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Case Study (King of the Hill): What Leadership Traits account for Denny Hill’s success?
Danny possesses the required traits to be a good leader. He has introduced the concept of
teamwork in swimming which is mostly considered an individual spot.
• He keeps his team focused and interested by workouts and regular meetings.
• He’s a good listener and never leaves any of his team members behind even if he’s
not among the winners.
• He shows complete confidence in himself as well as his team.
• He keeps everyone involved and busy, rather it be sophomores, juniors or fresh
members.
How would you describe Denny Hill’s leadership abilities?
Danny developed his leadership abilities over the years through constant hard work and
practice. Initially his swim team didn’t perform so well. However he learned from his
mistakes and improved his position to a remarkable leader. He developed his leadership
abilities by constant focus on the team members. He also encouraged the team members to
enhance their leadership qualities.
Leadership includes administrative skills, interpersonal skills, and conceptual skills. How
does Denny Hill stack up on these skills?
Danny possess good administrative skills. He has setup a well defined schedule and
procedure for the whole season which includes a team sleepover and Hells week at the
beginning of each season. He arranges a 20 minute meeting on each Monday to develop
interaction in the team. He holds good interpersonal skills since he gives equal attention to
every member. His interaction with each member, listening to everyone and involving
everyone in activities proves his interpersonal skills. His conceptual skills are proved by his
ability to evaluate the causes of failure in the first year and developing a revised plan to
raise his team’s position as one of the most successful teams.
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How does Denny Hill integrate task and relationship behaviours in his leadership?
Denny has task oriented leadership qualities as he makes his team members engage in
training as well as assign them all with some duties. He keeps his members busy. Denny also
possess relationship behaviour in his leadership as he lays a major focus on developing
strong understanding and relationship among all the team members. Weekly meetings are
an example of such behaviour.
From a relational perspective, how would you describe Denny Hill’s leadership?
Denny’s leadership focuses on developing strong interaction and understanding between
the team members. His relationship oriented leaderships makes members interact with
each other and share their qualities and leadership roles with each other.
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Case Study 2: What is your reaction to Tim’s story?
Tim is a very caring and humble person. He is well aware of his natural skills as a leader. He
utilizes his skills to be a better leader. He accepts his strengths and weaknesses well and
knows what he want to achieve. One of his best habits is that he accepts the criticism in
constructive way and tries to improve himself. He is helps other by his vocations and
conversation.
Nature and nurture play a significant role in Tim’s leadership journey. From your
perspective, which has the greatest impact on Tim? Discuss your answer.
Tim has few leadership qualities by his birth. He was different. Nature and nurture both
played important role in Tim’s leadership. Without having the traits of a good leader by
birth, it would’ve been difficult for him to achieve his goals. His has a habit of helping others
which is a characteristic of ‘nurture’ while he was well aware that he can change people’s
lives with his natural skills which is a characteristic of nature.
Of the six major traits described in the chapter (i.e., intelligence, confidence, charisma,
determination, sociability, and integrity) which traits are Tim’s strongest, and which traits
are his weakest?
Tim’s strongest trait is his determination to help the people. His determination is reflected
in his will to make an efficient use of his abilities and to become a better boss. Sociability is
one other major trait in Tim’s personality. He is social and help others by conversation. His
weakest trait is confidence in himself; since he fights with his inner self and he considers
that he have two different sets of DNA. He also lacked administrative qualities to some
extent which shows is weakness in charisma.
What characteristics of Tim’s leadership would you like to incorporate into your own style
of leadership?
Tim’s determination is an example. I will like to add Tim’s determination characteristic in my
style of leadership. Tim’s sociability is another important characteristic which I will like to
add to my style of leadership. A good leader is always social and discusses matters with
everyone.
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Case Study 3: Strengths are considered inborn traits that can be enhanced with experience. What
experiences in Christine’s background helped her develop her strengths?
Christine had a very tough time in her childhood. She had learnt from her childhood
experiences. She was raised in a poor family and had many siblings. Throughout her high
school, she had to go to school as well as work as part time in restaurant. This added an
experience of commitment to her nature which led her to succeed. Apart from this, she had
a trait of creativity. This trait can also be related to her childhood where she had to imagine
and fantasize about toys and other things which she didn’t have access to.
Out of all the strengths identified by the assessment, which were directly observable in
Christine’s work? Were there any that were not?
