Proj 330 Week 2

Leadership for Tent City – Case Study

In response to an emerging fire control situation, Sarah Baker, Smallsville city manager has been asked by the governor for assistance in an effort to control the disaster. The governor has asked for temporary tent housing for emergency responders as well as use of the nearby airport to house aircraft with water suppressing equipment. Not only can Smallsville provide refuge but a nearby damn can be used for water supplies. Sarah, driven to save human and animal lives, in addition to property, wants to ensure the best leader is put in place that can successfully run this operation while unaffecting other city business. Sarah’s task is to find someone with the appropriate leadership style and skills to ensure successful support to those involved in this control operation. The leadership style required for this project is a combination of a task-oriented and transformational leader.

The immediate requirements for this project calls for installation of tents, power, and communications equipment, as well as coordination of many city agencies and volunteers. Someone with the skill and intuit for a quick call to action to organize, plan, coordinate and communicate requires a true task master. This fits well with a task-oriented leader. Task-oriented leaders focus on getting the job done and they define the work, roles, structures and put the plan in place (MindTools, 2011). This may be a good style for some operations, but because of the broad mix of companies, agencies, and volunteers, a pure task-oriented leader may not be the right solution since a task-oriented leader may lean towards an autocratic style. For this reason, for this situation, in addition to a task-oriented leader, also calls for someone with the inspirational influence of a transformational leader style.

A transformational leader will encourage those participating in the project to achieve what needs to be done through motivation. Thompson...