Steve Gardner Leadership Style

According to the Oxford Living Dictionary’s definition of leadership, it is an “…action of leading a group of people or organization” (Oxford Living Dictionary). In other words, leadership is the action of guiding a group to a goal. The act of leadership can be different from person to person, due to the different experiences and backgrounds people have. Like so, two professors, Steve Gardner and Marissa Morgan, have different types of leadership. While the two professors have some similarities, they show differences in leadership that affects the overall learning experience of the classes they lead. The two professors share the same sociability trait, but the way they enforce classroom order changes how effective their trait shows in the …show more content…
As a realistic man, Steve Gardner is a mix of Theory X philosophy and a democratic style of leadership. The large number of rules that Steve Gardner has for his class shows that he believes in the Theory X philosophy of leadership, which states that people must be controlled. Even though he does follow Theory X, Steve Gardner is still a democratic style leader. According to the case study, Steve Gardner says, “I know all my students by name, and I allow them to call me by my first name…” (Northouse 188). Although Steve Gardner is cynical enough to know that strict rules and guidance is necessary to have a productive class, he is willing to work with his students and put them on equal ground to be a democratic leader. In the case of Marissa Morgan, she does the opposite of Steve Gardner as she follows Theory Y philosophy and a laisses-faire style of leadership. As an example of her philosophy and style, the case study states, “…[Morgan] just comes to class and invites students to discuss whatever they want” (Northouse 188). Instead of showing some guidance and expectations like Steve Gardner, Marissa Morgan expects her students to lead the class by themselves. She trusts that her students will want to do the work according to Theory Y philosophy, and does not do anything herself. She is not thoroughly involved in the class, and shows laisses-faire leadership through …show more content…
According to Peter G. Northouse, a vision is “…a mental model of an ideal future state” (Northouse 149). In Steve Gardner’s case, his vision for a successful class is a class that students can feel as a subject that will help them in life as well as being enjoyable. Steve Gardner’s vision is shown through his comments in the case study, saying, “I want students to think that this class is unique and the subject is important and has a value” (Northouse 188). In Marissa Morgan’s case, her vision is to teach the material that is assigned to her. According to her interview, Marissa Morgan says, “As I see it, my role as a professor is to present the material to be learned, while the students are responsible for how much of it they can absorb” (Northouse 189). To her, the best result of her teaching is for her to teach the material she has in

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