Concepts for organizational Improvement
Liberty University
BMAL501: Strategic Leadership and Management
Introduction
There have been many topics that we have learned over this semester. When looking at
the company I work for, we will call it "Adoption One." I work in foster care! In my region the
company employees a total of thirty. Overall, it covers all of Tennessee, Kentucky, and North
Carolina.
In most cases, each Resource Coordinator has a caseload of around 8 to 10 clients. I have
nine at the moment. Over the past year and a half, right before the pandemic came about. The
former Director, who had been in place for almost 25 years, took a new position. They were
replaced with the Assistant Director, which has been in their work for 13 years. You would think
that nothing would change. I do not know if it was because of the pandemic or just their
leadership style (the court is still out); things have been off since the change. They have
turnovers of several Team Leaders and other positions. They said it was for many different
reasons, but overall, they were not sure of the focus of the company. I have picked out three
concepts that stood out to me could help give a guide back to employees.
Concepts affecting my company.
I have chosen three concepts that I will apply to help change Adoption One back to a better
running organization. With new leadership!
Planning
Autocratic Leadership
Transformational Leadership
Planning
(Satterlee 2018) describes "Planning as a crucial function of management, is setting goals for
specific results and determining how to achieve those results." Planning is a simple concept
when looking at operating a company. But with Adoption One, it has or seems to have become a
little off. During pandemics, they changed how we have done business. (Scholl 2017) "A
realization of the ideas worth following can then be started in an appropriate subsequent
organization." With the lookdown, we could not do in-person visits throughout the months. So,
they were done by video chat, which sounds easy! But when you take employees off the road, it
gives a lot of free time. They came up with new policies for Resource Coordinator, some things
that did not make sense. When you ask about them or why we are doing this, it seems like a
waste of time. The answer was never an answer; it was because I said, so type or I do not know.
It came from the top! Employees went from working 15-20 hours of paperwork and on the road
doing visits 20-25 hours a week. Doing 10-15 hours a week video chat visits seems like 30 plus
hours of paperwork. During this time with the planning issue, the recommendation would have
been open about the intentions; I know the company wanted to keep tabs on what they are paying
for. Unfortunately, they caused several issues due to how they went about it and have caused a
lot of bitterness within the lower employees. Communication roles fell through during this time.
Winging it did not work. Everything is expected but not on the road 20-25 hours a week doing
visits, and now we have the normalcy of 30 plus hours of paperwork to do.
Autocratic Leadership
(Satterlee 2018) describes Autocratic Leadership as "a domineering approach to
leadership, which dictates job processes to subordinates." Adoption One new Director seems to
have this mindset when taking over the new leadership role. (Satterlee) goes on to say that this
type of leadership "makes unilateral decisions and then announces those decisions to
subordinates." I understand this leadership style is needed in a military situation or an emergency
case. Dealing with employees who love kids and want what best is might not be the best
approach. (Biker, Walter, Cole 2020) points out that" it seems possible that highly time-urgent
supervisors may lean toward an autocratic style of leadership and, indirectly, may undermine
subordinates' well-being." When the new Director talks to you, they expect you to know what
they are thinking or, in most cases, it more along the line, because I said so! The
recommendation would be to have an accountability support group around you to make sure you
are coming off the right way, not condescending. A good idea would be to think about the
problem before making decisions. I would think being with the company for 13 years and being
the Assistant Director most of that time, and you would grasp what is going on. They could
change things because people thought they would be a pushover.
Transformational Leadership
(Satterlee 2018) states that a Transformational leader can "channel the efforts of those in
the organization by ensuring followers are aware of the issues, paying attention to followers'
concerns, and inspiring followers to achieve organizational goals." Adoption One new leadership
needs to adopt this type of leadership. The former Director's leadership style was this type
mainly. I would think that the new Director has this in them because we have seen it in the past.
(Satterlee) goes on to describe what a transformational leader exhibits charisma and inspires to
accomplish the need. (Bush 2018) "leaders persuade followers to at certain behaviors to bring
about what the leader regards as beneficial change." Recommendations I know this concept was
looked at a bit differently. I think that the new Director has this in them due. They have shown
this style of leadership before. They need to look at how they address the employees and respect
them. They do not seem to remember that attitude runs from top-down. When the new Director
shows compassion to others, others will show compassion to them.
Conclusion
This paper showed three concepts that stood out to me over the semester. I do not know if
I try and follow these concepts in leading, or I look for a leader who inspires and encourages me
to do better. I do not want anybody to think that Adoption One is a bad company because it is
not! Also, the new Director is an incredible person but is missing a personal aspect to a
relationship right now. I know they have had a hard transition over the past year without a lot of
hands-on instruction throughout all of it. The Bible states in Acts 1:8, "But you shall receive
power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem,
and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." [ CITATION Bib03 \l 1033 ] When we
think of a Transformational leader, they should be making a better them by inspiring and
encouraging like Jesus in the His vision as He empowered the disciples.
References
Bible, N. K. (1769/2003). Nashville: Hollman.
Briker, R. W. (2020). Hurry up! The role of supervisors' time urgency and self-perceived status
for autocratic leadership and subordinates' well-being. Personnel Psychology, 74(1), 55-
76. doi:https://doi-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1111/peps.12400
Bush, T. (2018). Transformational leadership: Exploring common conceptions. Sage Journals,
46(6), 883-887. doi:https://doi-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1177/1741143218795731
Satterlee, A. (2018). Principles of Management And Leadership A Christian Perspective.
McGraw Hill.
Scholl, B. (2017). Building Actor Relationships and Alliances for Complex Problem Solving in
Spatial Planning: The Test Planning Method. Disp - The Planning Review, 53, 46-56.
doi:https://doi-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1080/02513625.2017.1316544
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