Each leader runs there followers differently. This is something that can clearly be seen after you have worked under many different leaders. As a follower you are able to learn a lot about a leader on how they act when different situations are brought up. The path goal theory “is about how leaders motivate followers to accomplish designated goals.” (Northouse, 2016) With that being said there is one manager that I worked under for a while and I think the path goal theory is one that would really be able to describe the way she leads our team.
As our leader she was able pick a leadership style that beat fit the needs of our team and what we were trying to accomplish. (Northouse, 2016) The leaders name was Ashley and she was different than any one before her because she really would listen to all thirty of us and see what our needs were and so we could accomplish all the goals that the company put in front of us. As one can imagine with thirty people on a team there were many different opinions on how we should do things. Though we all had so many different opinions there was one thing that the company wanted and that was “to enhance follower performance and follower satisfaction.” (Northouse, 2016) That is where Ashley came in, she left her team in western New York to come to your office to help us really get our team in shape. First thing that she did when she arrived was have a meeting with us and take about what we wanted to see as employees. After a while of talking she told us that she was going to come up with a few ways to help us feel satisfied with the job. First thing was larger incentive pools; if we are doing the work we wanted to be paid for it and the second one for us to know as employees our company cared about us, which is when there were different activities around the building.
As she made things better so we were more satisfied you could still see there was a clear difference between her and the other leaders before her. When she first came down we as a team we all wanted to do the same thing get better as a department and hit the goals that the company put in front of us. Ashley was able to use the four path goal leadership behaviors which are directive, supportive, participative and achievement oriented. Directive “characterizes a leader who gives followers instructions about their task, including what is expected of them, how it is be done.” (Northouse, 2016) We as the followers wanted to get to the goal and Ashley knew how to make it happen. Every day when we came in there would be a piece of paper on our desks with the agendas for the day. She would tell us actually what she wanted done and a schedule to follow to make sure that we were accomplishing all tasks in time. At other times she was able to show supportive leadership. Supportive leadership “consists of being friendly and approachable as a leader and includes attending to the wellbeing and human needs to followers.” (Northouse, 2016) You could imagine what it is like having thirty people reporting directly to you; how busy one would have to be. Ashley never showed us that we were overwhelming her no matter how many times you were to bug her about something she would still be friendly and if you were having a bad day she would be able to see it on your face and would make sure that she had a meeting to make sure everything was alright. There was never a time that our team didn’t feel her support. There is nothing better though then feeling like you are a part of the decision making. In large companies sometimes that feeling is lost and you don’t feel that anything you say is heard. Participative leader “consists of inviting followers to share in the decision making.” (Northouse, 2016) Though there are some decisions we as followers can’t be in if Ashley felt it was something that we needed to have a say in she would listen to us and then she would fight for what we have to say so that it could be heard by all. Well she was able to motivate us, make us feel important and support us when needed to also pushed us. This is where achievement oriented leaders come in and it can be “characterized by a leader who challenges followers to perform work at the highest level possible.” (Northouse, 2016) As a leader she made it very clear what she wanted from us every day she wanted us to come in and put in all our effort and make sure that at the end of the day we gave it all we had.
With a team of thirty; one may think it is hard to make sure that we are all working to our highest potential while making sure we are happy. Ashley has mastered the path goal theory of leadership she was able to make a path to the goal and we were able to easily travel to the goal with some coaching and direction, she made sure that there was nothing standing in our way and she wanted us to be personally satisfied by our work. (Northouse, 2016) Though she is one person and there are so many of us she was about to “choose a leadership style that best fits the needs of followers and the work they are doing.” (Northouse, 2016) Ashley was a true leader that helped us achieve the goals that were put in place.
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice. Seventh Edition. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.
jks5571 says
It sounds like Ashley was a very good leader and a wonderful influence on your team. I was interested while I was reading your post, as to why you determined that she selected a leadership strategy, versus it just being her natural self. In any event, I think she showed a lot of the key elements that leaders in the path-goal theory exemplify. You mentioned that she really took the time to listen and determine what you all needed as followers. Your description of her sounds just like the behaviors found in supportive leadership. “Supportive leadership consists of being friendly and approachable as a leader” (Northouse, 2016, p.117). Her individual attention and dedication to your team and the concerns you presented must have really given everyone a voice in your workplace. It must have been quite a challenge, as you stated, but the fact that she didn’t let that show, and continued to do her very best speaks volumes.
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice. Seventh Edition. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.
Erik J Lindstrom says
First of all it looks like you may have had the same issue I had when I copy and pasted my text over from a word document, but I got it.What was it about the task characteristics that left the thirty of you feeling so unsatisfied? I Certainly can feel unsatisfied when a task is repetitive (Northouse, 2016), I used to put together thousands of check valves, little ones, like you can fit a few hundred in one hand. One of the things a wise leader told me was to make a game out of it. I would line up the half a dozen parts that make up each one in different ways to see how many I could press together in ten minutes, or see how many I could get done during one song. It sounds stupid but it certainly broke the monotony.
How did Ashley’s style differ from your previous leader?
It sounds like she was able to use her different leadership behaviors across the whole team, was there anyone on the team who has a different role? What were the obstacles that were preventing your team from accomplishing your goals?
I feel like it was probably pretty hard for Ashley when she first got there with thirty of you all having different opinions on how you wanted to do things. How did Ashley handle internal vs external locus for control?(Northouse, 2016) In my life I have always thought of myself as the type of person who has an internal locus for control (Northouse, 2016) or that I was in charge of my own destiny. But the older I get the more I realize that there is a bigger part of me than I realized that has an external locus for control (Northouse, 2016), I feel this way because while I fully believe that I am in control of my destiny to an extent, there are just certain things that are out of my control. I even believe a little bit i karma, oh now I sound like a hippy don’t I? You made the implication that Ashley was interested in listening to everyone’s suggestions right away, Do you think it was any easier for her to walk into a situation where you all were clear to an extent on the rules and how to get the job done?
Did Ashley ever display more than one leadership behavior at a time?
All in all it sounds like you all got pretty lucky, not just with Ashley being skilled at her job, but that you have such a great team to work toward your goals with.