Melissa Richardson sees a good manager as a person with advanced motivation skills, encouraging steady working relationships within the team of professionals. Richardson’s actions comply with her ideas: she joined training on team motivation and read books on leadership, discussed her team sales performance, and applied her motivational skills to boost the morale of her subordinates. Richardson’s perception of a good manager relates to the situational approach and path-goal theory as she tried to utilize their implications in practice.
Path–goal theory presents the ways for leaders to raise their followers’ motivation to achieve the stated goals. It shifts attention from task orientation to subordinates’ needs and inspirations (Northouse, 2021). Leaders should work to establish a productive environment that will serve as a prerequisite for followers’ success and adjust their leadership approach to their followers’ needs. In that field, Richardson gained some successful results working as a supportive leader in her interactions with Vega and Torres. However, she failed to establish a working relationship with Hoffman resorting to an achievement-oriented approach when she urged him to sell cut flowers. A more thorough study of her followers’ characteristics and obtaining practical experience in applying that theory could help Richardson raise the efficacy of her team.
The situational approach puts its focus on studying a particular situation. A leader must apply a directive or supportive style considering the current conditions (Northouse, 2021). In a new team, Richardson tends to prefer a highly directive–highly supportive style. It is seen in the situation with Vega and Torres. However, Hoffman, as an effective worker, might need another approach. It might be better to use a delegating approach with a low level of support and direction in his case.
Account or sales representatives and sales managers play different roles within the company. Responsibilities of an account representative include expanding the base of clients by establishing sustainable connections, maintaining relationships with clients, and bringing profits to the company. Compared to account representatives, sales managers obtain roles of leaders and supporters: they should provide their subordinates with motivation and guidance to productively achieve their goals within a set time frame. In addition, they should monitor the activity of account representatives and take care of customer satisfaction issues.
Reference
Northouse, P.G. (2021). Leadership theory and practice (9th ed.). SAGE Publishing.