Recovery Rescues Inc. is a Reptile’s, wildlife and exotics rescue facility aiming to educate and advocate through education and exposure to the surrounding communities. They were established as a nonprofit 501c3 sanctuary in May 2019 by Nick and Reeci, a couple that met in a drug rehabilitation program and through their love for reptiles and wildlife, they began to rescue wildlife and allow animals to aid in their own recovery process. Both Nick and Reeci were veterinarian technicians and started this facility on their own property. The couple made contacts with the animal and veterinary industries, and now have partnership with the FWC (Geniale & Hill, n.d.). The care, knowledge, time, cost and drive that Nick and Reeci put to rescue and rehabilitate the animals is inspiring and encouraging. With my big interest and love for the animals, interacting with them is an important avenue to learn more about the animals possibly assist in caring for the animals.
Path-Goal Theory of Leadership
The best theory that suits Nick and Reeci’s leadership is the Martin Evans’ (1970) Path-Goal theory of leadership, which describes ways in which leaders can support and motivate their followers by setting a clear and easy path for them to follow to achieve the set goals (Path-Goal Theory of Leadership, n.d.). The theory is based on the assertions that superiors within an organization choose a set of behaviors that best suits the needs of employees and the working environment ( Kukreja, 2018) . The theory indicates that leaders have the responsibility to participate in diverse set of leadership behaviors depending on the needs and demand arising from a particular incident ( Kukreja, 2018) . Nick and Reeci run a very sensitive organization that deals with unconventional animals. Therefore, this leadership theory is suitable for them as it provides direction on guiding and supporting employees to set personal goals that are in line with the overall objectives of the organization ( Kukreja, 2018) , to treat and rehabilitate unconventional animals. Since the type of work requires specific skills, the workforce may have different shortcomings in fulfilling different roles and responsibilities. Nick and Reeci are required to identify and address these employee shortcomings by developing clear steps that they will have to follow to meet their goals.
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By supporting the workforce, Nick and Reeci will reduce the chances of failure and ensure that the personnel have sufficient knowledge about the animals and the work environment. In addition, Path-Goal theory guides them to support and motivate their workforce through reward and compensation. Nick and Reeci adopts three of the four leadership styles provided by the Path-Goal theory; directive, supportive, and participative leadership ( Kukreja, 2018) .
To work well, Nick and Reeci combines the three leadership styles. Since directive leadership is too demanding as the workforce works under specific rules and regulations put in place by the management, it is suitable for the unskilled and inexperienced personnel. More skilled and experienced personnel would consider such leadership to be intimidating since it is less engaging. Therefore, it will lower morale and reduce their productivity within the organization. Supportive leadership requires that a leader helps his/her followers to overcome different roadblocks and meet the set objectives. Finally, participative leadership is very democratic as participants are given the mandate to choose how they want to accomplish their tasks. However, they only work well for a workforce that comprises skilled and experienced personnel that can make rational decisions.
Directive leadership
Recovery Rescues Inc. is providing me with tremendous experience and skills through its strong leadership. Being a novice player in this type of volunteer work, Nick and Reeci adopts the directive leadership to fit me into the system. Directive leadership involves clearly defining the objectives that a particular person should follow, in order to meet some set goals. The leadership style is identified under the Path-Goal theory to suit unskilled and inexperienced personnel who take part in completing a complex task. Still being new to this type of volunteer work therefore, Nick and Reeci primarily operate in the directive style of leadership by telling me what needs to be done and providing guidance along the way, and, by giving a schedule of specific work to be done at specific times. They provide step-by-step guidance on how to feed the animals, which animals like petting attention and which ones to simply speak softly too. They are responsible for initiating projects, delegating responsibilities, and setting deadlines for different tasks. At this point, my contribution is minimal in providing suggestion or feedback to them, as they have all the mandate on the mission and vision of the company. The couple is confident and are always good in communicating to others without any form of arrogance.