Many of the Christine’s strengths pointed out by assessment are directly observable by her
work background. For example, her skills of strategic planning were due to her
development and working experience of the new programs and her experience of working
with the donors. Her other skills like influencing and relationship building were also due to
her background work. However her strengths like commitment, creativity and compassion
were due to childhood, and not due to her experience from the previous work.
Christine admitted having some weaknesses, especially in day-to-day management of the
organization. Which of her strengths can she put into use to help her deal with that and
how?
Christine had few weaknesses. However she can compensate her weaknesses with the help
of her strengths. Her weakness of day to day management will not be a problem when she’ll
become a CEO. This is because CEO’s mostly have responsibility of long term planning,
rather than day-by-day planning. However she can overcome this weakness by her strategic
planning skills. Since she is strong in strategic planning, she can implement long term
planning and put the responsibility of day-by-day management of her plan to her
subordinate.
What strengths should Christine seek from others that would complement her own and
fill some gaps?
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Christine has a weakness in day-by-day operation management skill. She can take help from
others to remove the negative effect of her weakness. She can implement strategic planning
and seek help from her juniors to implement the day-to-day management. One other thing
she needs to work on is confidence because she is not sure that she is capable of being CEO.
By working with others, she will get confidence that she can handle things and she will
increase her confidence level.
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Case Study 4: Based on the assumptions of Theory X and Theory Y, how would you describe each
manager’s philosophy and style of leadership? In what way do their attitudes about
Vanessa affect their leadership?
Marion is in favor of theory X. She thinks that she will always need to control and lead each
of the sub ordinate and she should control everyone's stride. Even the Christie said that
Marion always keep on watching her. Heather on the other hand is the supporter of Y
hypothesis. She thinks this hypothesis is valid for her workers. She assigns them with powers
and gives them reasonable flexibility. However still she do not consider it necessary to keep
an eye on their stride. Bruce also thinks that hypothesis Y is applicable. He however, does
not empower his representatives. He spends more energy in his own office than others. This
means that it is possible that he believes in the skills and competency of his workers.
In this type of customer service setting, which leadership style would be most effective for
the bank to meet its goals? From the bank’s perspective, which (if any) manager exhibits
the most appropriate leadership? Discuss.
I think heathers style is most effective for happy customers. As happy employers mean
happy customers, Heathers style gives necessary liberty to the employers and entrusts them
to use their powers in best manners to solve the problems themselves. Employers normally
perform well we they get suitable relaxation in their styles and do not have to follow exact
rules. When we set procedures for the employees, it restricts them from using their natural
abilities. Hence heather showed best and most appropriate leadership style.
What advice would you give to each of the managers to enhance their leadership skills
within the bank?
In order to prove themselves as a successful leader, the managers should make a close
relation with the workers. Doing so requires close ties with the workers. This is only possible
by involving everyone and understanding them. If managers will respect customers and
employees, they will develop a close tie with them and will understand their thinking. It is
essential for managers to give enough tolerance to employees. This is because everyone has
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his own way of dealing with matters. According to me managers must:
• Provide flexible environment to the workers.
• Reward juniors on performance base.
• Trust themselves and sub-ordinates.
What do you think Vanessa can do to prepare herself for her three-month review?
The performance of Vanessa had not been quite good in previous months. She has low sales
performance as well as she doesn’t have good reviews. If Vanessa is sure that there is some
misconception between the managers and her, she must try to explain herself to the
managers prior to the meeting. She needs to interact with the managers and prove that she
is trying to cover her poor performance feedback. This point is applicable because she had
very little interaction with Marion and Bruce recently. So they don’t know much about her.
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Case Study 5: Using ideas from this chapter, describe Dan’s and Asher’s styles of leadership.
The style of Dan’s leadership style is task-oriented. Although, he has good relation with his
sub-ordinates, he is more concerned about the accomplishments. He is more serious about
the goals, milestones and about his and his sub-ordinates accomplishments.
Asher however, is a relationship builder. His leadership style is focused on developing
relationship with the employees. He concentrates personally on his sub-ordinates. This has
led Asher to develop a prosperous and friendly work environment for the employees. He
focuses on the interaction of employees with each other and their happiness.
How will Asher’s employees, who are used to being able to manage themselves in their
own way, respond to Dan’s task-oriented style?
