Assignment: Democratic style of Leadership
Assignment: Democratic style of Leadership
Assignment: Democratic style of Leadership
Assignment: Democratic style of Leadership
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Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you may help them to become what they are capable of being.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Researchers have concluded that the democratic style of leadership com- munication is often most effective. Generally, the benefits derived from demo- cratic communication far outweigh any potential costs. Democratic leadership is associated with increased follower productivity, satisfaction, and involve- ment/commitment. A negative element is that democratic leadership can become mired in lengthy debate over policy, procedures, and strategies. In most cases, the increase in follower involvement and commitment more than make up for any such delays. Authoritarian leadership is effective in terms of output (particularly when the leader directly supervises behavior) but is gener- ally ineffective in enhancing follower satisfaction and commitment. The abdi- cation factor in laissez-faire leadership often damages productivity, satisfaction,
everyone works in open rooms with no doors or separations. When Chouinard is at the Patagonia headquarters, he does not have a reserved parking spot (such spots are reserved for those who drive fuel-efficient cars) or special perks or office space; he considers himself no more important than others in the organization. Such treatment would only damage the democratic spirit of the company. Chouinard believes: “Finding the right balance between the management problems that come with growth and maintaining our philosophy of hiring independent-minded people and trusting them with responsibility is the key to Patagonia’s success.”27
Discussion Questions
1. What is your opinion regarding the corporate policies at Patagonia? Would you like to work for a company like this?
2. Do you believe that focusing on sustainability and environmental issues is important for leaders?
3. How effectively do you think Chouinard’s MBA philosophy might work in other organizations?
4. Do you agree that consensus is critical in organizational decision making?
5. What advantages/disadvantages do you see in leading the way that Chouinard does?
Hackman-Johnson 6E.book Page 46 Tuesday, March 12, 2013 12:54 PM
Leadership and Followership Communication Styles 47
Box 2.5 Case Study The Importance of Leadership Communication Style: SuperNova Microcomputer
Jay Brooks is the project director of a product development team at SuperNova Microcom- puter. His team of 30 employees has been charged with the task of developing a new “highly user friendly” computer system for the home market. This group of 30 consists of the best technicians within the organization.
Unfortunately, Jay’s team has been experiencing numerous difficulties and delays in the development of the new computer system. A number of team members have complained to the president of SuperNova, Sam Lowell, that Brooks is stifling creativity within the team and that Laura Martin, the project assistant, would be a much more effective leader. “We could get this project moving if Laura were in charge,” claims one team member.
Brooks, who was hired from a major competitor six months ago, is a very directive leader. He holds a daily meeting from 8 to 10 AM in which each unit of the entire team presents its latest innovations. All new ideas must be cleared through Brooks. Many team members have com- plained about these meetings, claiming that “Brooks might as well build this system by himself if he is going to approve every chip.” In addition, all team members must complete a worksheet isolating the specific tasks they have undertaken each day. This worksheet, wryly called “form 1984” by members of the team, is a major source of dissatisfaction among team member.
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.
Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

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Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.
- The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS
Discussion Questions (DQ)
- Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
- Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
- One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
- I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation
- Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
- In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
- Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
- Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality
- Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
- Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
- I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes
- I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
- As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
- It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy
- For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
- Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
- Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
- Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy
- The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
- Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
- If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
- I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
- As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication
- Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
- Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
- Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

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