I need 2 responses to each student discussion board post with references. Please keep in order. XXXXXXXXXXJason Kemp Van Ee My preferred leadership style is path-goal theory. Northouse states...

Jason Kemp Van Ee

My preferred leadership style is path-goal theory. Northouse states "path-goal theory is about how leaders motivate followers to accomplish designated goals" (Northouse, 2016, p115). In my particular field of work, social service, I've found this to be the most successful style of leadership. There are three (3) different leader behaviors that complement the path-goal theory, which as a leader I exhibit all three (3) different leader behaviors. I've worked in a leadership capacity for the last ten (10) years and have taken numerous leadership classes, something that I've found useful from all the classes including this one, is the fact that as a leader we need to assess our followers. In assessing my followers, I'm able to gauge which behavior as a leader will enable the follower to succeed.

With a majority of my followers I tend to mix both
supportive leadership and participative leadership.
Northouse states "supportive leadership consists of being friendly and approachable as a leader and includes attending to the well-being and human needs of followers" (Northouse, 2016, p. 117-118). I've always made sure to explain to my followers that as a leader my door is alway open, and that I prefer them to come forward and admit they've made a mistake verses trying to hide it. I have a tendency of making sure all my followers understand that I don't think I'm any better then they are and if need be I'm willing to step in to assist. In my current position, we've received a lot of CPS/ APS calls which has caused the social workers to be stressed because certain cases have to be seen within a certain amount of time. I've explained to my followers numerous times that if they have a case they aren't able to do for what ever the reason, they can ask me, I'm not apposed to doing home visits and/ or removals if necessary. There are about three (3) supervisors, and the others refuse to assist which leads other units to request my assistance at times. Northouse states "a participative leader consults with followers, obtains their ideas and opinions, and integrates their suggestions into the decisions about how the group or organization proceeds" (Northouse, 2016, p. 118). Any time we have a removal of a child and/ or complicated cases, I like to pull my entire unit into a conference room to discuss the case openly and share ideas/ thoughts. As a supervisor, I have the final say with all cases, however I alway request feedback and use my followers thoughts/ ideas when making the decision. Even after making the decision, we discuss it in order to see what everyone's thoughts are.

Reference:

Hello Marcus,

I can see where you would choose democratic style of leadership as your preferred because as you say "problems becomes an easy task for the leader", however, in my opinion there have to exist very specific set of circumstances in order to it to function appropriately. You mentioned the example of the leader of Pepsi utilized the democratic process, but I question how democratic was it really? I would see this type of leadership more as Path Goal style because as you stated she provided information to the followers and rewarded them by showing interest (pg.115). Yes, she can ask for input from the administrative level managers, however, she has to be held accountable to the stockholders. In my job I have to follow policies and proceedures that are set in place. We (the employees) cannot vote to disregard a certain policy because we think it unfair. In meetings we have been allowed to state our disapproval of this policy, but we are just told that we must follow it. In my opinion, in most work situations, the democratic process would not really work because there is accountability to entities above our paygrade.

Unfortunately, there are also situations on a personal level where the democratic process also would not work. I give you the example of a simple trip to Disneyland. When my family and I go to Disneyland we put one person in charge of the rides, parades and eating. If one person was not in charge, and we tried to do a Disney trip democratically, we would be arguing and discussing what ride to go on next constantly ... we would waste precious valuable time and considering how much a trip to Disneyland costs it is important to make the most of the time to see and get on the most attractions possible.

As Americans we believe in the democratic process and believe it is the best, however, democratic style leadership is not always possible in the work place, nor the best solution in familial situations.