Asher’s employees are used to of working mostly on their own and do not get much
interference from their boss. They may see Dan’s interference as overbearing and a hurdle
in their job as the procedural work always inhibits creativity. The employees will have to be
more focused on achieving the goal, instead of the method they are using to get there.
Overall they will have negative impact on coming into Don’s management because they are
habitual of working in totally different environment.
How will Dan’s employees, who are used to being given clear direction and procedure,
respond to Asher’s more relationship-oriented style?
Dan’s employees who are used to of getting clear directions might see Asher as an
irresponsible and incompetent boss. Since they are not habitual of being independent in
thinking or following their own procedures, they will be expecting and will ask for clear
directions from Asher. However’ they will not have difficulty in settling with Asher as they
will be more comfortable with Asher who gives his employees independence and let them
work in their own style.
If you were an employee at Co-Ed Cleaners, would you want Mark to let Dan or Asher go?
Explain your choice
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If I were CEO, I would have considered Asher a more valuable asset. I prefer relationship
building environment with much leniency for the employees. I would be more concerned
about satisfaction and work environment of the employees instead of giving them hard
time. However the decision also depends on the conditions of the company and why I’m
letting the manager go. If the company is looking for long term benefits and improvements
Asher is a better option. However if the company is trying to recover from a financial crises
and increasing turnover, Dan will be a better option since he is more strict and ensures the
work gets done soon by imposing his own procedures and skills.
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Case Study 6: Based on the Model of Primary Leadership Skills (Figure 6.1), how would you describe
Caroline's skills? In what skills is she strongest, and in what skills is she weakest?
Caroline is a hardworking lady. Her best qualities are her dedication, transparent nature and
sincere personality. Her hardworking adds to her skills. According to me her interpersonal
skills are the best.. She provides a pressure free working environment to sub-ordinates. Her
motivation towards workers is her strongest skills. On the other side, her weak skills include
her punctuality and her inability to follow the schedule. Her inability to organize things
makes her administrative skills weak.
Sweet Caroline's bakery and restaurant seemed to emerge from nowhere. What role did
Caroline play in this? Do you think Caroline could improve her business with more
strategic planning?
Caroline is a very hardworking woman. It is due to her consistent hard work that her bakery
and restaurant emerged at a very high pace. Caroline didn’t plan to expand the business but
her hard work led to the fame of her bakery. However Caroline lacks few administrative
skills. If she learn and implement strategic planning, no doubt, she will improve her
business.
Have you ever worked at a place that was very successful but felt quite chaotic and
disorganized? How did you handle it?
While working on a project in my previous semester, I became part of a group which
consisted of quite brilliant students. The group was quite hard working and was performing
well. However there wasn’t any proper organization or planning. This made the
environment very uneasy for working. I figured out the problem and solved it by motivating
my group members to select a team leader who is best in organization and management
among us. Furthermore proper scheduling of all activities helped us solve the problem.
If you were a consultant to Caroline, would you recommend her open a second location?
If so, what specific skills would you have Caroline develop in order to help her manage her
business better?
I would recommend her to develop administrative, organization and time management
skills. Before opening a new location, she must first solve these issues and remove her
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weaknesses. Otherwise her management will get more poor due to more work load. Once
she has solved the issues of her weaknesses, she must open the second location.
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Case Study 7: What is Nick Gibbon's vision in this case study? How is it similar to or different from the
vision of the owners of the paper? Discuss the unique challenges a leader faces when
required to implement a vision of his or her superiors.
Nick’s vision was focused towards online based news. He wanted to convert the newspaper
in the digital format. The owner of the newspaper wanted to reduce the print of the
newspaper to only three times a week. This would result in only 25% of the employees
retaining their jobs. When a leader has to implement the vision, he faces challenges like
resistance from the organization, convincing the supervisors and adapting to the change.
What do you think Nick wanted to open the workings of the paper up to the public? How
is this related to his vision?
Nick wanted to change the newspaper to the digital format. In order to change the entire
system and to make the digital newspaper successful, he needed the support of determined
and focused persons to keep the community updated with the latest news in the least time.
Nick’s vision was to to keep the community updated of the news, irrespective of anything
For that, he needed to communicate the change and get the support from the dedicated
people.
Visions usually require changing people’s values. What desires changes in values are
highlighted by this case study?
