Case Study Analysis

Week 4 Individual: Case Study #’s 3-4:

3. Using the roles identified in Chaleff’s follower typology ( Figure 12.4 ), what roles do Terry, Belinda, Caleb, and James play at the agency?

Terry: According to Chaleff’s follower typology, Terry is a partner. Terry has been with Robin since the beginning of Bluebird Care and is Robin’s go-to-person. Robin goes to Terry for advice because she has a positive and helpful attitude. Although Terry shows a lot of support for Robin, she also challenges her to make Bluebird Care the best it can be. A partner shows high support and is also has high challenges. She supports when and where is needed, but when improvement is needed, she is not afraid to challenge her leader.

Belinda: Belinda seems to be pushy or viewed as a bully. She shows commitment by being an employee for five years but doesn’t show much support to the company or Robin. She is not a team player and does not like how Robin setup the agency’s procedural manual. It seems that Belinda didn’t care for Robin’s reasoning for making staff members work every other weekend but was only concerned about herself. As per Chaleff’s follower typology, Belinda is an individualist. She has low support and high challenges. She is not afraid to speak her mind or how she feels.

Caleb: Caleb does the hiring and training, troubleshoots concerns for client services and find other staff members to fill a shortage on staff. Caleb seems to be an implementer. He has high support for his mom but does not challenge her when needed. He feels that what his mom started with care is slowly disappearing. He could find ways to challenge her here but instead continues to only provide support and help her when needed and doesn’t challenge her to keep what she first started.

James: James does his work and does not cause problems. According to Chaleff’s follower typology, James is a resource. He shows low support and low challenge which means, he only comes to do his work and then goes home. He only does what is expected of him and doesn’t show much support in anything else. Also, with the changes and growth Bluebird is going through, he does not have any concerns about anything.

4. Using the “reversing the lens” framework ( Figure 12.6 ), explain how Caleb and James’s characteristics contribute to the followership outcomes at Bluebird Care.

Caleb is Robin’s son which means that employees will be watching him more closely. As he deals with new employees, he can learn more about them and provide feedback to Robin and this can help her determine if any changes in the manual procedure needs to change to help reduce turnover. As he can work closely with the staff members, he can be the change agent by listening to the staff with their concerns and viewing the agency’s needs and let Robin know suggestions on how to satisfy employees and still maintain the mission and values of Bluebird Care.

James, Robin’s son-in-law, who does the minimum can help by getting to know the staff members to match skills, availability, etc. to the agency’s needs. Although, Robin is not able to keep that close relationship with her employees, Caleb and James can do this for her. They can let Robin know what is going on with the employees and help find ways to improve or implement changes to make it better for employees and their clients.

According to Northouse, “Rather than focusing on how followers are affected by leaders, it focuses on how followers affect leaders and organizational outcomes. Reversing the lens emphasize that followers can be change agents (p. 303). As Caleb and James are just employees, they can make a lot of difference in their positions and can have an affect on Robin and the agency’s outcomes.

Reference:

Northouse, P. G. (2019). Leadership: Theory and practice (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.