Question
What makes a great leader? Is it their ability to inspire others, or their knack for making tough decisions, or their skill in guiding their team toward success?
In this activity, you’ll explore different leadership styles and discover which resonates with you the most. You’ll also analyze the business profile of Random Acts of Coffee (RAC) and determine which leadership style would be most effective for their management team. By the end of this activity, you’ll have a better understanding of how different leadership approaches can impact a business’s success and be better equipped to identify and develop your own leadership skills.
Step 1: Review
Review the leadership styles covered in your unit (visionary, coaching, affiliative, facilitating/democratic, pace-setting, and commanding). Consider the strengths and weaknesses of each style and when they are most and least effective.
Step 2: Demonstrate
Reflect on your own leadership experiences (e.g., group projects, sports teams, clubs) and the leadership styles of people you admire. Create a scenario that shows a person using effective collaboration, as well as those leadership styles that you admire. Using a video recording device, record yourself acting out that scenario to show professionalism and employability skills required by business and industry.
Step 3: Analysis
Reread the business profile for RAC. Based on the company’s mission, values, and goals, determine which leadership style would be most effective for RAC’s management team. In a word processing document, write a paragraph explaining your choice and how this style aligns with RAC’s needs.
In this activity, you’ll explore different leadership styles and discover which resonates with you the most. You’ll also analyze the business profile of Random Acts of Coffee (RAC) and determine which leadership style would be most effective for their management team. By the end of this activity, you’ll have a better understanding of how different leadership approaches can impact a business’s success and be better equipped to identify and develop your own leadership skills.
Step 1: Review
Review the leadership styles covered in your unit (visionary, coaching, affiliative, facilitating/democratic, pace-setting, and commanding). Consider the strengths and weaknesses of each style and when they are most and least effective.
Step 2: Demonstrate
Reflect on your own leadership experiences (e.g., group projects, sports teams, clubs) and the leadership styles of people you admire. Create a scenario that shows a person using effective collaboration, as well as those leadership styles that you admire. Using a video recording device, record yourself acting out that scenario to show professionalism and employability skills required by business and industry.
Step 3: Analysis
Reread the business profile for RAC. Based on the company’s mission, values, and goals, determine which leadership style would be most effective for RAC’s management team. In a word processing document, write a paragraph explaining your choice and how this style aligns with RAC’s needs.
Answers
GPT-5 mini
Good plan — I’ll help you complete each step. Below you’ll find a concise review of the six leadership styles (Step 1), practical guidance and a short scenario/script to record (Step 2), and a ready-to-use paragraph for the RAC analysis plus two quick alternate paragraphs to match different possible business profiles (Step 3). If you can paste the exact RAC business profile later, I’ll tailor the paragraph to it.
Step 1 — Quick review of leadership styles (strengths, weaknesses, when to use)
- Visionary
- What: Sets a clear long-term direction and inspires others to buy into the vision.
- Strengths: Aligns people around shared goals, excellent in change or growth.
- Weaknesses: Can be less effective with short-term crises or detailed execution.
- Best used: When the organization needs direction, motivation or a new strategy.
- Coaching
- What: Develops people by helping them improve strengths and career goals.
- Strengths: Builds skills, engagement, retention; good for talent development.
- Weaknesses: Time-consuming; less useful if immediate results are required.
- Best used: When building competence and long-term capability is a priority.
- Affiliative
- What: Emphasizes relationships, harmony and employee well-being.
- Strengths: Boosts morale, heals rifts, strengthens teamwork.
- Weaknesses: May avoid tough feedback or poor performance issues.
- Best used: After conflict, during stressful times, or when morale is low.
- Facilitating / Democratic
- What: Involves team in decision-making and values consensus.
- Strengths: Encourages buy-in, diverse ideas, and engagement.
- Weaknesses: Slower decisions; can be indecisive if consensus stalls.
- Best used: When you need creativity, commitment, or cross-functional input.
- Pace-setting
- What: Leader sets high performance standards and models them.
- Strengths: Drives fast results from strong teams.
- Weaknesses: Can burn out people, stifle learning, and harm morale.
- Best used: With highly competent, self-motivated teams for short bursts.
- Commanding (Autocratic)
- What: Directs and expects immediate compliance.
- Strengths: Quick decisions in crisis; clarity of authority.
- Weaknesses: Damaging to morale and creativity if overused.
- Best used: Emergency situations or where safety/compliance is critical.
Step 2 — Create and record a collaboration scenario
Goal: Show a realistic situation where a leader uses effective collaboration and the styles you admire (pick 1–2 styles to emphasize, e.g., visionary + coaching + democratic).
