Leadership Style Indicator

You manage a team in your division and need a decision report for the purchase of new equipment. You ask a new employee to produce a structured report on options, costs and expected benefits within the next four weeks. She has some prior exposure to the topic but does not yet know the detailed requirements or technical specifications. To prepare the report, she will need to review internal guidelines, compare vendor offers and collect data from other units. Her current schedule is already filled with ongoing tasks and meetings. She says the additional assignment feels burdensome but is basically willing to take it on.

Your task force has been working intensively for several weeks on a division-wide report that is due soon. A new member has joined the group and has not been involved in the earlier work. He is expected to present cost figures for a key section at the end of next week. He does not yet know the reporting requirements, the calculation logic or the preferred format of the group. Other members are busy with their own sections and deadlines. He is motivated and looks forward to understanding his role and making a visible contribution.

In recent weeks, you have noticed a clear drop in performance from one of your employees. He appears passive and shows little initiative on a current high-priority task. Tasks are only completed when you follow up repeatedly or send specific reminders. The assignment is technically demanding and important for your unit’s results this quarter. You suspect that he lacks some of the methods or subject-matter expertise needed to complete it confidently. At the same time, you know him as generally reliable from other assignments.

A recent company restructuring has changed the composition and responsibilities of your work group. Since then, quality, speed and on-time delivery have noticeably declined, and several deadlines have been missed. Your boss has expressed concern about this development. Team members say that processes, roles and interfaces are still unclear. They want to improve their performance and achieve better results again. At the same time, some people lack the knowledge and routine needed for their new tasks, and there is no shared plan yet for closing these gaps.

Because of budget cuts, your department must consolidate activities and reduce overlaps over the next few months. You have asked a highly experienced colleague to take the lead on this consolidation work. She knows all sub-areas well and has often taken on extra tasks and supported others in the past. You are confident that she has the expertise to coordinate the analysis and decisions. In your conversations, however, she appears reserved and shows little visible enthusiasm for the project. She has formally accepted the assignment but comments on it in a neutral and matter-of-fact way.

One of your employees has recently started submitting his weekly progress reports late and with missing information. This is the second time in a month that you have received incomplete or delayed reports from him. In the previous year, he consistently submitted complete and accurate reports on time. These reports are used as input for coordination with other units and are regularly reviewed by your boss. Until now, you have not discussed this issue directly with him. You are meeting with him for the first time to address the situation.

You assign a new project to a highly experienced senior employee. In the past, his performance has been consistently strong and he has handled complex tasks reliably. The project is important for the strategic direction of your work group over the coming months. He is clearly enthusiastic about the new responsibility and shows high motivation. At the same time, he says he has little information about scope, stakeholders and prior work and therefore does not know where to start. You have a trusting working relationship and communicate openly with each other.

A very capable staff member is working on a task you assigned to him several days ago. He has all the skills needed to complete the task and has successfully handled similar work in the past. Now he tells you that he feels uncertain about this particular assignment. The deadline for completion is approaching, leaving little room for major changes. Up to now, he has usually worked independently and has rarely asked for support. You need to decide how closely to direct him in this phase.

In a regular team meeting, your staff ask you to consider changing the existing work schedule. They propose specific adjustments to start and end times and to the distribution of early and late shifts. From your perspective, the suggestions are generally reasonable and compatible with the unit’s requirements. The team is aware of operational constraints and also discusses possible effects on other interfaces. The employees are technically competent and largely organize their day-to-day work on their own. In the past, the group has collaborated well and resolved conflicts constructively.

As a result of an organisational change, six new employees were assigned to your unit three months ago. Since their transfer, you have noticed declining quality, speed and reliability in their areas of responsibility. In conversations, it becomes clear that they lack knowledge, system skills and process understanding for their new roles. At the same time, some express dissatisfaction with the change and question its fairness or purpose. The overall mood in the group is subdued, and employees sometimes react defensively to feedback. There is no shared plan yet for developing their skills and addressing attitudes.

One member of your department has had consistently strong performance over the past 22 months. He is enthusiastic about the challenges of the coming year. Budgets, targets and the general task profile are expected to change only slightly. You schedule an annual meeting with him to agree on goals, priorities and concrete steps for next year. In the past, he has reliably implemented agreements and met deadlines. You are considering how much you should structure the content and how much you should let him shape it.

Your unit has delivered excellent results over the past two years and has often exceeded its targets. In recent months, however, there have been three major setbacks largely caused by external factors. Since then, performance indicators have fallen noticeably and the team’s morale is low. Some employees question whether their efforts still make a difference, while others seem tired or withdrawn. Your own boss has raised concerns and expects you to respond to the situation. You must decide how to address both the performance decline and the mood in the team.

You have recently been assigned a new employee for an important position in your unit. The role has a direct impact on the quality and timeliness of your output. She brings basic knowledge but is inexperienced in your unit’s specific processes and systems. In discussions she appears highly motivated, asks many questions and expresses confidence that she can handle the job. So far, she only knows your team and workflows from her initial onboarding. You must decide how closely to guide her through the first steps.

Your boss has asked you to increase your unit’s output by seven per cent in the coming year. You believe this is achievable if you invest more time in coordination and leadership tasks. To free up capacity, you plan to reassign development of a new cost-control system to an experienced employee. She has worked on similar systems before and knows the relevant data sources. At the same time, she says she feels somewhat unsure about taking full responsibility for the project on her own. The timeframe for introducing the new system is ambitious but clearly defined.

Your boss has asked you to nominate someone to serve on a company-wide task force. The group is expected to produce recommendations for redesigning the company’s compensation plan over the next few months. You choose a highly productive colleague who understands how her co-workers feel about the current plan. She has successfully led an internal task force before and presented its results. She clearly says she wants this new assignment. You consider how closely you should stay involved in her work on the task force.

You chair a committee that meets regularly to develop recommendations on a clearly defined topic. Because of illness in your family, you were unable to attend the last two meetings. At the next session you see that the group has continued to work on its own, comes well prepared and follows a structured discussion. Members participate actively, bring their own suggestions and appear satisfied with the interim results. The work is progressing without your direct guidance in a way that seems reasonable. You are unsure what role you should play in the next meetings.

Your staff have been working very independently for some time and consistently deliver excellent results. A recent success has further increased motivation, and day-to-day collaboration is running smoothly. Employees often resolve technical questions directly among themselves. It is now time to set goals, metrics and priorities for the coming year. Your boss expects you to manage this process for your unit. You are considering how much to prescribe and how much to involve the group.

You and your boss agree that your department needs to overhaul its work procedures to ensure long-term performance. Initial analysis shows that interfaces, lead times and responsibilities are no longer well aligned. Department members say they are willing to question current routines and try new approaches. At the same time, many are highly specialised and have limited insight into upstream and downstream processes. The assignment is to develop and implement a clearly documented set of new procedures within the next months. You must decide how to lead this change process.

You have recently been appointed head of an existing division. Since taking over, you have noticed that key performance indicators are declining and important milestones are being reached late. New technologies and tools were introduced in recent months, and staff do not yet use them confidently. In conversations, some employees show little interest in actively learning the new systems. At the same time, you are expected to stabilise and improve the division’s performance. You need to decide how directive you should be and how much responsibility you leave with the team.

An inexperienced employee is responsible for part of your unit’s administrative documentation. In recent weeks, you have repeatedly seen that her reports are incomplete or contain errors. Other units have had to ask for clarifications or corrections because information was missing. In conversation, you notice that she shows little motivation for this kind of work and tends to see paperwork as a burden. The documentation is nevertheless important for meeting requirements and making decisions. You want to decide how to manage her on this task.