Real World Case Study

The following case is based on a consulting experience of one of our colleagues. Names and institutions have been altered for this case.

Janet, an organizational consultant, was approached to serve as an executive coach for a financial wizard at an auditing the firm named Jerry. Jerry had everything senior management was looking for in a star employee. His projects came in on time and always under budget using fewer company resources than his counterparts. However, there was one problem the company had with Jerry—no one wanted to work with Jerry. Jerry was known for belittling and yelling at subordinates who did not turn in assignments on time and up to Jerry’s high standards.

Janet was contacted to work one-on-one with Jerry and help him develop various interaction skills. The company wanted to keep Jerry, but it needed Jerry to start acting and playing like someone on a team. Janet’s first contact with Jerry went about as bad as one would expect. Jerry didn’t understand why Janet was there and really thought the whole coaching process was a waste of money. Furthermore, Jerry really believed that there was nothing wrong with how he communicated with others. In his own words, “I’m just honest. I may be blunt, but that’s because I don’t have time to play wet nurse to a bunch of junior colleagues who shouldn’t be in corporate America.” Over time, Jerry became more and more aggressive as their coaching sessions continued. In fact, Jerry showed a clear resistance to coaching and the reports of aggressive behavior from his subordinates to human resources escalated.

1. Can all employees be coached?
2. If you were Janet, how would you handle this situation?
3. Is it every appropriate for a consultant to fire a client who just has no desire to change?
4. If you were Jerry’s boss, how would you handle his behavior and his lack of a desire to change his behavior?

End-of-Chapter Assessment Head

1. Jonathan is a leadership researcher. He is currently trying to determine if an individual’s communication apprehension (a commonly study communication trait) impacts the effectiveness of an individual’s leadership within a nonprofit. Which approach to leadership is Jonathan employing?

   1. functional
   2. relational
   3. situational
   4. trait
   5. transformational

2. Tika’s new boss is so much fun to work for. Basically, the job is almost like a party on most days. Her boss is more concerned with building morale and relationships than micromanaging people to ensure that the group gets their work done. According to Blake and Mouton’s Leadership Grid, what type of leaders is Tika’s new boss?

   1. authority-compliance
   2. country club
   3. impoverished
   4. middle-of-the-road
   5. team

3. Which of the following is NOT an outcome of a leader-member exchange relationship?

   1. greater follower organizational commitment
   2. greater follower organizational commitment
   3. greater follower organizational participation
   4. lower voluntary turnover intentions of a follower
   5. lower follower exhibition of organizational citizenship behaviors

4. Joaquin is a definite go-getter. Whiel Joaquin is one of the most productive individuals at X-corp, he also realizes that X-corp may not necessary be the best organization for him to escalate up the corporate ladder. As such, he’s always checking want-ads on Moster.com and LinkedIn. What type of follower would Roger Adair classify Joaquin as?

   1. disciple
   2. disengaged
   3. disgruntled
   4. doer
   5. dramatic

5. Bob has a phone call every Monday morning with a paid consultant. The consultant’s job is to help Bob, the CEO of a small tech-firm in California, direct his company’s future and help Bob realize his own goals. What type of coaching is Bob involved in?

   1. supervisory-coaching
   2. skills-based coaching
   3. executive coaching
   4. affective coaching
   5. cognitive-based coaching

Answer Key

1. A
2. B
3. E
4. D
5. C