“A” WORK DISCUSSION

Recall a past or present manager.  Which of the five Leadership Grid styles does or did your manager use most often.  Describe the behavior.  Successful or unsuccessful?

DB 2: Video Case Study

Video case (remember to open the link in a new tab  or cut and paste the link into your browser if needed, select Chapter 3 from the chapters,  and then select video):

Motivation at Washburn Guitar (7:05)

Video Link:

In your discussion, address the three questions listed below:

1. What motivates most employees at Washburn guitars?

2. What kinds of guitars do employees most like to produce?

3. What is the connection between quality guitars and workforce motivation?

ANSWER THE ABOVE QUESTION AND THEN REPLY TO MY CLASSMATE RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS AND EXPLAIN WHY YOU AGREE? (A MINIMUM OF 150 WORDS EACH)

CLASSMATE’S REPLY

DB 1

The course material by Lussier & Achua describes five leadership styles: the impoverished leader, the authority compliance leader, the country-club leader, the middle-of-the-road leader, and the team leader.  My present manager who is a program supervisor uses the team leader style. The text describes this type of leader as one who strives for maximum performance and employee satisfaction. The agency where I am currently employed is very stressful at times due to the strict deadlines, however, the employees must use good customer service skills at all times. The program manager supervises a total of four programs within the organization and is very conscientious of what goes on in all of them. There are monthly reports that are received from the State Office and emailed directly to the supervisors each month, however, in order to maintain the high level of performance, the program manager sends them again as she realizes that a high-performance level is a team effort. Although the job is stressful, the manager stills find time to keep morale among staff by planning different activities such as Unified Vision of Self Sufficiency meetings where the whole agency comes together approximately four times a year to hear motivational speakers. These meetings also allow workers to unite with other units within the agency to gain knowledge of what is going on in their programs. The manager meets with her supervisors weekly and inquires about the workers and their job performances. It motivates the workers to know that the manager has a concern for the entire staff.  She let workers know that she stands behind them 100% as long as they are doing their job correctly. She calms down irate clients who contact her to complain about an action taken by a worker in a professional manner by using her almost 30 years of expertise. She is compassionate with the employees and leads by example and hasn’t forgotten that she wasn’t always in the leadership role.  Our text states that the key to successful leadership is to meet the needs of employees while reaching organizational goals.

DB 2

One of the biggest motivators for employees at Washburn guitars was the love for music as well as the love for just being able to work on an instrument. Even though they were not all musicians, they were motivated by seeing the product from the beginning to the end.

The employees at Washburn Guitars like more than anything to make signature model guitars. Signature guitars will increase the appeal as well as show the great quality of the guitar. The Maya Pro DD75 was one of the best signature guitars and was actually played by one of the best lead guitarist, Dan Donegan. When the employees at Washburn see the artist playing the guitar on stage, they are motivated to create more and more signature guitars.

Washburn employees take pride in their work and by doing so they have built a reputation for good quality work. Good work builds a good reputation in any company. Washburn builds good quality guitars and makes it known to their customers that each guitar constitutes the finest quality at the best price.