Directive leadership style has a number of advantages. First, the leadership provides a structure to unstructured tasks (Miller, 2020). This implies that leaders use their experience and knowledge to assist others in implementing different particular structures. As Nick and Reeci implement specific tasks and duties which I should follow to the later, they gradually transfer their skill and knowledge to me, therefore enabling me to learn and expertise in these activities and achieve a positive outcome. In addition, Nick and Reeci sets the rules and regulations that govern the whole operations. Considering that the volunteer work involves dealing with animals, there is chance of potential injuries to the animal and the personnel. Therefore, the couple has set a particular set of defined rules that govern every activity that takes place at work. They ensure that there is no error at all since a slight mistake may even lead to an animal or human death. By doing this, they emphasize and guarantee for the safety and security of the animals and the man power. Another important aspect of Nick and Reeci’s directive leadership is the clarity of information with regard to the role expectations. The personnel are required to accomplish a particular set of activities centered towards achieving a particular goal. The couple enforce these expectations by rewarding people with stunning performance, therefore motivating others to improve their performance to meet the overall objective.
However, this leadership style provides no room for innovation and creativity in job functions as all mandates are restricted to Nick and Reeci. As the leaders set a specific way of accomplishing a particular job, and supervise it to ensure that it meets the quality standards, the initiative of workers who are capable to make creative positions is limited, implying the inefficiency to become innovative and complete creative projects. In addition, the leaders may tend to disregard the benefits of collaboration as they are confident in their experience and knowledge. In this case, employee growth and insight becomes secondary as leaders place more focus on the task to be accomplished. A leader holds individual accountable for particular tasks that they are assigned (Miller, 2020).
The overall morale of the team reduces as the leadership may demand that rules are followed without question. The team may lack a sense of ownership for the organization, and this may result in personal dissatisfaction. I believe that taking charge of the whole operations and supervising the activities in line with the directive leadership style, the work burden of Nick and Reeci will also increase as they are forced to take full responsibility of the activities and performance. They are answerable to the FWC in case of any decision that risk the lives of people, and injure or kill the animals they tame. Therefore, they require skills that are higher than that of anyone else within the team. Skills enable them to make informed decisions that would trigger positive emotional responses and outcome.
Participative leadership
Participative leadership is based on participative leadership theory, where the management integrates the input of different stakeholders to make decisions (Belyh, 2016). Nick and Reeci adopts this leadership style to involve the team in the operations of the organization by giving them pertinent information about the issues affecting them. By engaging the staff, Nick and Reeci ensure that most decisions are always arrived at a general consensus. Despite making rules that govern the activities of employees, under the directive leadership, these rules are applicable for the novice, unskilled and inexperienced members of the team. For example, right now, I cannot participate in making major decisions of the organization. As employees grow, Nick and Reeci give them voice in controlling the operations, such that they become part and parcel of the successes and failures of the organization. The employees get motivated and their morale increases. Therefore, they become more actively involved in improving the situation and directly or indirectly change the policies, rules and regulations that govern the workplace. In addition, Nick and Reeci encourage creative solutions by putting into consideration the opinions of the team members on the company issues. Giving staff members abilities to influence the decision making process improves their intimacy and involvement in the organization’s operations and empowers them to creatively develop more productive work processes that would improve efficiency at work (Root, 2019).
Participative leadership enables Nick and Reeci to develop an active and long-lasting workforce, where employees are motivated to stay in the company. Workers tend to reduce competition among themselves and foster collaboration. Supporting a collaborative spirit enables Nick and Reeci to boost productivity, and avoid excessive competition that would otherwise lead to disruptive behavior and backstabbing. Employees develop a workplace environment where they can see their peers as associates working together to achieve a common goal.
However, the leadership style is only favors employees with skilled personnel. Otherwise, it may cost the organization if the workforce is made up of unskilled and inexperienced workforce.
