Key Issues, Problems and Opportunities of Jimmy Badger Case of Leadership

Key Issues, Problems or Opportunities

The key issue or problem that comes out clearly from this case is that Jimmy Badger, despite being a good leader, lacks the emotional intelligence that would motivate the people that he is working with. Jimmy's intention is to be a transformational leader, but the problem is that his approach is too authoritarian. While he worked in the Navy, Jimmy Badger was not patient enough with the junior officers who were yet to know their way around; his expectations were too high. What's more, in his current job where he is a manager of a store in Denver, Colorado, Jimmy is very authoritarian (Mayer, Caruso & Salovey, 2016).

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Summary of Facts and Description of Alternative solutions

Jimmy Badger is a store manager of a medium-sized store chain in Denver Colorado. His military style training and service at the navy made him be a leader that is very goal-oriented and less concerned of the needs and wants of subordinates. For example, upon his appointment as a manager, Jimmy Badger asked for suggestions to make their store the highest performing unit in the organization; suggestions that he did not consider. Instead, he sent an email with his own ground rules (Goetsch & Davis, 2014).

Recommendations

It is best that Jimmy Badger takes an emotional intelligence course so that he can hone his skills of motivating his employees. In addition to that, Jimmy should try to realize personal relationships with his subordinates so that his professional relationships are improved. Apart from taking up the course on emotional intelligence, Jimmy could complete a professional assessment of emotional intelligence quotient paired with an interview by an accomplished professional to complement the test. Afterward, any areas of deficiency ought to be worked on steadily. In summary, if Jimmy familiarizes himself with Emotional Intelligence, he will be good at leadership and management (Paris, Sorbu & Tomescu, 2015).

Questions Associated With the Case

Question 1

From the case Jimmy Badger comes off as an authoritarian leader; he does not accept anything less than perfection. Jimmy is also a transformational and goal-oriented leader who believes in continuous improvement. Another way of putting it is that Jimmy likes to make a place better than he found it. For example, he tells other managers and key personnel that they should work very hard to realize the position of the highest performing unit in the company (Bolman & Deal, 2014).

Question 2

Jimmy Badger should modify his leadership approach a great deal. He should embrace leadership by example and lessen autocratic leadership. In addition to that, he should understand that employees need to be motivated and appreciated so that they can do their level best in the accomplishment of tasks. As opposed to giving out orders and commands, Jimmy should make use of a reward and punishments approach so that employees strive to be rewarded (Atkinson, Smith & Singh, 2016).

Question 3

I think that it is not very bad for home-improvement to hire former military officers for its management training programs given that a military background is a connotation for good management. All the same, the organization should realize that even though it is a guarantee that an individual with a military background makes a good manager, good leadership is not guaranteed. For that matter, it is important that new appointees to leadership positions are trained thoroughly on what it takes to be a good leader.

References

Atkinson, G., Smith, B., & Smith, B., & Singh, D. K. (2016). Emotional Intelligence: What is Your EQ?.

Bolman, L., & Deal, T. (2014). Leadership and management. Christian Youth Work in Theory and Practice: A Handbook, 245.

Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson.

Mayer, J. D., Caruso, D. R., & Salovey, P. (2016). The ability model of emotional intelligence: Principles and updates. Emotion Review, 8 (4), 290-300.

Paris, S., Sorbu, R., & Tomescu, A. (2015). LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT STYLES.