62. The Nut House, a local retail store in a suburban mall, sold fresh roasted
nuts, homemade potato chips, candies from all over the world and donuts. Elinor
Smith, the owner, hired Lee, a new high school graduate, as summer help.
Monday morning, the first day on the job, Lee said, “Oh Mrs. Smith, thank you so
much for giving me a chance to work! And I love this store! My mom has used
your chips and nuts for her women’s group parties for years! I love those green
ones. What are they called?” Mrs. Smith smiled, “Pistachios, Lee. Welcome to
The Nut House. I am glad you are here. There is plenty of work to keep you busy.
Let’s start with cleaning the glass cases.” The day went quickly as Mrs. Smith
showed Lee how to clean glass display cases, how to sweep and mop the floors,
how to care for the fryers and warming trays. Lee followed Mrs. Smith around
and did what Mrs. Smith showed her to do, repeating her actions. If Lee did not
do a task correctly, Mrs. Smith repeated the action until Lee got it right. They
worked side by side, doing the same cleaning tasks, all day. When a customer
came in, Mrs. Smith took care of the customer. Then Mrs. Smith and Lee
resumed their cleaning. Tuesday, Mrs. Smith watched Lee clean the store. She
commented as needed about a missed detail. She reminded Lee of the
procedures, twice demonstrating part of the art of glass cleaning. She frequently
complimented Lee for doing a task correctly, especially when Lee seemed bored
and said, “This is way easy.” Wednesday, Mrs. Smith announced, “Would you like
to learn the cash register?” Lee gave her a grateful grin, and Mrs. Smith said,
“Wash your hands, and stand right here next to me.” Lee was much quicker at
learning this task than she had been at glass cleaning. Mrs. Smith commented,
“You certainly are good with numbers!” Lee grinned, “I am going to major in math
in college.” The day went easily. At closing time, Mrs. Smith asked, “Do you still
have that nice big brown dog?” Lee nodded, “Danny! My finest friend.” Mrs.
Smith said, “Right. Danny. Stop next door at the butcher shop and pick up some
good meat scraps for him. I already called Mr. Peralta to set some aside for you.”
On Friday, Mrs. Smith said to Lee, “I have seen you watching while I waited on
customers. Are you ready to take care of a customer? Do you have any
questions?” Lee had a few, and then Mrs. Smith said, “Good. Remember that
each customer is THE most important customer. They deserve our respect, our
attention, our service. We want them to come back because we took great care
of them. So, do what you have seen me doing, and you will be fine. OK, the next
person through the door is your first customer.” Lee smiled in anticipation and
fidgeted nervously. Soon the door jingled, and in walked Lee’s customer. “Hi,
she wanted anything else, or if she had noticed your new display, or, oh, I just
treated her like Mom, I didn’t even see a customer. I am just awful. Are you firing
me? Maybe I should just quit. I didn’t do anything right except ring up the sale. I
am just hopeless.” Lee buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Please refer to
this scenario for the following question.
How well did Mrs. Smith utilize transformational leadership behaviors? Be
specific and provide examples.
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Blooms: Analyze
Blooms: Evaluate
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Learning Objective: 09-04 Describe the primary behaviors associated with transformational leadership.
Topic: Transformational Leadership: Getting Performance Beyond Expectations
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
63. The Nut House, a local retail store in a suburban mall, sold fresh roasted
nuts, homemade potato chips, candies from all over the world and donuts. Elinor
Smith, the owner, hired Lee, a new high school graduate, as summer help.
Monday morning, the first day on the job, Lee said, “Oh Mrs. Smith, thank you so
much for giving me a chance to work! And I love this store! My mom has used
your chips and nuts for her women’s group parties for years! I love those green
ones. What are they called?” Mrs. Smith smiled, “Pistachios, Lee. Welcome to
The Nut House. I am glad you are here. There is plenty of work to keep you busy.
Let’s start with cleaning the glass cases.” The day went quickly as Mrs. Smith
showed Lee how to clean glass display cases, how to sweep and mop the floors,
how to care for the fryers and warming trays. Lee followed Mrs. Smith around
and did what Mrs. Smith showed her to do, repeating her actions. If Lee did not
do a task correctly, Mrs. Smith repeated the action until Lee got it right. They
worked side by side, doing the same cleaning tasks, all day. When a customer
came in, Mrs. Smith took care of the customer. Then Mrs. Smith and Lee
resumed their cleaning. Tuesday, Mrs. Smith watched Lee clean the store. She
commented as needed about a missed detail. She reminded Lee of the
procedures, twice demonstrating part of the art of glass cleaning. She frequently
complimented Lee for doing a task correctly, especially when Lee seemed bored
and said, “This is way easy.” Wednesday, Mrs. Smith announced, “Would you like
to learn the cash register?” Lee gave her a grateful grin, and Mrs. Smith said,
“Wash your hands, and stand right here next to me.” Lee was much quicker at
learning this task than she had been at glass cleaning. Mrs. Smith commented,
“You certainly are good with numbers!” Lee grinned, “I am going to major in math
in college.” The day went easily. At closing time, Mrs. Smith asked, “Do you still
have that nice big brown dog?” Lee nodded, “Danny! My finest friend.” Mrs.
Smith said, “Right. Danny. Stop next door at the butcher shop and pick up some
good meat scraps for him. I already called Mr. Peralta to set some aside for you.”
On Friday, Mrs. Smith said to Lee, “I have seen you watching while I waited on
customers. Are you ready to take care of a customer? Do you have any
questions?” Lee had a few, and then Mrs. Smith said, “Good. Remember that
each customer is THE most important customer. They deserve our respect, our
attention, our service. We want them to come back because we took great care
of them. So, do what you have seen me doing, and you will be fine. OK, the next
person through the door is your first customer.” Lee smiled in anticipation and
fidgeted nervously. Soon the door jingled, and in walked Lee’s customer. “Hi,
Elinor, how are you today?” Mrs. Smith replied, “Just fine, Edna. Here is my new
Winters, one of my best customers. Lee, you will know a lot of people who come
in this store. What if it’s Mr. Legget, the neighbor you don’t like? Or a friend of
yours from school, Susan, or someone else you do like? Each customer deserves
your respect, your attention, and your service. Answer my question, please. How
did you do with your first customer?” Lee crumpled into a little pile and whined,
“I did just awful. I wasn’t glad to see her and she knew it. I forgot to ask her if
© 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
she wanted anything else, or if she had noticed your new display, or, oh, I just
treated her like Mom, I didn’t even see a customer. I am just awful. Are you firing
me? Maybe I should just quit. I didn’t do anything right except ring up the sale. I
am just hopeless.” Lee buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Please refer to
this scenario for the following question.
What should Mrs. Smith do next? Use situational leadership, transactional
behaviors, and transformational answers in your discussion. Be specific and
provide examples.
64. Discuss a few myths of leadership.
65. Your friend Chris believes that leaders are more capable and possess a
different set of traits than followers. Do you agree with him? Explain.
66. What are the traits that are good predictors of leadership emergence?
What are the characteristics that people admire in leaders? Are they similar to
each other? Explain.