Understanding Organizational Behaviors and Leadership
GROUP TASK - Leadership Styles
Fifteen percent of the grade for this class will come from a report that displays your understanding of how leadership, culture (as expressed through memory), and ethics intersect
Leadership Styles
Leadership is difficult to define and even more difficult to assess. We will have just seen a movie that has been used in leadership classes in all kinds of settings. You may use it as a source of examples for your observations on leadership.
Kurt Lewin has identified three leadership styles (other researchers have identified different taxonomies and types of leadership styles, but for this assignment we will use Lewin). The three styles are: authoritarian, participatory, and delegatory.
- Authoritarian leaders prefer to make decisions themselves and may not consult others in deciding how to structure and organize the work of an organization.
- Participatory leaders tend to be more democratic, inviting the participation of organizational members in making decisions, but keeping control of the final decision process.
- Delegatory leaders tend to delegate decision making to others, allowing members to make decisions themselves and inviting participation in decision-making at all levels.
While we recognize that truly exceptional leaders may need to adjust their styles in different circumstances, most people may have a natural preference for one style or the other. So, thinking back to an organization you are familiar with that includes teams that have each of these styles of leader ...
- How would you evaluate the performance of the teams?
- What are the particular strengths and weaknesses of these styles?
- What criteria can be applied to determine whether a leader has performed well?
- Would you apply the same criteria as a yardstick for success, or would you apply different criteria depending on the style?
- What other aspects of the team might be important to consider in evaluating performance?
- What type of leader would you most prefer to work for?
- Why?
- What type of leader are you most likely to be?
If you have no experience with this kind of an organization, imagine one and discuss it.
Answer at least three of the above questions in your report
This task should be done by your group and your group should turn in a single product that reflects the agreed position of your group on these three questions.
Should you choose to do so, you may, instead of an organization you are familiar with, use the example from the movie as the backdrop to your discussion on leadership.
INDIVIDUAL TASK - Leadership Styles
Add to that discussion a paragraph or two about whether or not anything you learned from 12 O'Clock High could add anything you your organizational understanding
This task should be done individually and your group report should indicate each person's individual lesson learned from the movie.