Davis_Case Study Week 6

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Jun 21, 2024

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Week 6 Case Study: Leadership and Management Styles at InnovateCorp MGMT 9040 – Organization Behavior & Development February 21, 2024 Christopher Davis
For this case study, we look at the company named InnovateCorp. In the industry that the company functions, it is a highly competitive industry market and things are constantly changing. One way that InnovateCorp tries to handle these constant changes is by welcoming various types of leadership styles throughout their organization. This case study analyzes the different leadership styles and how they have had a positive impact on the company, and what leadership styles InnovateCorp has had the most success with, with different leaders. The first leader that we learned about from the case study was Sarah Bennett. Sarah embodies a transformational leadership style. This type of leadership style is all about painting a picture or vision of what the future goals of the company look like. The main goal behind this type of leadership style is to cause changes in individuals and social systems. In its ideal form, it creates valuable and positive change in the followers with the end goal of developing the followers into leaders (www.langston.edu). One of the greatest takeaways from this type of leadership style is inspirational motivation, which is one thing that Sarah Bennett contributes to InnovateCorp through her inspirational speeches, fostering of innovation and creativity within the company. From my personal experience with having various types of leaders throughout my different career endeavors, having a leader who shows you an end goal and is optimistic about it is highly motivational for its associates. Individuals like having goals to work towards and know that their work is having a meaningful impact and knowing exactly what that impact is. With this transformational leadership, that is exactly how associates are left feeling. This type of leadership is also good for helping grow its associates and helping them to advance. When you have a leader behind you trying to transform you into the individual that you strive to be in your career goals, it can create a very positive environment.
At InnovateCorp, this case study explained that their department heads follow a democratic leadership style. A democratic leadership style is explained as a style of participant leadership. Democratic leadership is “Leadership style in which group members take a more participative role in the decision-making process. Employees meet to discuss and resolve issues by giving everyone some opportunity to contribute to decisions” (www.acqnotes.com). The pro to this type of leadership style, as explained by InnovateCorp is that it empowers employees to take ownership of their work because it makes them feel like they have responsibility in the end goals. When associates feel as if their opinions matter and are heard, they feel more motivated to do good work and put in a greater amount of effort. That is exactly what employees are given the opportunity to do with the democratic leadership style seen at this organization in the case study. Their feedback is considered by department heads and as a result they feel more valued. The democratic leadership style also is a good way for the department heads to build trust among their team, and to encourage employee engagement which usually results in organizations seeing quality results being produced by their employees. One downfall to this type of leadership style however is that it can consume a lot of time. If decisions must be made quickly, this may not be the best route to go for InnovateCorp. However, when decisions are less time sensitive, it is beneficial for InnovateCorp to continue with this style to keep their associates motivated and feeling as if their opinions and feedback truly have a place within the organization to make a difference. Although department heads favor the democratic leadership style, middle level management at InnovateCorp operate more on a servant typed leadership style. The servant leadership style is based on the idea that leaders prioritize serving the greater good. Leaders with this style serve their team and organization first. They do not prioritize their own objectives.
Employees in a servant leadership environment are more likely to feel that their voices are heard (www.betterup.com). When talking about this type of leadership style, leaders act more so as mentors for their associates. They are seen to be more compassionate, empathetic, flexible, and great active listeners. InnovateCorp’ s leaders who are practicing the servant leadership style have influenced team dynamics and relationships by offering positive, nurturing work environments for its associates. Not only has the organization seen these benefits, but they also see their leaders and associates building strong bonds based on trust. In my past work experiences, I have had a few leaders that embodied this type of style of leadership throughout their work. The main basis behind a servant leadership style is putting others needs ahead of one’s own. I feel as if this leadership style is also very important when talking about associates and their work life balance, especially when it comes to associates with families and small children. Having a leader who is compassionate of things going on in life, as well as being flexible as things come up is a great benefit to people. If leaders are willing to help to cover for their associates when things arise, putting their employees needs first, it shows that their leaders care about them and are truly there to help them and be on their side, have their backs. I know when I feel as if my leader is on my side, and has my best interests at heart, it makes me work hard to do the same for them. This could mean that I stayed late to work on something to meet a deadline or get a project done. I felt comfortable doing so because I know my leader would do the same for me or had in the past. Another style of leadership present at InnovateCorp is the laissez-faire leadership. This type of leadership is very different from any of the other types of leadership styles found in other areas of the organization. Laissez-faire leadership takes a hands-off approach to leadership and gives others the freedom to make decisions. While leaders still provide their teams with the
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