Leadership

Leadership Styles Case Study

Located at opposite ends of the country, Northwest Center for Families (NCF) and Southeast Social Services (SSS) are local government agencies specializing in family, child, and school social work in rural areas. After attending a conference on performing social work in small communities, the directors of both organizations have returned with plans to address the issue of dual relationships, in which social workers relate to their clients on multiple levels—including social and professional. Each director takes a different approach to solving the problem.
NCF’s director sends out a memo to employees stressing that dual relationships are a conflict of interest prohibited by the organization. She states that a dual relationship could be grounds for employee termination and encourages employees to report any non-sanctioned interaction between social workers and their clients. The NCF director’s plan also includes the construction of a new employee lounge, with the understanding that employees will eat their lunches in the office, rather than eating in town.
The director of SSS holds a meeting with his staff to discuss the organization’s role and purpose in the community. He shares what he has learned at the conference: the potential to improve people’s lives outweighs any other social or professional interaction that could derail the organization’s purpose. The SSS director explains that he will make it his personal mission to solve the problem of dual relationships and asks employees for their input and participation in overcoming this obstacle. The leader explains all the employees must work together to reform the organization in order to better serve the community.

Answer the following questions:

1.What type of leadership is practiced at NCF, transactional or transformational? How do you know?
2.What type of leadership is practiced at SSS, transactional or transformational? How do you know?
3.Which style of leadership would you recommend for a health care or human service organization? Explain your answer.

Note – you really want to look at the definitions of these terms as your prof has given them to you. My understanding may be different.

1) Neither – this is mostly autocratic leadership
2) Possibly transactional – but clearly consultative
3) The approach taken by SSS is generally acceptable and realistic the NCF approach is unrealistic.

DA

One Response

1. Dr_Adventure Says:
   April 5th, 2010 at 5:40 am

   Note – you really want to look at the definitions of these terms as your prof has given them to you. My understanding may be different.

   1) Neither – this is mostly autocratic leadership
   2) Possibly transactional – but clearly consultative
   3) The approach taken by SSS is generally acceptable and realistic the NCF approach is unrealistic.

   DA
   References :

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