Lead and Influence Essay

This essay examines leadership and influence through a case study of a team leader at Kantar Media. The leader faced a crisis when team members misinterpreted project requirements, leading to errors. The essay analyzes the situation using Fiedler's Contingency Theory and Behavioral Theory. The leader's actions, characterized by prompt decision-making and proactive problem-solving, are evaluated. While the swift action saved the company's reputation, potential negative impacts on team morale due to a lack of consultation are also discussed. The essay concludes that effective leadership requires a balance between decisive action and consideration of team dynamics, emphasizing the importance of foresight and proactive crisis management to maintain organizational image and reputation.

Running head: LEAD AND INFLUENCE
Lead and Influence
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1LEAD AND INFLUENCE
Part I - Narrative
Leadership is the ability of an individual to guide and influence a group of people to
direct their work towards achieving a common goal (Cummings & Worley 2014). I worked in
Kantar Media, as a Team Leader from April 2014 to October 2016, which required me to take
certain decisions to ensure smooth flow of activities in the organization. Kantar Media is the
Data Investment Management division of WPP, one of the world’s most sought after,
information, insight and consultancy groups.
A team consists of people, with different backgrounds and cultures having different
levels of understanding. Accordingly, the instructions need to be specific, so that there is no
misunderstanding on the part of the team members. Kantar Media takes pride in delivering high
quality data and services to help clients focus on formulating strategies in an efficient and
effective manner (Kaufer & Carley, 2012). Any deviation from the plans formulated will surely
lead to problems and enhance the chances of the quality getting compromised. I had to manage a
team of 75 people, having expertise in different domains. A problem arose when, while
processing advertisements, certain members had completely misinterpreted the requirements,
resulting in different outcomes. Obviously, where hefty amounts are invested by the end clients,
mistakes prove to be costly (Lian & Tui, 2012). I had informed the client about the problems
which certain team members had in understanding the requirement, despite giving them proper
training. I assured the client, there would not be repetition of the blunders committed and make
sure the quality of work is upheld. This sense of responsibility drew appreciation from the client
and hence they ensured full assistance to the ones facing problems, through training sessions, to
understand their positions better (Nongo & Ikyanyon, 2012). Accordingly, I had a one-on-one

2LEAD AND INFLUENCE
session with each member of the team and subsequently training sessions was arranged through
skype, to clear all the doubts and increase their efficiencies.
The problem was triggered through the emails received from the client, regarding the
errors committed by some of my team members. I had to take a prompt decision as the
company’s pride was at stake and the situation demanded me to look at the larger picture and not
get concerned about the relationship with the team members.
In any crisis situation, taking a decision would surely present a dilemma to the
protagonist. He needed to do the balancing act of maintaining the image of the company in front
of the clients and also make sure, that the steps initiated by him, do not lead to differences
between him and his team members. For some of the stakeholders, the situation had triggered a
negative reaction, where they seemed to contemplate on lowering their stakes in the company but
from a broader perspective, the actions had helped to uphold the reputation and image of the
organization.

3LEAD AND INFLUENCE
Part II - Analysis
The two leadership theories taken into consideration to analyze the protagonist’s actions
are:
Fiedler’s Contingency Theory – The general rule suggests that leaders do not follow any
set pattern for leading and are more likely to express their leadership, when they feel that their
team members would act according to the instructions delivered. The style followed depends on
the internal and external environments faced by a leader. Leadership by following contingency
theory will be effective only when the leaders take the maximum control of any situation
(Northouse, 2015). In this case, the team leader had to take prompt action as per the need of the
hour to save the image of the organization. Problems may arise but the important thing is to see
how a leader reacts to the problems.
Behavioral Theory – Behavioral theory considers that the capabilities of the leader can
be learned from different situations, than being inherent in an individual. This fits fine with the
kind of actions taken by the leader, where he has acquired the quality of being proactive and
understand the needs of particular situations.
The good points about the leadership behavior portrayed, can be summarized by saying
that the leader had control over the situation, which enabled a free flow of communication
between the team members and the client to bridge the gap of understanding the duties and
responsibilities. This ensured that the efficiencies of the employees reached a new level (Samad,
2015).
The bad aspects of the leadership style is that, the decisions taken by a team leader,
without consulting with the project manager may seem to give a feeling, as if he is disrespecting

4LEAD AND INFLUENCE
the position of project manager. Moreover, consulting with the team members is not considered
as a viable option by the leader because the situation demanded prompt action without wasting
much time but the members might feel offended for not being involved for discussion before the
team leader had progressed towards the desired action (Schaubroeck et.al., 2012). The team
members might compare the contingency style of leadership with the autocratic leadership style,
interpret the leader’s action negatively.
The decision taken by the team leader in the scenario discussed was a good one. The
reason is, crisis situations not only need careful analysis but along with it, prompt action is a
must. Real essence of a leader comes out in times of distress (Tannenbaum, Weschler &
Massarik, 2013). The real challenge for a leader arises when things do not go according to the set
plans and procedures. In this situation, main motive behind the leader’s action is to save the
image of the organization and also provide the client with much needed clarity on the
efficiencies of the employees.
The external environment is the image of the organization, in front of the client. Mistakes
committed by the team members require a leader to take note and make the necessary
adjustments to take full control over the situation. Internal environment refers to the impact
which decisions of the leader, has on the team members and others related to the project.
Acceptance of the problem and the proactive steps taken to rectify them had raised the
organization’s image in front of the stakeholders. The actions made them believe that Kantar
Media can bail themselves out of any kind of trouble by maintaining transparency.

5LEAD AND INFLUENCE
So, the purpose of a leader is not only to lead but also influence the members responsible
for the smooth functioning of an organization. A leader can only be successful in his role, when
he has the ability to foresee and take appropriate actions for maintaining the image and
reputation of the company, in case of any distress. He has to look at the larger picture and act
accordingly, without getting concerned about, how his team members would react or whether his
relationship with the team members would be affected.

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References
Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2014). Organization development and change. Cengage
learning.
Kaufer, D. S., & Carley, K. M. (2012). Communication at a distance: The influence of print on
sociocultural organization and change. Routledge.
Lian, L. K., & Tui, L. G. (2012). Leadership styles and organizational citizenship behavior: The
mediating effect of subordinates' competence and downward influence tactics. The
Journal of Applied Business and Economics, 13(2), 59.
Nongo, E. S., & Ikyanyon, D. N. (2012). The influence of corporate culture on employee
commitment to the organization. International Journal of Business and
Management, 7(22), 21.
Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.
Samad, S. (2012). The influence of innovation and transformational leadership on organizational
performance. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 57, 486-493.
Schaubroeck, J. M., Hannah, S. T., Avolio, B. J., Kozlowski, S. W., Lord, R. G., Treviño, L.
K., ... & Peng, A. C. (2012). Embedding ethical leadership within and across organization
levels. Academy of Management Journal, 55(5), 1053-1078.
Tannenbaum, R., Weschler, I., & Massarik, F. (2013). Leadership and organization. Routledge.

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