Scenario idea (retail/coffee shop context):
- Situation: RAC plans to launch a community loyalty program and must decide features, staffing impact, and rollout timeline. The manager leads a cross-functional meeting with baristas, marketing, and operations.
- Leadership styles demonstrated: Visionary (sets purpose: deepen community ties), Coaching (develops a barista’s idea), and Democratic (seeks input and builds consensus).
Short sample script / storyboard (2–3 minutes)
- Opening (Leader, 10–15 sec): “Thanks everyone. Our mission at RAC is to connect neighbors over great coffee. Today we’ll design a loyalty program that supports that mission and grows visits by 15% this quarter.”
- Invite ideas (Leader, 15–20 sec): “I want your ideas — marketing, ops, and baristas. What would make customers feel more connected to RAC?”
- Coach a team member (Leader + Barista, 30–40 sec):
- Barista: “What if we offer a ‘bring-a-friend’ free coffee on a customer’s birthday?”
- Leader (coaching): “That’s a great people-first idea. Let’s think through logistics — how would we track it, and what’s the cost per redemptio n? Could you draft a quick rollout plan for next week?”
- Facilitate consensus (Leader, 20–30 sec): “Okay, we have three strong ideas: birthday referral, community event nights, and a punch-card app. Which one gives us the quickest win and strongest customer connection? Let’s vote and list two action steps each.”
- Close professionally (Leader, 10–15 sec): “Thanks — I’ll consolidate tasks and we’ll meet Monday. Great work.”
Filming tips (professionalism & employability)
- Dress business casual; tidy backdrop; good lighting; quiet space.
- Keep it 2–3 minutes; speak clearly and at a steady pace.
- Show positive body language: eye contact with camera, open posture.
- Demonstrate teamwork skills: active listening, encouraging language, giving credit, delegating tasks.
- Show employer-ready behaviors: punctual start, concise summary of next steps, accountability (who will do what by when).
- Technical: stable camera, clear audio, single-take okay, or edit out long pauses. Save in common format (MP4).
Step 3 — Analysis: Which leadership style fits RAC? (ready-to-use paragraph)
Below is a general paragraph you can use or adapt. If RAC’s profile emphasizes community, employee development, and steady growth, use the first paragraph. Alternatives follow for different types of RAC profiles.
Primary paragraph (best for a mission-driven, community-focused RAC)
Given RAC’s mission to build community connections and prioritize both customer experience and employee wellbeing, a blend of visionary and coaching leadership would be most effective for the management team. The visionary approach sets a compelling long-term direction that aligns employees and customers around shared values, while the coaching style develops staff skills and ownership needed to deliver consistently excellent service. Together these styles foster motivation, creativity, and sustainable growth: the vision inspires where the organization is going, and coaching equips the team to get there while improving retention and service quality.
Alternate paragraph — if RAC is a fast-growth/competitive startup
If RAC is focused on rapid expansion and meeting aggressive revenue targets, a visionary leader paired with periodic pace-setting may be most effective. The visionary style provides strategic direction and brand differentiation during growth, while targeted pace-setting drives high performance in critical launch phases. To avoid burnout, management should apply pace-setting briefly and combine it with coaching to sustain talent and long-term performance.
Alternate paragraph — if RAC faces operational crisis or safety/compliance issues
If RAC is operating in a crisis or faces serious compliance challenges, a commanding style used temporarily and sparingly can provide the decisiveness and clear instructions required to stabilize operations quickly. Once stable, management should transition to affiliative or coaching approaches to rebuild trust and team capacity.
Next steps
- If you paste RAC’s exact mission, values, and goals here, I’ll craft a paragraph tailored precisely to that profile.
- If you want, I can convert the sample scenario into a full script with exact lines and stage directions for your recording. Which would you prefer?
Step 1 — Quick review of leadership styles (strengths, weaknesses, when to use)
- Visionary
- What: Sets a clear long-term direction and inspires others to buy into the vision.
- Strengths: Aligns people around shared goals, excellent in change or growth.
- Weaknesses: Can be less effective with short-term crises or detailed execution.
- Best used: When the organization needs direction, motivation or a new strategy.
- Coaching
- What: Develops people by helping them improve strengths and career goals.
- Strengths: Builds skills, engagement, retention; good for talent development.
- Weaknesses: Time-consuming; less useful if immediate results are required.
- Best used: When building competence and long-term capability is a priority.
- Affiliative
- What: Emphasizes relationships, harmony and employee well-being.
- Strengths: Boosts morale, heals rifts, strengthens teamwork.
- Weaknesses: May avoid tough feedback or poor performance issues.
- Best used: After conflict, during stressful times, or when morale is low.
- Facilitating / Democratic
- What: Involves team in decision-making and values consensus.
