianne’s mentoring program.”
Francine rolls her eyes and says, “Marianne’s not mentoring anyone; she just wants someone to go to lunch with every day.”
After four months on the job, Betsy goes to Marianne and outlines the challenges that the vice president’s close relationships with Bridget and Suzanne have presented to the progress of the marketing and communications program. She asks her directly, “Please stop.”
Marianne gives her the knowing smile again. “I see a lot of potential in Bridget and Suzanne and want to help foster that,” she explains. “They are still young in their careers, and my relationship with them is important because I can provide the mentoring and guidance to develop their abilities.”
“But it’s creating problems between them and me,” Betsy points out. “I can’t manage them if they can circumvent me every time they disagree with me. We aren’t getting any work done. You and I have to be on the same team.”
Marianne shakes her head. “The problem is that we have very different leadership styles. I like to empower people, and you like to boss them around.”
Questions
Marianne and Betsy do indeed have different leadership styles. What style would you ascribe to Betsy? To Marianne?
Does Betsy need to change her leadership style to improve the situation with Bridget and Suzanne? Does Marianne need to change her style of leadership?
How can Marianne and Betsy work together?
Leadership Behavior Questionnaire
Researchers and practitioners alike have used many different instruments to assess the behaviors of leaders. The two most commonly used measures have been the LBDQ (Stogdill, 1963) and the Leadership Grid (Blake & McCanse, 1991). Both of these measures provide information about the degree to which a leader acts task directed or people directed. The LBDQ was designed primarily for research and has been used extensively since the 1960s. The Leadership Grid was designed primarily for training and development; it continues to be used today for training managers and supervisors in the leadership process.
To assist you in developing a better understanding of how leadership behaviors are measured and what your own behavior might be, a leadership behavior questionnaire is included in this section. This questionnaire is made up of 20 items that assess two orientations: task and relationship. By scoring the Leadership Behavior Questionnaire, you can obtain a general profile of your leadership behavior.
Leadership Behavior Questionnaire
Purpose: The purpose of this questionnaire is to assess your task and relationship orientations as a leader.
Instructions: Read each item carefully and think about how often you engage in the described behavior. Indicate your response to each item by selecting one of the five options to the right of each item.
Key: 1 = Never 2 = Seldom 3 = Occasionally 4 = Often 5 = Always
1.
Tells group members what they are supposed to do.
1
2
3
4
5
2.
Acts friendly with members of the group.
1
2
3
4
5
3.
Sets standards of performance for group members.
1
2
3
4
5
4.
Helps others in the group feel comfortable.
1
2
3
4
5
5.
Makes suggestions about how to solve problems.
1
2
3
4
5
6.
Responds favorably to suggestions made by others.
1
2
3
4
5
7.
Makes their perspective clear to others.
1
2
3
4
5
8.
Treats others fairly.
1
2
3
4
5
9.
Develops a plan of action for the group.
1
2
3
4
5
10.
Behaves in a predictable manner toward group members.
1
2
3
4
5
11.
Defines role responsibilities for each group member.
1
2
3
4
5
12.
Communicates actively with group members.
1
2
3
4
5
13.
Clarifies their own role within the group.
1
2
3
4
5
14.
Shows concern for the well-being of others.
1
2
3
4
5
15.
Provides a plan for how the work is to be done.
1
2
3
4
5
16.
Shows flexibility in making decisions.
1
2
3
4
5
17.
Provides criteria for what is expected of the group.
1
2
3
4
5
18.
Discloses thoughts and feelings to group members.
1
2
3
4
5
19.
Encourages group members to do high-quality work.
1
2
3
4
5
20.
Helps group members get along with each other.
1
2
3
4
5
Scoring
The Leadership Behavior Questionnaire is designed to measure two major types of leadership behaviors: task and relationship. Score the questionnaire by doing the following: First, sum the responses on the odd-numbered items. This is your task score. Second, sum the responses on the even-numbered items. This is your relationship score.
Total scores: Task ______________________ Relationship _______________________
Scoring Interpretation
For each category:
40–50 High range
30–39 Moderate range
10–29 Low range
The score you receive for task refers to the degree to which you help others by defining their roles and letting them know what is expected of them. This factor describes your tendencies to be task directed toward others when you are in a leadership position. The score you receive for relationship is a measure of the degree to which you try to make followers feel comfortable with themselves, each other, and the group itself. It represents a measure of how people oriented you are.
Your results on the Leadership Behavior Questionnaire give you data about your task orientation and people orientation. What do your scores suggest about your leadership style? Are you more likely to lead with an emphasis on task or with an emphasis on relationship? As you interpret your responses to the Leadership Behavior Questionnaire, ask yourself if there are ways you could change your behavior to shift the emphasis you give to tasks and relationships. To gain more information about your style, you may want to have four or five of your coworkers or classmates fill out the questionnaire based on their perceptions of you as a leader. This will give you additional data to compare and contrast to your own scores about yourself.
