Whether it is by listening to their complaints, encouraging them, or providing counsel,there are many ways a leader can be helpful to their followers. The first challenge inhelping people with obstacles is to figure out what the problems are; the second challenge is determining what should be done to solve them. If a leader does this, followers will be more motivated, productive, and satisfied with their work.
Research conducted by House (1971, 1996) on path–goal leadership directly addresses how a leader can assist others in overcoming obstacles that hinder productivity. Path–goal leadership suggests that a leader should choose a style that best fits the needs of individual group members and the work they are doing. The leader should help these individuals define their goals and the paths they wish to take to reach those goals. When obstacles arise, the leader needs to help individuals confront them. This may mean helping them to navigate around the obstacles, or it may mean helping them remove the obstacles. The leader’s job is to help group members reach their goals by directing, guiding, and coaching them along the way.
Based on ideas set forth in path–goal leadership theory, this chapter addresses the obstacles that followers may face and how a leader can help followers overcome them. Although people encounter many obstacles in their lives, this chapter highlights seven major obstacles derived from path–goal theory (see Figure bloew) The path between Individuals, on the left, and their Goals Productivity, on the right, is depicted by a horizontal left-right arrow. Along the length of the arrow are 7 obstacles that may hinder goal achievement. These obstacles are as follows, from left to right:
- Unclear goals
- Unclear directions
- Low motivation.
- Complex tasks.
- Simple tasks.
- Low involvement.
- Lack of challenge.
Instructions
This assignment has two components:
- Create a Venn Diagram
- Identify a real or hypothetical situation involving two or more obstacles to goalaccomplishment. Draw these as overlapping circles, like the Venn Diagram above.
- You can use PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, or some other visualization software to develop a Venn Diagram
- For each obstacle, identify the (suspected or known) reason or cause of the obstacle, per the example. List these below the obstacle in the Venn Diagram.
- Write up an analysis of your identified obstacles (should be at least 1 page, double-spaced, 1-inch margins)
- Briefly describe the situation and the obstacles displayed in the Venn Diagram
- Explain how how the obstacles combine and interact (i.e., the overlapping parts of the circles)
- What opportunities are there in the overlapping areas to alleviate or remove two obstacles at the same time?
- In the example diagram below, offering a PT employee the chance for additional training, for which he would be paid extra, could address both the low motivation obstacle and the lack of challenge obstacle.
The Venn diagram is a visual depiction of the different obstacles you’ve identified and their causes. The write up / analysis provides more explanation for that visual depiction plus an explanation of how the obstacles interact and how you can remove the obstacles.
