Case Study: Evolution of Leadership Style in a Hospital Setting

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Case 4.1

1. From the case study, one can easily notice that earlier, Mark’s behaviour was autocratic
that has many repercussions. This style is
Autocratic leadership is all about absolute control over a group. In this case, it is given
that Mark was controlling a group of 20 union members. Mark in the initial days of his
job didn’t believe in taking suggestions and input from any employees. This was due to
the strict environment existing in the hospitals that emphasised on zero error. There are
many advantages and disadvantages of such a leadership style. The first and foremost
advantage is that the work is carried out in a structured manner and decision-making
power lies in the hand of a person with the authority. This means that there is less
confusion among the workers (Bhatti, et.al, 2012). The reason for adopting this style of
leadership might be due to the fact that workers have no or very little experience. In such
cases, the autocratic style helps them to develop in a better way as everything is
controlled by the leader. As the hospital needs all the work to be done as fast as it is
possible, directive leadership is the best way to get the work done easily and rapidly. The
decision making power lies with the leader only, thereby helping the team to carry out.
However, it has many downsides too. The first and foremost is that it discourages
innovating ideas or group input. The leader does not entertain any kind of suggestion
given by any member. In addition to this, it might result in resentment or can impair the
morale of people working in the team. In addition to this, it may also ignore the creative
solutions of the complex problem and experience of workers. In the latter part, it was
noticed that the reason for low productivity turned out to be the autocratic style of
leadership (Bhatti, et.al, 2012).
From the behavioural perspective, Mark’s leadership is considered as the transformational
kind of leadership. In the transformational leadership style, the leaders make the
initiatives to make the changes within the company, groups, oneself as well as in the other
people. These are the leaders who motivate their subordinates to work hard and also
appreciate them to give their best at the workplace. They motivate their subordinates to
do more than they are intended to do originally and more than what they have thought is
possible. The leaders of transformational behaviors set more challenging expectations for
them and then typically attain a higher level of performance (Kossek, et. al., 2018). It has
been identified statistically that the transformational leadership is tended to have more
satisfied as well as the committed followers. It has been highlighted that same behavior
and characteristics are identified in the case of Mark Young. After making a cost analysis
of the painting services, he analyzed that there is a requirement of change for the

scheduling procedure as well as the need for redefining the expected standards of the
performance. In the initial time period, he became strict about getting the painters to do a
good job within the problems and constraints of the environment of the hospital. After
that, he changed his way of treating employees and became relaxed in order to make the
employees feel better. He also motivated his employees and improved the performance in
the customer rating which is the highest of any services within the hospital. Hence the
leadership style followed by Mark reflects the transformational leadership.

2. In the initial period of time, He was like ‘All task’ who did not seek any kind of assistant
from his employees. This style is often called authoritarian style, in which a leader has
individual control over almost all the decision and they hardly depends on any advice or
suggestions from outside. Such leaders usually make decisions based on their ideas and
keep directing their followers. He was required to be strict as there was no room left for
the errors within the hospital. He became strict initially to get his painters to do a great
job within such constraints of the hospital environment. Such behaviour might have many
issues for the team and for Mark as well. The first and foremost is that it might impact the
relationship of the workers with Marks and other senior management executives. Workers
are demotivated and might not perform their work efficiently and effectively.
Furthermore, it has been seen that such an organisation has a high turnover rate as a
demotivated employee would prefer working with employees. Furthermore, the
innovation in such an environment is needed but autocratic style discourages it and this is
another reason for the poor performance of the employees. In addition to this, if
employees see that their inputs are not valued, then this might demotivate them to work
with such leaders. This lowers their morale and zeal to work. After some period of time,
he relaxed the way of his working and became less demanding as there was no such need
to be strict now. He delegated some of the responsibilities to the two crew leaders and
always stayed in close touch with his employees. His behaviour used to change as per the
requirement of the organization as well as the situation. He works as per the demand of
the situation and changes his behaviour accordingly as to when there was a need for strict
behaviour, at that time he was strict with the employees. On the other hand, when there
was the need to be relaxed, he got relaxed and maintained good relationships with the
employees (Ghasabeh, et. al., 2015). Adopting transformational leadership behaviour is
very helpful for Mark as he can be able to retain his best and talented employees. The
charisma of such leaders is helpful in satisfying the needs of the organisation as well as
employees working. The team is more likely to feel like they have a specific role within
the company which keeps them working efficiently and engaged. Another best thing that
happens with Mark and his team is that transformational leadership helps them in
formulating new corporate visions by incorporating new visions. In addition to this, Mark
can be able to determine gaps and issues that allow them to make adjustment in their
working style appropriately (Giltinane, 2013).

