Jerry and the Apprentice

Jadin Grieser, Brendan Finley, and Malik Stewart

Background

Jerry has been self-employed in a very technical job, but he wants to hire an apprentice to work under him.

Dilemma

Because of the skills required for the job, Jerry needs to use the Skills Theory of Leadership in the process of training an apprentice, yet he is having trouble communicating with his new apprentice and believes that the apprentice has been slacking.

Decision-Making Process

Jerry confronts his apprentice about slacking off when the apprentice tells him that Jerry has failed to teach him the necessary skills. Jerry's apprentice then tells Jerry with tears in his eyes about his family back home, and how hard he is trying to have a steady enough job to keep his family afloat. While listening to his story, Jerry realizes that he will need to adjust his future leadership style to communicate with his apprentice to create an atmosphere of trust.

The Decision

After hearing his apprentice's side of the story, Jerry begins to feel sympathetic towards his apprentice and realizes that he will need to incorporate the apprentice's ideas into his style of leadership. At the beginning of each day, Jerry and his apprentice set aside time to discuss ways that they can both improve in their positions as leader and follower. Jerry also begins to encourage feedback from his apprentice to further the atmosphere of trust and cooperation between the two.

Outcomes

Jerry learns more human skills and becomes more lenient with his apprentice, as his apprentice begins to start learning more technical skills with Jerry's more human approach. With a new atmosphere of trust, Jerry's apprentice is comfortable asking questions and the apprentice comes up with new ideas that Jerry begins to incorporate.

Discussion Questions

1. What skills did Jerry need to develop to become a more effective leader?

2. What skills did the apprentice need to develop to become a more effective follower?

3. Did Jerry and his apprentice handle the situation correctly or is there a more effective way for him to improve his leadership abilities?

License

This case study is licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.