Good Sport/Leading Change

Running Head: Leading Change

Leading Change

Kristin Conlin

University of Phoenix

Good Sport is manufacturing company based in Coral Springs, FL. Good Sport specializes in fitness equipment and provides organizations such as hospitals, clubs and homes with options such as steppers, treadmills, bikes and rowers to enhance a healthy lifestyle. Good Sport operates in a hierarchical based structure with Founder and CEO Jason Poole overseeing the operations. Jason started the company 15 years ago and because of his popularity as a former NBA basketball player, grew his organization to new heights. Under Jason, Good Sports operates with 4 Vice Presidents in the areas of Production, Research and Development, Sales and Finance. Four Senior Managers lead four Team Managers in the same areas. Even tough Good Sport has a clear hierarchical structure, the culture is split. In the sales department, the employees have an informal attitude and frequently meet outside the office. When is comes down to the company and the customer, the employees know when to stand out because their philosophy is the "Customer is always king". In the Production Department, there is more of a professional atmosphere, socializing outside the office is not apparent. Here boundaries are set and it is clear to maintain respect to the superiors. In both departments, team members prefer to work independently and dislike distraction from other departments. Based on how the departments need to interact, they are not compatible. The Production Department manufactures the product while the Sales Department takes it out into the market. The two should work together and balance each other instead of working independently of each other.

Leadership is essential to running a profitable organization. Commonly there are four different styles of leadership: autocratic, bureaucratic, laissze-fair and democratic("Page Wise, Inc", 2004). With changes in management at Good Sport, also came changes in leadership styles. The organization was first run under a democratic leadership style where employees were involved in the day to day decisions and operations of the business. According to Mind Tools, "Although a democratic leader will make the final decision, he or she invites other members of the team to contribute to the decision-making process. This not only increases job satisfaction by involving employees or team members in what's going on, but it also helps to develop people's skills. Employees and team members feel in control of their own destiny, such as the promotion they desire, and so are motivated to work hard by more than just a financial reward. As participation takes time, this approach can lead to things happening more slowly, but often the end result is better. The approach can be most suitable where team working is essential, and quality is more important than speed to market or productivity" ("Mind Tools", 2007). The employees appreciated the trust and insight they had into running the organization. This leadership style worked well at Good Sport.

When the second CEO came to power, Good Sport was run in a laissze-fair leadership style. According to Frischer, "Laissez-faire Leadership is a common, but unrealistic and immature way to encounter rapidly growing quality, innovation and effectiveness demands. These leaders are inclined to delegate responsibility and authority, not in order to empower but to escape their own responsibility. This abdication from leadership is disempowering, effecting leadership behavior of change, relation and production negatively" (Frischer, 2006). Here the departments worked independently of each other and the CEO exercised little or no control over the day to day operations. This leadership style was not effective due to the fact the two major departments in the organization needed feedback and were eager to please and know the outcome.

After more changes in management, an autocratic leader took over. According to Money Zine.com "With the autocratic leader, the leader's word is "law." The typical autocratic leader does not involve others in the decision making process. And this type of leader might resort to force, manipulation or even threats to accomplish their goals". ("Money Zine",2004-2006). This leadership style had some damaging effects on the organization. Here, managers and employees walked almost on a tight rope and were not able to make decisions in their areas of expertise without the "go - ahead" from the CEO. The CEO exercised control over all areas and departments and really set a rigid culture for the organization.

Once the last CEO came to power, the leadership style was changed back to a democratic style, but it was a tough job since increasing employee moral was the main objective. The newest CEO empowered managers and brought them back into the loop of decision making to fix problems in their departments. The biggest challenge this CEO had to overcome was gaining the employees trust. In order for this management and leadership style to prevail, the CEO had to legitimately want to empower his team and they needed to accept it in return. The empowerment has to start at the top and given to executive management, then to team management. In order for this to be effective all players at Good Sport had to be open and want to be empowered. According to Adams Associates "For an organization to practice and foster employee empowerment the management must trust and communicate with employees. Employee communication is one of the strongest signs of employee empowerment. Honest and repeated communication from elements of the strategic plan, key performance indicators, financial performance, down to daily decision making." ("Adams Associates", 2007).

Good Sport went through many changes throughout its life cycle, some good some bad. With change comes new management, new leadership styles, new culture, new structure; ultimately change brings about a whole new environment. It is a difficult position to be in when a new leader comes on board after a legacy of bad management and leadership was left behind. When someone new takes over the reign and the management title is tarnished because of previous leadership the challenge will be gaining trust from the employees and ensuring them that this change is positive and will bring new light into the organization. According to ArLyne Diamond in his article, Top Strategies for Embracing Change, he points out six areas where