ADVANCED COMMUNICATION IN ENGLISH

Activity 8
Working in groups

Due: Tuesday, April 31st

11:59 pm

Effective leadership in small businesses requires knowing how to communicate with all the
elements of the organization, including employees, managers, customers, and investors.
Each group may require a different communication and/or leadership style, and leaders
must be able to adapt based on the group with which they are communicating at the time.
Effective communication skills are an important aspect of any leader’s portfolio of skills
and experience.

You don’t have to be a social scientist to recognize the importance of good leadership, and
the role that effective communication plays in leading well (and leading poorly) is obvious.

So, what are the communication skills that make a leader effective?

1. Research the following leadership styles in libraries or the internet. Type in a short
definition for each:

 Autocratic: is a person who rules with an iron fist; in other words, someone
with the behavior of a dictator.

 Democratic: relating to or supporting democracy or its principles

 Laissez-faire: policy or attitude of letting things take their own course, without
interfering.

 Transactional: style of leadership that focuses on supervision, organization

or performance.

 Operator: is an intensely task-focused and will do whatever it takes to complete

the job they have in hand even if it means working outside the system and
ignoring standardized procedures to do so.
  Team player: a person who plays or works well as a member of a team or
group.

 Transformational:  is a theory of leadership where a leader works with teams to

identify needed change, creating a vision to guide the change through
inspiration, and executing the change in tandem with committed members of a
group.

2. Think of leaders (people you know or famous figures) who embody each of the
leadership styles. Complete the chart:

Leadership style Leaders Describe how this leader puts

into practice the corresponding
leadership style.
 Autocratic Bashar al-Assad Since 2000, al-Assad has ruled
Syria in a way that many would
describe as “iron fist”. Though he
was initially thought of as a
specialist in government reform,
he brought sieges to prevent
protestors, which eventually led to
a civil war. He has been involved
in war crimes against humanity,
but he is still serving his third 7-
year term as Syria’s president.

 Democratic Bill Clinton He is a United State of America

politician who once served as
President of USA from January
20, 1993, to January 20, 2001. He
advocated for the fight against
HIV/AIDS, malaria, and
tuberculosis, and the need to stem
greenhouse gas emissions.
Throughout his presidential term,
he is remembered for the
democratic leadership role he
played.

 Laissez-faire Steve Jobs  Steve Jobs was known for giving

instructions about what he would
like to see to his team but then
 leaving them to their own devices
to figure out how to fulfill his
wishes

 Transactional Max Weber This practice is centered on the

management process that involves
controlling, organizing and short-
term planning. This style follows
the principle of reward and
punishment in which an act that is
good will merit a reward while the
opposite can result to a
disciplinary action. 

 Operator Bob Iger Iger is the CEO of the Disney

Corporation. He has led the
acquisitions of major companies
like Marvel, Pixar, and, most
recently, Lucas Films. His
leadership has also led to the
expansion of Disney’s theme
parks into Shanghai and Hong
Kong.

 Team player Bill Gates Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer at

Microsoft are a well-known pair.
After more than 20 years working
together, plus a stint as hall mates
in a Harvard undergraduate dorm,
the chairman and the CEO augment
their complementary areas of
expertise (the creation of visionary
technical architectures for Gates,
hard-driving sales and marketing
for Ballmer) with a shared passion
for the company. 

 Transformational Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr’s struggle

Jr’s to end racism in America has
inspired many across the globe.
His passion for justice and his
methods of protesting gathered
worldwide support. He
encouraged the masses to join the
civil rights movement in America
and ensured that the movement
 was not just about him or others
who were prominent, but about
humanity.

3. Read the following situation and complete the activities below.

Situation: You and 2 more persons have been called to work together for a
company in town which produces musical instruments. This company has struggled
due to a lack of effective management. One of you is the new “general manager”,
another one is “human resources manager”, and the other is “quality control
manager”. There many discipline problems, thus, resulting in poor quality and low
revenues. After taking it over, you and your partners are ready to have a mass
meeting with all the employees.

 What will be your top 5 golden rules for that company? Mention why you chose
these 5.

 Which norms do both of you expect your employees to carry out? Mention five.

 What leadership style should each manager have? Explain why.

 GENERAL MANAGER: General managers might be inclined to one of two

distinct leadership styles. The first, transactional leadership, describes a
style that is task-focused, bureaucratic and authoritarian. And the second
one, transformational leadership because relies more on motivation by
appealing to higher ideals and moral values. This style is often more likely
to inspire trust, loyalty, and respect in employees and tends to be considered
the more effective of the two.

 HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER: Laissez Faire: These leaders make

their sub ordinate to make decisions without restrictions and the followers or
subordinates make their decisions. This is the current leadership style where
the organizations are following. In this style the leader must aware of the
knowledge of their subordinates.

 QUALITY CONTROL MANAGER: The transformational approach to

leadership focuses on high expectations from employees. This type of leader
serves as an inspirational mentor who encourages workers to do better and
be better. Typical behaviors may involve setting quality goals, reviewing
individual performance to see how well those goals are met and helping
those who fall short identify areas they want to work on. This methodology
 works well in a TQM environment because the emphasis is on constantly
striving to do better work.

ANNOUNCEMENT:
We will have an online class this Tuesday, March 31st at 4:00 pm.
Please try to get connected. It would only be a few minutes.

https://zoom.us/j/642706646?pwd=SytGM3N4c3VQQUFPUUZXYzhPamYwUT09