Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
Case 11.1: Silence, Stigma, and Mental Illness
Case synopsis and analysis
Unfortunately, the high school principal felt that publication of the article could lead to bullying
of the mentally ill students. Madeline and Eva protested, claiming that printing an article with
students’ real names was crucial to diminish the stigma of depression. The principal and district,
however, refused to publish the article. In response, Madeline and Eva wrote an op–ed piece,
“Depressed, but not Ashamed” which was published in The New York Times. The article
Learning objectives:
• Students should be able to recognize the need for adaptive leadership in a given case
study.
Answers to questions in the text:
1. How do you define the problem the editors were trying to address? What this
a technical or an adaptive challenge?
This was an adaptive problem. Adaptive challenges are problems that are not clear-cut
and cannot be solved by the leader’s authority or through the normal ways of doing
Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
2. What is your reaction to what the principal did in this situation? How do you think
what she did fits in with providing direction, protection, orientation, conflict
management, and productive norms?
Students will likely be unsatisfied with the principal’s behavior. Some may recognize the
Providing direction involves identifying the adaptive challenges that others face and then
Protection refers to a leader’s responsibility to manage the rate of adaptive change for
people. In this case, the principal seems to recognize that minimizing the stigma of
Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
She was authoritarian and perhaps should have discussed the issue more thoroughly with
the editors.
2. Describe the holding environment in this case. Was the holding environment sufficient to
meet the adaptive challenges in this situation? How would you improve it?
Creating a holding environment refers to establishing an atmosphere in which people can
feel safe tackling difficult problems but not so much so that they can avoid the
It seems as though the holding environment in this case was insufficient to meet the
adaptive challenges. The students and principal met in the principal’s office and did not
have a cohesive relationship. The office highlights the power difference between the
students and principal and does not allow for the group to function safely.
4. Based on Figure 10.1, discuss who were the adaptive leaders in this case. Which of the
leader behaviors (get on the balcony, identify adaptive challenges, regulate distress,
etc.) did these leaders exhibit?
Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
distress and concern of the principal. They were unable to ease her concerns, which
essentially prevented the change.
Potential teaching approaches:
Below is a way to structure a class based on skill theory and case study 11.1:
• Ask students to read case 11.1.
• Debate exercise 1 below.
• Hold a lecture on adaptive leadership.
• Discuss questions 1 through 4 in the case study as a class.
• Finally, the professor may choose to conduct in-class exercises 2 and 3 below.
Exercises for this case study:
1) Debate: Students should read the case study and debate the publication of the article.
Should the principal have published it or not? The professor can ask students to split into
groups based on their personal beliefs or assign students to a position.
2) In small groups, students should turn back the clock and
A) Pretend that they are the editors poised to meet with the principal for the first time
about the article. The students know the principal does not want to publish and need
Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
3) Students again turn back the clock and role-play the first discussion with the principal