After working eight years as a staff technologist, Julie Davis was appointed Tec
ID: 449590 • Letter: A
Question
After working eight years as a staff technologist, Julie Davis was appointed Technical Director of Imaging. Following the staff meeting where her promotion was announced, Julie found herself surrounded by three longtime coworkers offering congratulations and other observations.
“I’m really happy for you”, said Sarah. “This sounds like a terrific career step. But I suppose this means our carpool is affected since your hours are bound to be unpredictable from now on. “
Elaine said, “And I guess that shoots the lunch bunch, too. Management commitments, you know”. The emphasis on management was subtle though undeniable, and Julie was not at all sure that she was pleased with what she was hearing.
Jan offered, “Well maybe now we can get some action on a few age old problems. Remember Julie, you used to gripe about these things as much as the rest of us. “
This informal meeting was interrupted by a passing employee and disbanded.
1. Describe how you believe Julie will have to proceed in establishing herself as the legitimate possessor of supervisory authority on the unit.
Explanation / Answer
Leadership is about molding one’s behavior as per the needs and aspirations of the organization in order to achieve the goals of the organization. Effective leaders are one who are efficient and focused towards achieving of the goals of the company.
Leaders use various means in order to motivate people so that they could work and achieve the goals of the organization. They cajole, give threats and punishment, reward employees, and use other means to get the work done.
In the present case Julie has reached leadership position from within the ranks. She has all the knowledge about various processes and at the same time she knows behavior of various fellow employees. She is also aware about the loopholes that are within the company.
She could align the needs and behavior of her subordinates with the goals of the organization. She could also at the same time make use of her knowledge and could improve various processes that require improvement.
She would be required to work closely with her fellow employees and she should make use of her authority only sparingly and in only cases where the need arises. Use of authority on fellow employees and that too on people who were working with her might result in backlash from the fellow employees.
Thus, the emphasis of Julie should be on to align the work as per the needs of the fellow employees so that the work could be done easily. She should also refrain from using excessive authority at the start as it could prove to be counterproductive. She should also start using her authority sparingly and should establish her role as a leader gradually.