Week 3 Discussion Post Response #2

Lawrence Ogle posted Sep 23, 2019 2:55 PM

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In order to have a successful merger one must have a well thought out plan to execute.  This will not guarantee that you still won't encounter issues along the way, but I will help when it comes to the actual execution.  The three key elements of my merger plan that must be addressed and will require strategic leadership will be personnel, logistics, and operations.  How you implement that leadership and with what source of power could determine the outcome of the merger and the support of the people it effects. 

Since the merger will be dealing with personalities, force structure, new authority figures, and different experience levels, both groups of contingency variables will have to be utilized.  This also means that all four levels of leadership to some extent will need to be strategically employed at the right times depending on the situation and circumstances (Martin, 2012).  Initially a directive leadership approach will be required in order to provide guidance to team leaders and clarity to employees.  The legitimate style of power aligns with directive leadership because it requires compliance.  Once the legitimate/directive leadership is established, the next phase will require the participative leadership approach with a cross of both expert and referent power.  The participative leadership style will be beneficial during establishment of the new force structure caused by the merger.  That is where your expertise and knowledge (expert power) will come in handy as employees will be looking at you for guidance and answers.  It will also allow you to build relationships (referent power) with co-workers, team leaders, and new employees as you start to build their confidence and trust in you as the legitimate leader.   The supportive leadership style will be the next critical piece to implement as people start to figure each other out and prioritize the companies objectives. This might be where cohesive or reward power might need to be enforced, cohesive for those who are not adapting and reward for those who are.  As things get better and the operation and people start to find their way, the leader can shift their style to more of an achievement-oriented style.  Empowering people to have input and make decisions will build their confidence as well as the team as a whole. 

The key to being successful will be knowing which leadership style to utilize, what source of power to use, and when to implement each.  Using the wrong style or technique could result in making an already fragile situation worse and hurt the employees which will effect the productivity and success of the company.

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