Communication and Vision

1046 Words3 Pages

This paper will review the leadership style of Pearl Whtiman, owner of the Longhorn Restaurant. Whitman’s leadership and management styles were very closely related and were both consistently aloof and ineffective. Whitman’s small business employed approximately 15 people ranging from 15-70 years of age. The employees of this business were frequently left to their own devices in regards to crisis management, maintenance and repair, and employee relations. After nearly 25 years of business and years of increasing withdrawal by Whitman, the small restaurant was forced to close and enter bankruptcy.

The first aspect of leadership that Whitman was lacking was communication. Communication is the human connection required to build relationships whether among employees or between the staff and customers. This connection is particularly important in an industry based so strongly on service. Whitman’s approach to business communication was to let someone else handle it. She frequently sent word of termination to one employee through the service of another, and if a problem with a credit account came to light she would often delegate the responsibility of figuring it out to a waitress or cook. Whitman also failed to communicate job duty expectations appropriately. Many times employees had no idea what their jobs entailed until they were told they were doing it wrong or failing to perform a required task. According to Adubato (2009) this confusion about what each tasks employee is responsible for creates even more communication issues and can lead to hostile feelings in the workplace. In the case of the Longhorn Restaurant the hostile feelings only served to create more problems which also went unanswered by Whitman. The lac...

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