"I m not sure I buy what that leadership trainer is trying to sell." said Pete Fared to his colleague, Marcee McPhee. That morning. Fared and McPhee had attended a two-hour session as part of a leadership•training program required of all team leaders in their company, is there anything in particular the trainer said that is bothering you. Pete?' 'You bet there is," acknowledged Fared. He went on to explain that the concept of participative leadership didn't sit right with him. "Marcee. when I played high-school baseball and when I was in the military, leaders led and the rest followed. There wasn't any of this empowerment nonsense."

McPhee rolled her eyes and made a face that said, "Here we go again." "Pete, we've had this conversation before." she said. “In fact. I think 1 re-member you saying there were times when you were in the Navy that a certain officer would have made better decisions if he had just bothered to ask your opinion."

'There were times like that, but there were also times when that same officer didn't have the luxury of asking for opinions. He had only enough time to act, and when he did. he expected us to follow his lead. When it's crunch time, and I need my team members to do something. I don't want to have to waste time asking for opinions." "You'd make a great team dictator, Pete. but you're missing the whole point about participative leadership,' said McPhee. "The time to ask for employee input is before you are in a crisis situation. No leader calls for a discussion session when it's time to act and act fast. Can't you see that?" Fared shrugged and said, 'Well ... "

1. Join this debate about leadership styles. Do you agree with Fared or McPhee? Why?

2. Would you rather be led by a person who wants your participation or by someone who simply dictates? Why?