At the beginning of the year, Mbidde, a civil engineer working with a construction firm involved in road construction, quit his job. Although the engineering firm was paying him well he was frustrated by the management style of his immediate boss.
Mbidde’s boss was a hard to please man who specialized in threats and commands. He particularly liked to target lower ranking employees whom he would constantly lecture about their low performance with rebukes and last warning sermons.
On a number of occasions Mbidde had gone to talk to him about changing his management style. Morale was low among the workers; performance was poor as many employees were not motivated and turnover was high. But the boss simply rebuffed Mbidde, remarking, “It is my show! People here do not understand. They need to be whipped into action.”
After getting a new job as Project Manager with a relief and development NGO, Mbidde was given an assignment of constructing 100 bore holes in three districts in Eastern Uganda within a year. Because of his previous experience at the old job, he inquired about the style of the Country Director. “Well, he is a soft- spoken nice gentleman,” he was told by virtually everyone he asked. Considering his old manager he sighed with relief.
Immediately Mbidde set out to meet his target with vigor. However, not long problems begun to emerge. Materials would hardly be released on time but finance people were hard to get as they were hardly in office. Whenever he visited the head office he found a carefree attitude where people just dropped in at work casually and put in minimal effort.
Frustrated, Mbidde went to the Country Director, who listened to him and promised that things would get better. He also asked him about his family and health. “What a nice guy!” Mbidde thought as he drove back up country.
A couple of months later none of the promises to improve operations had materialized. Again Mbidde drove back to the head office where he was received warmly by the Country Director. “How is your life? Are you well?” The Country Director asked.
This became the pattern. Whenever Mbidde would have a problem he would call upon the Country Director who would treat him like a son. But Mbidde would not realize any of his requests. A year into his job he had hardly met any of his targets and started thinking of moving on to a more demanding organization. “Everyone here likes the boss because he is nice guy but you get nothing done!”
Group discussion:
- How would you describe the leadership styles of the two Bosses Mbide has had
- Discuss the pros and con of the two leadership styles