Scenario: Rae Marie Luttrell, a former colleague and long-time friend, has been promoted and is now serving as the Vice President of Operations at MyShoppingSpreeTV, a television home shopping network. Hoping to solicit your advice and benefit from your expertise, she requests to meet with you to discuss some of the challenges she faces in her new role.

The two of you meet for lunch where you learn more about her new employer, MyShoppingSpreeTV, a multichannel electronic retailer reaching 13 million homes in the United States via cable and satellite television. The network’s programming is also streamed live on the Web and on its companion Internet site, ShoppingSpreeTV.com, a top e-commerce site. The company’s corporate headquarters, broadcast facilities, and customer service center are located in Washington. The company also maintains fulfillment facilities in Ohio and Oregon.

With a blend of unique products, exciting on-air presentations, and celebrity vendor guests, the company provides a unique shopping experience offering high-quality products and a strong commitment to customer value. MyShoppingSpreeTV is known for its fine jewelry, brand-name watches, premium beauty items, quality house and home products, and electronics. It offers top brands, as well as unique items available exclusively at MyShoppingSpreeTV.

After this initial meeting to learn more about her new company, you agree to schedule a series of informal meetings with her each week to learn about the organizational conditions and challenges she faces. As her trusted friend, it seems you will play the informal role of a leadership coach and consultant to the organization as she solicits your regular advice.

At your next luncheon meeting with Rae Marie, Vice President of Operations for MyShoppingSpreeTV, she arrives visibly troubled. She discloses, “I have 17 people reporting to me, and now I have 2 open positions. I feel confident that my people know what they are doing, but I am not sure they trust me. Until I can get this position filled, I have spread out the responsibilities of the open positions to everyone on the team, but, as a department, we seem to get less and less done. As soon as we solve one problem, another one appears. In addition, my boss Jim, keeps adding more to our project list.”

She confides that she is concerned that her employees do not respect her authority. When you inquire about her approach, her personal leadership style, and the methods she uses to influence her employees, she admits that she has not had time to reflect on her leadership style and is not quite sure what you mean. You share with Rae Marie that there are studies of leadership styles and multiple definitions of leadership styles can be found. However, a leadership style can be broadly defined as the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people.

Hoping to offer some perspective on the subject, for your next visit, you offer to put together a slide presentation to illustrate theoretical models of leadership related to the methods that leaders use to influence their employees. Your dedication to sharing your knowledge of leadership reassures her that she has a solid resource in you.

In your presentation, do the following:

• Analyze the differences between 3 theoretical models related to leadership (one of the theoretical models should be transformational leadership)
• Identify the goals of each theoretical model that you have selected
• Illustrate the relationship between each of the 3 theoretical models
• What is the difference between a theoretical model of leadership and a leadership style?