Encik Zainal Ahmad has been working with a branch office of Puncak Gading Consultancy Berhad as a Senior Project Officer for the past ten years. Due to his excellent track record with the branch, he has recently been called to the headquarters to lead a new department as a Project Manager. The department focuses in giving consultancy on special projects and only selected skilled staff was selected to join Encik Zainal in the department. Among the member selected was Encik Fikri Abdullah, a project administrator who has been with the company for the past six years. He has been appointed to assist Encik Zainal in managing the new department.
Known for his bold and straightforward style of leadership, Encik Zainal has set his ruling and philosophy of management on the first day of meeting his subordinates. He expected to maximize his subordinates’ development and to organize the new department to bring about extreme efficiency and new records in performance. Being a perfectionist, he wished to select personally the individuals for special projects undertaken. In achieving the goals, he expected his subordinate to demonstrate their loyalty to him by accepting his philosophy. He demanded so as he believed that the success of the department will depend upon his leadership ability and his subordinates’ willingness to carry out his decisions.
After a few months working together, the subordinates started to realize that Encik Zainal has been continuously making final decisions without seeking their ideas, suggestions or recommendations. He has even, in a few occasions, declined assistance from the subordinates whom he singlehandedly selected to run the project. The staff felt that they are unable to participate or contribute their ideas. As a result, the first quarter of the department’s goals was not achieved. The staff turned to Encik Fikri. He is very concern about the decreasing morale of the staff. He knows that the staff motivation could be increased should Encik Zainal change his leadership style. He is also worried that the staff might retaliate further if their frustrations are not being handled properly. However, for the fear of being branded by his superior as being disloyal, Encik Fikri decided not to question his boss’s decisions. He also believes that Encik Zainal has his own reasons why he refused to fully delegate some of the jobs.