The Law Office started as a small general law practice firm in 1992 by David Jeter and Nate Jackson near Sacramento, California. Their practice had grown and they operated from 3 separate towns and employed 27 people. They decided to hire a General Manager of operations as they felt that they were losing control of the firm’s operation as the number of cases, clients, employees and travel requirements increased. They hired Brad Howser as the firm’s General Manager of operations who was currently working in a city outside California in the insurance industry and who was looking to move back to his home state of California. After 6 months into the company Brady started to make several changes to the firm’s operational rules and procedures. The changes he made were not acceptable to the staff. Some of the changes he made were change the flex schedule currently in place; reduce attorney’s travel, meals and entertainment budget. He also sent strongly worded letters to clients whose outstanding invoices exceeded 30 days. All these changes made the staff as well as clients unhappy. He also conducted weekly staff meeting in which only he spoke about management techniques that were successful in the insurance industry and never let the staff to voice their opinion. He was generous in his donations to the society but he did not pay attention to the concerns of the staff. The attorney’s instead of seeing an increase in the clients saw the number of clients declining because of the hard worded letters that they had received for not making payments on time.
1. Opinion on Brad’s suggestion to “sit tight and ride out the storm”
No. I do not agree with Brad’s opinion to “sit tight and ride out the storm” instead the partners should take immediate action as neither the staff nor the clients were happy with the different operational changes made by Brad. It not only made the employees sad but also many of the clients started to go to other attorney firms. They needed to discuss with Brad their overall displeasure with the changes he implemented in the company which affected not only the staff but also their clients. They also needed to let him know that they were looking forward to a slow increase in the clientele base but instead they saw the number of clients declining.
They should make it clear to Brad that they want changes to be made with regards to marketing, changes in the operations etc. only after the same is discussed with the partners or other staff members who have better expertise in the respective areas as it needs to be aligned with the fundamentals of the company.
They also need to let him know that if they are still not satisfied with the changes he is requesting to be made then he may be asked to leave the company as satisfaction of the employees and clients is very important for the growth of the company.
2. What leadership style and type of individual should GM operations person have?
The leadership personality of the individual who takes up the position of GM operations should be one who possesses a democratic style of leadership. A democratic leader is one who offers much needed guidance to the members and participates in the discussions before making any changes. This makes other members to be more participative in the change being discussed but the leader still has the final say in the decision making process and yet makes the members to be convinced that their opinion is heard and considered by their leader which increases their motivation. Such participation is always good for the betterment of the company and it is easier to implement the changes that are easily accepted by the staff.
3. Consider your own leadership style. What types of positions and situations should you seek? What types of positions and situations should you seek to avoid? Why?
I would look at positions that would complement my strengths and be advantageous both for the company as well as myself. I would definitely want to be a leader who does not impose any new changes or make changes to the existing work procedures without confronting the team members and gaining their confidence. It is very important to me that the team is convinced regarding the benefits of the change to them as well as for the overall development and growth of the team and the company. It is very important to me that any change implemented should be happily welcomed by the team members to whom the change would affect the most. I will always be happy to accept ideas from team members, encourage them to participating in any meetings held to discuss about changes that may need to be implemented. I would hate to make changes without letting my team members know as I think it is important that everyone has a fair chance to voice their opinion and concerns.