Question

Outlining strengths and weaknesses of the trait, skills, style, and situational approach. Using the following scenario, explain which of the four leadership approaches we have studied is most applicable, and why. Support your point of view using a minimum of the textbook and 2 additional academic sources to support your argument.

Scenario:

You are promoted to a middle level managerial position in the customer service division of a corporation. This position means you will be entering a new worksite where you do not know any of the current employees, but you have been made aware that several of the employees are bilingual. You are responsible for transitioning them from a traditional 5-day work-week to a 5 of 7 model in which employees are required to be present on 5 of the 7 days of the week as assigned by management. It is required that there be at least 1 bilingual employee working each shift. Your new worksite is located in the Midwest region of the United States of America, and the vast majority of the employees at this worksite require Sundays off in order to attend religious functions.

Answer 1

The leadership approach that is required in this scenario is :

Transformational leadership approach:

The reasons are:

• The employees are required to be transitioned from 5-day work-week to 5 of the seven days of week.
• The cultural aspect of Mid west region of United States of America where the worksite is situated is vernacular and people are more tied to their cultural roots.
• Requires a need to consider the importance of Sundays off for the religious functions among the majority of the employees.

Hence, the leader requires to be:

• Proactive: In this scenario the manager requires to communicate the strategic changes of the company's policy regarding the work days to the employees about the need for this policy change and importance of their cooperation regarding this matter.
• Motivating: The role of the manager is to motivate the employees to take up the transition in a positive manner and keep the purpose of the company as their primary goal. Also, they should motivated to have positive outlook when bilingual employees are assorted in each shift as a part of the team work for their task.
• Visionary: The manager is required to share the vision of the organization using the a better communication method and respecting the cultural values of the employees of the company. This vision shared thus with empathy and understanding will promote the desired change in the workplace.
• Goal-oriented: The hurdles in the goal requires to be met with a positive mindset and not with resistance. This would help to achieve the goals that has been set by the company. The manager requires to have better critical thinking ability, unbiased understanding and a will to learn the current situation without any prejudice and self judgements.

Thus, these skills and attitudes of the transformational leadership will help to bring about the desired change to acquire the goals of the company.

Sources include, "Cultural landscapes of Midwest" retrieved from the website of "National Park Service" (nps.gov).

" Definition of transformational leadership" retrieved from the website of small business (smallbusiness.chron.com)