Part 2 , Alan looked anxiously out of his office window. The sky was very dark o

Question

Part 2 ,
Alan looked anxiously out of his office window. The sky was very dark over the
nearby hills, and the storm seemed to be advancing rapidly toward the valley where his
auto repair shop was located. Just to be on the safe side, Alan went out and rolled up
the windows of the customers' cars in the car park. He noticed the creek was already
running high, the result of melting snow during the warm spring days. Before he could
get back into the shop, a sudden downpour of huge drops of rain soaked his clothing.
Some of the mechanics laughingly teased him for "not having enough sense to come in
out of the rain."
After 15 minutes of the pelting rain, Alan realized that this was no ordinary
rainstorm. He went out to look at the creek again and found that it had already risen
to almost the height of its banks. Alan figured it wouldn't be long before the muddy
water would flood the car park and come swirling around the shop doors. He ran
back into the shop and announced in a loud voice that the creek was going to flood.
He told three of his mechanics to drop everything and start moving cars. The cars
that were parked next to the creek needed to be driven, pushed, or towed up to the
high ground across the road. Alan told the other mechanics to put the tools away
and help move all the boxes of parts and supplies off the floor and into the storage
racks in the storeroom and the office. Alan had everybody's attention, but nobody
seemed to be moving. If anything the mechanics seemed to be amused.

Kirk strolled over to Alan with a tolerant smile on his face. "Come on, Alan," he
said. "There's no sweat. The water's never been more than a few centimeters deep in
the parking lot. We've never had any inside ... " Alan interrupted him, looking him
right in the eye, and said in an assertive way, "Listen Kirk, and listen good! You and the
rest of the crew are going to do what I say, and you're going to do it now! We can talk
later about whether it was a good idea."
This time, the mechanics dropped everything and began preparing for a flash
flood. Alan barked instructions as he helped them move everything that could be damaged
by water. All of the boxes were off the floor before the first trickle of water came
under the door. By the time the water was ankle-deep, all the cars inside the shop had
been jacked up and were sitting on cement blocks.
At its peak, the water was 25 centimeters deep in the shop, but by then the rain
had stopped and the sun was already shining. The water level began to recede slowly,
but it didn't drop below shop-floor level until after 9 p.m. At 10 p.m. the mechanics voluntarily
returned to the shop to help with the cleanup, which was not completed until
3 a.m. Alan personally thanked each one and gave them all the next morning off.
The next afternoon, Alan gave an informal "speech" during the coffee break. He
gave the mechanics all the credit for avoiding thousands of dollars of property damage.
He even went to the trouble of pointing out particular contributions each of them had
made. For instance, he thanked LaMont for his quick thinking in throwing the master
switch before the water reached the electric outlets. He thanked Kirk for the idea of
jacking up all the disabled cars inside the shop. And so on until everyone's contribution,
no matter how minor, had been recognized.
At 5 o'clock, everyone left but Gil, the oldest mechanic. He decided to stay and
chat with Alan. "You really surprised us yesterday!" Gil told Alan. "We could hardly believe
it was you."
"Whaddaya mean?" Alan asked, pretending to be offended. "You sounded like my
old drill sergeant!" Gil chuckled. "Usually, you're so mild mannered we forget you're the
boss!" "Maybe I'm a little too mild mannered," Alan replied. "When I told you guys to
prepare for the flood you all laughed at me."

QUESTIONS: Describe Alan’s leadership style or behaviour during the flood and evaluate whether it is appropriate for the leadership situation.

Explanation / Answer

Alan’s leadership

Alan as described usually mild-mannered. But in this situation, he realizes the danger ahead and is not ready to discuss with his subordinates. He orders the employees to do what he says. He has been assertive and authoritative.

This can be explained by contingency models of leadership. These models explain that the effectiveness of a leadership style depends upon the situation

LP contingency model

This theory states what leadership style is better in a situation depending upon leader-member relations, task structure, and leader’s position power

In Alan’s case,

Leader-member relations- Good, Alan has a good relationship with his employees

Task structure – Unstructured, since the team does not have any protocols/ procedure to behave ion flood situation and leader’s position power

Leader’s position power- High, Alan is the boss and enjoys high power over his employees

A low LPC style is the most preferred is such a combination of characteristics (Good, Unstructured, High) – a leader who is more task oriented than people oriented. Establishing good relations becomes secondary

Here Alan is exactly task oriented and he orders the employees to just follow him. He is more geared towards the goals and he is authoritatively dictating tasks and coordinating (low LPC). Hence Alan has followed the apt style in this situation

Path-goal theory-

The theory states that leadership style depends on task characteristic and Sub-ordinate characteristic

In this case, the task characteristic is unstructured and complex with no formalization of rules and procedures. The Sub-ordinates (characteristic) are not competent enough to judge the consequences of the flood. In such a combination of task characteristic and Sub-ordinate characteristic, a directive leadership style is most effective. In a directive style, the leader offers directions, with rules and guidelines. He also helps in scheduling and coordination

If we see the way Alan behaved has followed the right style. He summoned everyone. He gave them direction to do what. He supported them and co-orientated them. He has followed a directive style.

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