Case 5.1 – Marathon Runners at Different Levels
David Abruzzo has a tough challenge ahead of him at the Metrocity Striders Track Club preparing
different groups of runners for the New York City Marathon. His first group of runners have never run a
marathon before and are understandably anxious about the training and the upcoming event. They are
very concerned about how to do the marathon and whether they will be able to complete such a
challenging event successfully. The runners are low in competence due to their inexperience in running
marathons and evidence by their multiple questions. However, they are equally high in commitment and
seem excited about the challenge ahead of them. Therefore, they would most likely benefit from a S1
high directive-low supportive directive style of leadership. David can use this style of leadership to focus
on answering their many questions and keeping them focused on achieving their goal. It may be a
challenge for David to use the directive style of leadership with this group. He feels like they are being
“childish” by their many questions and he may not be prepared to give them such detailed instructions. It
is unfortunate that he feels this way, because I’m sure at one point when he first started training for