Supportive leadership
Nick and Reeci provide a great deal of information and show their supportive style by caring for my welfare and creating a friendly working environment due to the hazardous nature of working with unconventional wildlife. In supportive leadership, a leader ensures that the well-being of the team is adequately taken care of to remove obstacles and provide room to deliver the best performance (Think Forward, 2020). Nick and Reeci creates a supportive and friendly environment for me by ensuring that I work in safe environment. Since I am new and I have little knowledge about the place, they do not leave me alone with the animals. They provide up-to-date guidance on how to handle different emergency situations in case of a safety concern, for instance, when I am in danger of getting attacked by an animal. Further, they have ordered the rescue team to keep watch of me to help me in an event of an attack. As I accomplish different tasks, Nick and Reeci are always there to teach me and foster my skill and experience. Their delegation is not simply about assigning tasks for me, but rather a crucial and supportive step where the leaders develop my ability to handle different responsibilities in addressing animal welfare.
Animals have different attitudes and temperaments. Nick and Reeci understand them well and can recognize an impending problem early enough before it is due. Therefore, they promised to work with me until when I get empowered and acquire adequate skills to handle the animals. Most importantly, they maintain an appropriate hygienic environment to ensure the safety and well-being of not only the human staff, but the animals as well.
Nick and Reeci are good in empowering and inspiring. Working with them is one of the best thing that ever happened to me, as they motivate and demonstrate trust, allowing me to take ownership of different situations. They give me a chance to build my integrity, loyalty, confidence, and high productivity, showing me the need to having clear understanding and expectation on each situation that I handle. They also maximize the information they provide regarding the animals, work environment, personal safety, and details on other important aspects that would help me cope up quickly to the new work environment. Poor communication causes work issues and misunderstandings, and this can lead to prevalence in workplace conflicts that subsequently reduce performance (Think Forward, 2020). Whenever I make a mistake, Nick and Reeci are always understanding. They are ready to dialogue over the mistake, correct me where necessary and move forward. This makes me feel safe, learn from my mistakes, and foster my skills and proficiency in handling animals.
Supportive leadership style has enabled the organization to develop a loyal and productive staff that can deliver quality performance. As I progress with my volunteer work, I look forward to gaining their trust in my abilities and interactions with the animals. This is a tremendous facility and by no means should their efforts be trivialized or underestimated.
Conclusion
Nick and Reeci to utilize directive, supportive, and participative leadership styles as noted in the Path-Goal Theory. They adopt directive leadership since most volunteers have little skills and experience in handling or caring for unconventional animals. They adopt supportive leadership to nurture and encourage its team to take care of any animal’s life, and training them to handle different moods and temperament that animals portray. They utilize participative leadership by allowing more experienced volunteers to take part in the decision-making process. Their sense of care, compassion and love for animals has greatly motivated me, and I am willing to support them in every way possible to ensure the success of their newly established animal rescue.
References
Belyh, A. (2016). Understanding the Different Contexts of Participative Leadership. https://www.cleverism.com/participative-leadership-guide/
Evans, M.G. (1970). The effect of supervisory behavior on the path-goal relationship. organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 5, 277-298.
Geniale, N., & Hill, R. (n.d.). Recovery Rescues Inc. https://www.facebook.com/pg/RecoveryRescuesInc/about/?ref=page_internal
Kukreja, S. (2020). What is the Path-Goal Theory? https://www.managementstudyhq.com/path-goal-leadership-theory.html
Miller, K. (2020). Directive Leadership Style Advantages, Disadvantages and Characteristics. https://futureofworking.com/directive-leadership-style-advantages-disadvantages-and-characteristics/
Path-Goal Theory of Leadership. (n.d.). Available at: http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/styles/path_goal_leadership.htm
Root, G. N. (March 25, 2019). The Advantages of Participative Leadership. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-participative-leadership-17629.html
Think Forward. (2018). The importance of supportive leadership. https://thinkforwardconsulting.co.uk/the-importance-of-supportive-leadership/
