Leadership and Management Case Study

Leadership and Management Case Study #1
Anita is the associate director of a non-profit agency that provides assistance to

children and families. She is the head of a department that focuses on evaluating the
skill-building programs the agency provides to families. She reports directly to the
agency leadership. As a whole, the agency has been cautious in hiring this year
because of increased competition for central grant funding. However, they have also
suffered high staff turnover. Two directors, three key research staff, and one staff
person from the finance department have left.
Anita has a demanding schedule that requires frequent travel; however, she
supervises two managers who in turn are responsible for five staff members each.
Both managers have been appointed within the last six months.
Manager 1: Priya has a specific background in research. She manages staff

who provide research support to another department that delivers behavioral
health services to youth. Priya supports her staff and is very organized;
however, she often takes a very black and white view of issues. Upper level
leadership values Priya’s latest research on the therapeutic division’s services.
Priya is very motivated and driven and expects the same from her staff.
Manager 2: Ruby has a strong background in social science research and

evaluation. She manages staff that work on different projects within the
agency. She is known as a problem solver and is extremely supportive of her
staff. She is very organized and has a wealth of experience in evaluation of
family services. Ruby is very capable and can sometimes take on too much.
The managers are sensing that staff are becoming overworked as everyone takes on
increased responsibilities due to high staff turnover. Staff have also mentioned that
Anita’s "glass half-empty" conversation style leaves them feeling dejected. In
addition, Anita has not shared budgets with her managers, so they are having
difficulty appropriately allocating work to staff. Anita said she has not received
sufficient information from the finance department to complete the budgets. The
finance department said they have sent her all the information they have available.
As staff become distressed, the managers are becoming frustrated. They feel like
they are unable to advocate for their staff or solve problems without key information
like the departmental budget.
Discussion Questions:
1. How can Anita most effectively use both management and leadership
skills in her role as associate director? What combination of the two do
you think would work best in this setting?
2. What steps could be taken to build staff confidence?
3. Which leadership style do you think a leader would need to be effective
in this situation?
Staff seems uncertain about the future due to high turnover and Anita’s
negative conversation style. Building staff confidence could involve
o Giving managers more autonomy and the needed information to

manage their staff
o Communicating regularly with staff about changes
o Encouraging staff to pursue professional development and learning
opportunities and providing time for them to do so
o Engaging in team-building exercises and interactions
o Incentivizing excellent performance
o Addressing Laura’s conversation style directly, explaining to her how it
impacts staff perceptions
o Involving staff in the hiring process where possible as team vacancies
are filled
o Talking to staff directly and without retribution about the issues they
think contribute to high turnover
4. What advice would you give Anita on improving her leadership skills
and to the managers on improving their management skills?
It might help for both Anita and the managers to take a personality or
leadership/management assessment. This way the mangers can ascertain
their individual skills, learn how they can best support employees, and figure
out how they can work together to use each other's strengths to run the
department. Using a style approach, Manager 1 appears to utilize a task-
oriented approach and Manager 2 demonstrates a relationship-oriented style.
These two orientations could be structured to support one another.
Anita can focus on building leadership skills by building on her current

strengths. In addition, Anita may want to revisit the roles and responsibilities
of each position and how her division's work aligns with the overall
organizational mission. Aligning with the overall mission and communicating it
to staff may help improve morale and provide clarity on the department's role
and direction.
5. Which leadership style do you think a leader would need to be effective

in this situation?
Several leadership approaches may be suited to the position described in the

scenario:
o Skills: Centers on the ability to solve complex problems. The nonprofit

is having several difficulties at the organizational level, including high
turnover.
o Path Goal: Motivates employees by defining goals, clarifying paths,
removing obstacles, and providing support. This type of leadership
may work well in building employee morale.
o Transformational: Treats employees as complete human beings,
considers emotions and perspectives. Builds motivation by providing a
clear vision, acting as a social architect, building trust, and positive
self-regard.

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Leadership and Management Case Study #1

Anita is the associate director of a non-profit agency that provides assistance to

Manager 1: Priya has a specific background in research. She manages staff

Manager 2: Ruby has a strong background in social science research and

o Giving managers more autonomy and the needed information to

Anita can focus on building leadership skills by building on her current

5. Which leadership style do you think a leader would need to be effective

Several leadership approaches may be suited to the position described in the

o Skills: Centers on the ability to solve complex problems. The nonprofit

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