Previously, the company he was working in, focused on printed newspaper. Nick understood
that converting the newspaper to digital format is necessary. His values were to deliver the
newspaper to the community irrespective of the format or method of delivering news. This
required shifting values of the people from only following traditional style of newspaper to
focusing on the delivery of news, rather than the method of delivery.
How well did Nick Gibbons articulate his vision for the paper? If you were in Nick’s shoes,
how would you articulate your vision in this case?
Nick Gibbon adopted a very well planned way to articulate his vision. First of all he told his
staff about the danger of losing jobs and that they require re-applying. He took his staff in
confidence by telling them that he only required determination and focus, not the
perfection. This encouraged the people of following Nick’s vision. I would have followed
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Nick’s path to articulate the vision. It is very necessary to make people feel need of the
change as well as to higher their motivation level. Nick successfully did that by that and I
would also do the similar.
Do you think the newspaper will newspaper will thrive under Nick's leadership? Why?
I think the newspaper will flourish under his leadership. He collected the team of dedicated
people and is giving them true leadership. The location of office is also at a public place and
he has kept the doors open for new and dedicated staff who is interested in his vision.
Furthermore the sales staff is also teaching the advertisers, how to attract the audience
using ads.
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Case Study 8: A tale of two classes In establishing a constructive climate for his or her class, what kind of structure
has each professor put in place?
In establishing a constructive climate, Steve Gardner, the old professor, gave a very stable
structure to the class, developed in students a sense of security, direction, and stability.
Students were clear about the goals and how to achieve them, they had a complete
architectural design to work upon and the way it should be. There was proper grading for
assignments; students knew how their marks are going to be deduced and how to work
best. On the other hand, Marissa Morgan, a young professor, gave no structure to the class.
Students were not clear about the framework, the actual objectives, they were even
confused about what to do and how to, they didn’t knew how the grading would be,
because general assignments were not given grades and their grades might depend on a
single big assignment. It was difficult for students to work in such a class.
How would you describe the group norms for each class?
The group norms for the class of Professor Steve Gardner were clearly defined, in the first
day of class he verbally explained all the norms for class, like no texting allowed, no usage of
laptop, cell phones should be off, class time punctuality, that it will start and end on time,
everyone need to be there on time, students were not allowed to leave the class before
time. On the other hand, Professor Marissa Morgan did not have discussed any norms of
class with the students, everyone can come and leave the class at any time, and there were
no restrictions about taking in class, using laptops, cell phones.
What actions has each professor taken to establish cohesiveness in the classes?
Professor Steve Gardner did much to build cohesiveness in the class as there is no usage of
any social media in the class, no laptops , no cell phones, everyone in the class needed to be
completely in the class mentally as well as physically and had to participate, there was lot of
interaction between students and punctuality added more time of students with each other
and sharing of opinions took place but in class of Professor Marissa Morgan, there was no
special action from the side of teacher to establish the cohesiveness, students were busy
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using cell phones, gossips, a wild environment, no interest on activities, no punctuality,
everyone was responsible for his own doings, he or she would not be answerable.
What standards of excellence has each professor established for the courses?
Professor Steve Gardner took actions to build standards of excellence in the class by the
policy of requiring results, reviewing results and rewarding results, as he set mutual goals of
the class, told everyone about the objectives, had given feedback to the students in the
form of grades on all assignments that let students know about their performance, told the
students about their weaknesses and have given reward for good work in the form of good
laughing environment in class or any other way, but in Professor Marissa Morgan teaching
style this thing was lacking as there was no proper effort of the teacher in establishing goals,
making objectives clear to students, no proper grading and reviewing of assignments, no
proper rewards, it was more like a class to just complete the syllabus than to build skills.
Which class atmosphere would you do best in? Why?
I could do best in the atmosphere of Professor Steve Gardener class, because at there I
would had complete guidelines and directions of what to do and how to do, a complete
discipline in the class, with no divergence and I would knew about teachers expectations
and my duties, proper norms and directions of the class were discussed by teacher,
punctuality was one of the other factor contributing toward achievements and if I would
reach class on time and had listened to lecture completely and carefully than surely I would
had performed best.
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Case Study 9: This chapter discusses several reasons that out-groups form. What is the best explanation
for why Ursula, Nichole, and Todd appear to be out-group members? What impact are
they having on Next Step? Do they have legitimate concerns? Discuss.
