Transcontinental Project Janet Balcom Katrina Morgan February 27, 2011 Winter Quarter 2011

1. Transcontinental ProjectJanet BalcomKatrina MorganFebruary 27, 2011Winter Quarter 2011

2. The Force The Budget Crisis/Economy

3. The Force IN THE SYSTEM…….. The budget crisis/economy impact in school systems and city governments

4. Factors from Path-Goal Theory and the Interactional Framework

5. The Force IN THE SYSTEM……..continued • For the past four+ years the United States has been in a budget crisis. • We have been teetering on the verge of a recession. Although, there are some who argue that we were in a recession and are just now coming out of it. • Many areas of society have been impacted by this budget crisis. However, school systems and city and county governments have been hit extremely hard.

6. Significant budget issues facing school districts • Increased class size • Shorten school year and shorter school day • Shortage of books and materials • Furloughs • Early retirement plans

7. Significant budget issues facing SCHOOL districts…continued • Layoffs – classified, certificated, management • Lack of building maintenance • Reduced or eliminated services such as after school programs, summer school, counseling, transportation, music, art and library programs

8. Significant budget issues facing city government • Furloughs • Layoffs • Reduced city services such as parks, trash collection, libraries, police, fire • Reduction in employer benefit contributions

9. Significant budget issues facing city government…..CONTINUED • Reduction in employer retirement contributions • Reduction of pay (5%-10%) • Cuts in State Grants for projects • Elimination of Redevelopment Funding

10. How the force - budget – impacts the…. Leader Followers Situation

11. Leader - considerations • Honest understanding of who you are, what you know and what you can do. • Followers determine if the leader is successful. • Have to convince your followers, not yourself or your superiors, that you are worthy of being followed • Personality of the leader • How he/she achieved leader status • Experience in the organization • What kind of support the leader has (school board member or city council)

12. Follower - considerations • Different people require different styles of leadership • Lack of motivation requires a different approach than a high degree of motivation • Share the leader’s goals & values • Intrinsically rewarded for performing well • Trust in the leader • Confidence that the leader is interested in their well being

13. Situation - considerations • Your relationship with your seniors, the skill of your followers, the informal leaders within your organization, and how your organization is organized. • Most ambiguous aspect of the leadership framework • Culture of the organization • All situations are different. What you do in one situation will not always work in another.

14. Situation – considerations….continued Use judgment to decide the best course of action and the leadership style needed for each situation The situation normally has a greater effect on a leader's action than his or her traits. This is because while traits may have an impressive stability over a period of time, they have little consistency across situations (Mischel, 1968).

15. Five Different Decision Procedures (Vroom and Yetton) • Leader takes known information and then decides alone. • Leader gets information from followers, and then decides alone. • Leader shares problem with followers individually, listens to ideas and then decides alone. • Leader shares problems with followers as a group, listens to ideas and then decides alone. • Leader shares problems with followers as a group and then seeks and accepts consensus agreement.

16. Leader • Spells out the responsibilities of the individual groups • Department heads – cuts • Unions – layoffs, furloughs • School Board – overall cuts; impact of cuts • City Council – overall cuts; impact of cuts

17. Leader…..continued • Guides the process • Keep sight of the impact & importance of the task • Maintains the expertise • Encourages/listens • Maintain transparency • Depend on the readiness of followers • Supportive

18. Leader…..continued • Directive • Reduce roadblocks & pitfalls • Figure out how the maneuver through the situation with minimal impact or disruption to the organization • Maintains control • Communicates relevant information as soon as possible to followers

19. Follower • Willingness to work with the leader regarding impact of cuts • Trust in the leader and in the process • Willing to see beyond themselves • May share the leaders goals

20. Follower…..continued • Expectations of union leaders • Motivation • Level of competence – higher level followers may have more impact on the situation than lower level followers

21. Situation • Leadership only makes sense in the context of the situation • The more control a leader has over followers, the more favorable the situation is…at least from a leader’s perspective • Three sub-elements in situation favorability: • Leader-member relations • Task structure • Position power

22. Leader’s growth path

23. Leader’s decision • Consider quality of the decision • Acceptance of decision by followers • Deep Cut at one time or small cuts over a specified period of time • Give the directive with no input

24. Leaders decision….. continued • Allow follower input prior to making the decision • Target specified groups that will be impacted • Target all groups - all carry a piece of the burden (% of reduction across the board)

25. Concluding thoughts • The only situations consideration is knowledge of the task, and the only follower factor is readiness. • Situational leadership is appealing because of its commonsense approach as well as its ease of understanding.

26. Concluding thoughts…Continued • Situational leadership is a tool to get leaders to think about how leadership effectiveness may depend somewhat on being flexible with different followers.