Case 5.2: Why Aren’t They Listening?
Case synopsis and analysis
Jim is a training specialist who designed a 6-week training program on listening and
communications skills for his company. He offered the program to mid-level managers, most of
whom had attended numerous training programs in the past and had advanced degrees. These
managers do not like training.
Jim recognized that the managers were experienced and put few restrictions on them in terms of
Learning objectives:
• Students should be able to determine the developmental level of a group of followers
Answers to questions in the text:
1. According to the SLII model (see Figure 5.1), what style of leadership is Jim using to run the
seminars?
2. At what level are the managers?
Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
3. From a leadership perspective, what is Jim doing wrong?
4. What specific changes could Jim implement to improve the seminars?
Jim should talk to the managers about their frustration with training in general. He should
essentially give them a space to air their past grievances and discuss why training has lacked
value in the past. He should ask them what an effective and worthwhile training program would
look like.
Potential teaching approaches:
Below is a way to structure a class based on skill theory and case study 5.1:
• Ask students to read 5.1
Exercises for this case study:
1) Create an action plan for Jim based on the situational approach. What exactly should he
do with the group at the next training session? Plan a step-by-step session/discussion that
Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
2) Role-Play: Students play the part of Jim and the mid-level manager attendees. They role-
play a discussion about the current training, based on exercise 1 above. The discussion
3) In small groups, students should discuss a story of inspiring leadership that they
experienced. Then they should determine what their developmental level was at the time