Different Leadership Styles in the Case Study “We Are Family”

Running head: LEADERSHIP
Leadership
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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LEADERSHIP
Answer 1)
Based on the case study “We Are Family”, it can be said that Marianne and that of
Betsy have different kind of leadership style. The kind of leadership style that I would
attribute to Marianne is the democratic leadership and the leadership style of Betsy on the
other hand can be stated to be autocratic leadership. Democratic leadership is also called
participative leadership and the members of group take an active role in the various process
of decision making. The democratic leader provides opportunity of exchanging in a free
manner the ideas within an organization. It lays emphasis on the aspect of the group equality
along with free flow of the ideas in an organization (Antonakis & Day, 2017). The
democratic leader however provides guidance in relation to the important decisions in an
organization. The democratic style of the leadership paves the path for the higher productivity
that can increase the morale of the members of a group (Rosenbach, 2018). A democratic
leader can play an important role in the inspiring of trust in the followers. Marianne can be
said to be a democratic leader on account of the fact that she has established the departmental
culture that lays emphasis on the element of teamwork along with empowerment. Marianne
lays stress on the element of mentorship that can help in providing guidance to the members
of a team. Marianne does not want to act like a manager but wants to empower the members
of her team.
In the case study, “We are family”, Marianne adopts a friendly attitude towards the
writers Bridget along with Suzanne and she goes out to lunch with them. This helps her in
understanding closely the concerns of her team members and builds a bond with them.
Marianne is friendly with the writers that helps her in understanding the problems that they
are facing. Marianne thinks of all the members of her college like a family and this helps her
in understanding the point of view of the other members of the college. Marianne is
instrumental in maintaining close relationships outside the arena of work that helps her in

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LEADERSHIP
building closer bond with the people who are involved in the marketing and the
communications of the college.
Betsy maintains the autocratic style of leadership in the college. Autocratic leadership is also
called the authoritarian style of the leadership where the leader exercises control over the
decisions of the other members of a group. The autocratic leaders make the choices on the
basis of their judgements and they do not accept the advice from the followers. Autocratic
leader tries to maintain authoritative control over that of the group. Autocratic leadership can
be said to be a form of the management style where the leader of an organization takes the
decisions on the behalf of company (Shamir & Eilam-Shamir, 2018). He does not take any
inputs from the other members of the group and he does not provide rewards to the other
people. It paves the path for the low morale of the employees that can create the way for
attrition.
It can be said that Betsy has the autocratic leadership style as she does not want to
take inputs from the other people in the marketing and the communications department of the
college. Suzanne along with Bridget does not go out with Betsy and they do not approach
Betsy for the problems in the case study. Bridget does not come to the work at 8 in the
morning and she starts arriving at 10 in the morning. This helps in pointing out to the fact that
she feels demotivated on account of the leadership in the college. Betsy does not like to work
on the basis of the convenience of the other people. This illustrates that Betsy believes in the
autocratic style of the leadership who believes in commanding other people in the college.
Betsy feel that this can help her in taking control of the activities that can help in the smooth
functioning of the marketing campaign of the college.
Answer 2)