it was still weeks before Elsa was to be formally appointed as the leader of a newly formed group, she decided to show her boss and the other group members that she was worthy of a promotion. She was going to become the leader of the product development group. The team of young and educated staff would be responsible for developing new and innovative computer software programs. Their first project was to develop new software packages for the airline industry. This would be a challenging opportunity to break into an industry where they had no previous experience. In an effort to show the group her leadership skills and get to know them better, Elsa decided to become very friendly with them. She joked around whenever she had a chance and always asked them to join her for lunch. She also let them know that if they needed to talk she would be in her office where she spent most of her time reading articles about the airline industry. At the end of the month, several of her staff stopped having lunch with her and some were thinking of quitting the group. Elsa was shocked when she overheard some of them saying, “Who does she think she is anyway?” and describing her promotion as a “big mistake.”
1. What is the problem with Elsa’s approach to leadership? Discuss her leadership style and effectiveness in terms of Fiedler’s contingency theory, path–goal theory, and LMX theory.
2. Given Elsa’s situation, should she adopt a transactional or transformational approach to leadership? How effective would transformational leadership be in her situation?
3. What should Elsa do to become a more effective leader given her situation? What would you do?