Ursula, Nichole and Todd prefer working in an easy environment. They are focused in
improving the resumes rather than putting efforts in doing hard work. Next Step, on the
other hand organizes funding and donation events. Hence they prefer bake sales rather than
selling T-shirts. Their attitude is appearing as a hurdle in implementing the Next Step ideas.
Their concerns are more of a personal opinion. Their concerns are legitimate from their
point of view. However the problem can be solved by talking to them and ensuring them
that their concerns will be considered.
How could the initial meeting about fundraising strategies have been conducted so that all
members were included in the decision?
Instead of conducting simple pre-call meetings and gatherings, the president should have
considered including the out-groups by considering their point of views and the ideas. The
six strategies of listening the out groups should have been followed.
Of the six strategies for how leaders should respond to out-group members, do you think
that certain strategies might be more appropriate or effective in this situation given the
verbalized feelings about Next Step from the out-group members?
Out of the six strategies, the most important strategy is to listen to the out-groups. The
opinions must be considered and they should be motivated to participate and contribute.
They must feel included and their efforts must be appreciated.
How could other members of the group besides James help to build the group identity and
sense of cohesion in Next Step?
Apart from James, other group members can also contribute to builds cohesion in the
group. They must not leave the out-group alone. Instead, they should motivate them to
contribute and include them in discussions and give an approval to their ideas. They key
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reason of forming out groups in the feeling of being neglected. The issue can be resolved by
efforts of the group members.
In this situation, do you think it is worth the time and effort to try to include Ursula,
Nichole, and Todd? Defend your answer.
Ursula, Nichole and Todd must be included. Everyone has his own qualities and adding them
to the group instead of leaving them will definitely prove to be beneficial. Also, if they are
neglected, it will have negative impact on the group synergy and their acts will be against
the performance of the company.
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Case Study 10: How would you describe the conflict that has arisen between the members of the web
programming department?
The major reason behind the conflict of the members is the inconvenience in the space.
Since the office shifted to a new location, many of the members were having a problem in
adjusting with each other. The office space wasn’t good enough for the members. This
caused issue like the Bradley had reservation of having lesser importance for Martin than
Rosa and Sanjay. He wanted a space adjacent o the window. He also wanted to be closer to
Martin. Such issue are making the communication between the members difficult and so do
decreasing the performance.
Is this conflict a relational conflict? If so, what type of relational conflict? Is there a
content dimension to this conflict?
The conflict is clearly a relational conflict. The members have taken the conflict to the level
of self esteem. Bradley, for example considers that he is being given lesser importance than
other members. The conflict has a content dimension as the major conflict from the
Bradley’s side is due to his belief that being the senior most employee (in term of time
period), he must have been given a better location in the office.
Using Fisher and Ury’s Method of Principled Negotiation, how would you separate the
people from the problem? What do you think is really, really going on in this conflict?
The best way is that the members should make a meeting and everyone must be given a
chance to explain his concern and share his opinion regarding the shifting to new location.
Since it was a very sudden and unexpected shifting, this created a feeling of discomfort for
the members. The major reason behind the conflict is the discomfort of the members and
their inability to communicate their concerns.
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Using the Kilmann and Thomas conflict styles, how would you characterize Sanjay’s
conflict style? What about Bradley? Do Rosa and Kris have a style as well?
Sanjay is portraying an image of avoidance style. He is not being co-operative and
unassertive. Furthermore he has his own concerns which are not being dealt with. This is
causing distraction for him at the work. His distraction can be resolved by the proper
communication with his neighbouring members who create disturbance for him by
communication.
Bradley’s style is competitive. He is trying to convey his point of being unsatisfied with the
space he Is given. He is asserting his importance and seniority but not being co-operative.
Rosa and Kris do not follow these styles of conflict.
How could Martin use “fractionation” and “face saving” in attempting to resolve this
conflict?
Martin can solve the conflicts by breaking down the large conflicts into small pieces of
conflicts and then solving the small conflicts. Smaller conflicts are easier to resolve and
create lesser discomfort. They involve lesser emotional or content issues.
Face saving on the other hand involves the eliminating of conflicts by giving members, a
chance to represent their personalities. This involves communication and can be
implemented by arranging meetings where everyone will get a chance to express his
concerns.
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