3. As per my point of view, Mark is both tasks oriented as well as relationship oriented. If
his earlier behaviour is considered, then one might find him task-oriented as he is only
focused on getting his work done no matter what the conditions are. In addition to this, he
was so reluctant to accepting any input from employees. He did not care about quality or
innovative approach. All that was important for him was to get the work done by any
mean either by hook or crook. He has fulfilled his responsibilities towards the task and he
has always been in touch with his subordinates and has motivated them always. But the
first priority for him is his work and the good performance at the workplace. Whenever
there is a requirement of being strict with the employees, he had been strict at that time.
In the later stage, it was seen that Mark shifted his behaviour approach from autocratic to
transformational. This helped him in getting along with his team and improving his
relationships with the employees. He started talking to them, discussing the problems and
challenges they face. In addition to this, his relationship-oriented behaviour helped him in
improving his relationship terms with a subordinate. It was noticed that when he is
satisfied with the work as well as performance, he tends to change his behaviour and then
be relaxed and maintains good relationships with the employees. It can be identified in
this case that, Mark is task oriented but he is also good at maintaining good relationships
with his subordinates (Banks, et. al., 2016). In his changed personality, he determined that
providing a bit of liberty to employees can be beneficial to team performance. The
members can take their own decisions and carry out innovation while getting their work
done. In addition to this, relationship-oriented behaviour of Mark helped him in getting
the inputs in the decision making for the organisation, thereby adding creativity in the
type of work and its modus operandi (Ojokuku, et.al, 2012). From the overall discussion
of the case study, stating that Mark is task-oriented or relationship-oriented is not easy.
As even after being relationship-oriented, his prime motive was to get the work done at
any cost because this is what he is being paid for by the hospital (Ojokuku, et.al, 2012).

4. According to Greenstein 2012, there is no leadership style which can be used in every
situation. Hence, commenting on the leadership style is tough. However, one can rate the
leadership style based on certain criteria or test. One such test is Blake and Mouton
managerial grid. After reading the case study, it is concluded that the score which can be
provided to the Mark young’s leadership is Team Management (9, 9) which is
characterized by the task focus as well as the high people. According to Blake and
Mouton, this leadership is considered as the best leadership style (Ojokuku, et.al, 2012).
This result is identified after concerning and administering a questionnaire which helps
the managers and leaders in identifying how they stand in respect to their concern for
people as well as the production. Mark is a great leader and he is not only task oriented
but also people-oriented (Giltinane, 2013). He not only focuses on task but also keeps his
subordinates and the team members satisfied. He has fulfilled all his responsibilities in an
appropriate manner and has the best way to manage the team of so many people (Hoch,
et. al., 2018). It was also identified that the team started performing well after Mark
changes its leadership style from autocratic to transformational style. He is committed to
his work and now towards his team as well. This helped in creating a working
environment suitable for workers and for Mark. Overall, Mark has contributed effectively
to improving the satisfaction level of employees, their motivation level, innovation, and
morale. He even prioritises both work and employees, thereby keeping the right balance
between the two. This is the best quality of transformational leaders (Ojokuku, et.al,
2012).

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References
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review of authentic and transformational leadership: A test for redundancy. The
Leadership Quarterly, 27(4), pp.634-652.
 Ghasabeh, M.S., Soosay, C. and Reaiche, C., 2015. The emerging role of
transformational leadership. The Journal of Developing Areas, 49(6), pp.459-467.
 Hoch, J.E., Bommer, W.H., Dulebohn, J.H. and Wu, D., 2018. Do ethical, authentic,
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