- Strengths: Encourages buy-in, diverse ideas, and engagement.
- Weaknesses: Slower decisions; can be indecisive if consensus stalls.
- Best used: When you need creativity, commitment, or cross-functional input.
- Pace-setting
- What: Leader sets high performance standards and models them.
- Strengths: Drives fast results from strong teams.
- Weaknesses: Can burn out people, stifle learning, and harm morale.
- Best used: With highly competent, self-motivated teams for short bursts.
- Commanding (Autocratic)
- What: Directs and expects immediate compliance.
- Strengths: Quick decisions in crisis; clarity of authority.
- Weaknesses: Damaging to morale and creativity if overused.
- Best used: Emergency situations or where safety/compliance is critical.
Step 2 — Create and record a collaboration scenario
Goal: Show a realistic situation where a leader uses effective collaboration and the styles you admire (pick 1–2 styles to emphasize, e.g., visionary + coaching + democratic).
Scenario idea (retail/coffee shop context):
- Situation: RAC plans to launch a community loyalty program and must decide features, staffing impact, and rollout timeline. The manager leads a cross-functional meeting with baristas, marketing, and operations.
- Leadership styles demonstrated: Visionary (sets purpose: deepen community ties), Coaching (develops a barista’s idea), and Democratic (seeks input and builds consensus).
Short sample script / storyboard (2–3 minutes)
- Opening (Leader, 10–15 sec): “Thanks everyone. Our mission at RAC is to connect neighbors over great coffee. Today we’ll design a loyalty program that supports that mission and grows visits by 15% this quarter.”
- Invite ideas (Leader, 15–20 sec): “I want your ideas — marketing, ops, and baristas. What would make customers feel more connected to RAC?”
- Coach a team member (Leader + Barista, 30–40 sec):
- Barista: “What if we offer a ‘bring-a-friend’ free coffee on a customer’s birthday?”
- Leader (coaching): “That’s a great people-first idea. Let’s think through logistics — how would we track it, and what’s the cost per redemptio n? Could you draft a quick rollout plan for next week?”
- Facilitate consensus (Leader, 20–30 sec): “Okay, we have three strong ideas: birthday referral, community event nights, and a punch-card app. Which one gives us the quickest win and strongest customer connection? Let’s vote and list two action steps each.”
- Close professionally (Leader, 10–15 sec): “Thanks — I’ll consolidate tasks and we’ll meet Monday. Great work.”
Filming tips (professionalism & employability)
- Dress business casual; tidy backdrop; good lighting; quiet space.
- Keep it 2–3 minutes; speak clearly and at a steady pace.
- Show positive body language: eye contact with camera, open posture.
- Demonstrate teamwork skills: active listening, encouraging language, giving credit, delegating tasks.
- Show employer-ready behaviors: punctual start, concise summary of next steps, accountability (who will do what by when).
- Technical: stable camera, clear audio, single-take okay, or edit out long pauses. Save in common format (MP4).
Step 3 — Analysis: Which leadership style fits RAC? (ready-to-use paragraph)
Below is a general paragraph you can use or adapt. If RAC’s profile emphasizes community, employee development, and steady growth, use the first paragraph. Alternatives follow for different types of RAC profiles.
Primary paragraph (best for a mission-driven, community-focused RAC)
Given RAC’s mission to build community connections and prioritize both customer experience and employee wellbeing, a blend of visionary and coaching leadership would be most effective for the management team. The visionary approach sets a compelling long-term direction that aligns employees and customers around shared values, while the coaching style develops staff skills and ownership needed to deliver consistently excellent service. Together these styles foster motivation, creativity, and sustainable growth: the vision inspires where the organization is going, and coaching equips the team to get there while improving retention and service quality.
Alternate paragraph — if RAC is a fast-growth/competitive startup
If RAC is focused on rapid expansion and meeting aggressive revenue targets, a visionary leader paired with periodic pace-setting may be most effective. The visionary style provides strategic direction and brand differentiation during growth, while targeted pace-setting drives high performance in critical launch phases. To avoid burnout, management should apply pace-setting briefly and combine it with coaching to sustain talent and long-term performance.
Alternate paragraph — if RAC faces operational crisis or safety/compliance issues
If RAC is operating in a crisis or faces serious compliance challenges, a commanding style used temporarily and sparingly can provide the decisiveness and clear instructions required to stabilize operations quickly. Once stable, management should transition to affiliative or coaching approaches to rebuild trust and team capacity.
Next steps
- If you paste RAC’s exact mission, values, and goals here, I’ll craft a paragraph tailored precisely to that profile.
- If you want, I can convert the sample scenario into a full script with exact lines and stage directions for your recording. Which would you prefer?