Wagner Dodge Retreats in Mann Gulch - Case Study Example

Wagner Dodge Retreats in Mann Gulch Introduction Leadership qualities and capabilities have been deeply analyzed by researchers and academicians in different contexts. These studies and theoretical insights have defined a number of variables and parameters that have emerged as the key to effective leadership in teams and groups (Hurley, 2011). The most commonly used variables for defining the effectiveness of leadership in groups are trust, confidence and ability to convince team members to follow a distinctive path to reach the desired goal or objective. Besides trust and confidence another aspect determining the effectiveness of leadership is communication between group members and the extent to which they understand each other. Interaction between team members and the team leader plays an important role in assessing existing situations, understanding the need of the time and effective resolution of existing problems. The case study of Wagner Dodge provides interesting insights into these aspects of leadership and how certain situations test the leadership abilities of an individual. Background Wagner Dodge headed a fire fighters team of 15 into Mann Gulch, a remote place in Montana to control a huge fire that had broken out in the prairies region. Dodge was an experienced fire fighter and he was responsible for putting out the prairie fire. The team was flown to the area and parachutes were used to drop them down to the fire affected region. However, on landing in Mann Gulch, the team realized that the fire was more aggressive than they had initially thought. The flames were catching on at great speed and there was no escape route since the radio with one of the team members had broken on landing and the map was lost too. Left with no possibilities of surviving the fire, Wagner lit a fire and let the area burn out before he landed himself in the middle of this fire circle to protect himself from the prairie fire. He signaled him men to follow him but only one of them joined him in the circle of fire. The rest of the team members did not trust his decision and felt that it was crazy to go into the fire circle started by Wagner. Thus, 13 members out of the 15 perished in the prairie fire (Useem, 1998). Wagner Dodge – decision making and leadership The Mann Gulch fire incident raises a number of pertinent questions relating to the team behavior and understanding existing between Wagner Dodge and his team members. Why did they choose not to follow him and how could the team be unaware of the ground realities? The first question strongly raises doubts over the capabilities of Wagner Dodge as a leader and the lack of trust existing between the chief and his team members. His order to his team to stick to the burned area were met with disbelief and anger from most of the team members and each of them decided to escape the fire in their own ways. The results were tragic and there was nothing much that Dodge could do at the moment to convince them his ways. A review of the situation reveals that though Dodge was a good and experienced firefighter, he had very limited success in achieving the trust and confidence of his team members. He failed to articulate his thoughts and plans in an effective manner to the team members. His inability lay in the fact that he did not communicate emergency plans and guidelines that the team members could follow in such situations. The crew was fairly inexperienced or they would have realized the potential escape route offered by Dodge. If Dodge had explained some possibilities and means of surviving such emergencies earlier, probably all 15 could have been saved from the prairie fires (Useem, 1998). Wagner Dodge also failed to communicate the effectiveness of the burnt patch of ground to his team members at the critical hour. This could be associated with lack of time to explain the details to the team members and the inability of the team to grasp in times of the pending crisis. Leading a team in times of crisis can be a challenging task and it is times like these that test the individual’s leadership abilities. Wagner Dodge displayed courage and wisdom that saved two lives but his inability to convince his team members of his plans were his failure as the chief of the fire fighting team. Moreover, this incident highlights the significance of prior planning and ascertaining facts before the execution of plans. Team members must be fully aware of the situation and the challenges that it may present. Safety zones and escape routes must be carefully chalked out before embarking on such a mission. Current fire fighting practices focus on meticulous planning and study of the situation where the team is briefed in detail of the course of action and safety networks available to them (Hurley, 2011). The case highlights the fact that Warner Dodge did not waste his words and hence he did not gain the trust and respect of his crew members (Shamir, Pillai, Bligh and Uhl-Bien, 2007). When he decided to start the circle of fire, the team members thought he was mad and proceeded to ignore his orders to jump into the burned ground in the fire circle. His orders were more autocratic that did not invite much discussion or participation from the team members. This was one more reason why his orders did not make much sense to others and they chose to act on their own. Intuition and experience were the key factors that influenced the decision of Dodge and it proved an effective solution under the circumstances. Analysis The case study brings out the focus on leadership capabilities and its effectiveness in times of crisis. Businesses often face similar challenges that test the managerial capabilities and their skills in persuading the workforce to work towards common goals and objectives. Contingencies can happen and the effective means by which the manager meets these contingencies is an important yardstick in measuring leadership capabilities. Most leaders within an organization resort to a laid back approach that follows guidelines and performance standards outlined by the company. There are only few leaders who think out of the box and try to implement new things and practices that can contribute to operational efficiencies (O’Callaghan, 2010). Besides, taking on new challenges and resolving issues, the leader must also try to strengthen team capabilities and develop individual skills to achieve desired goals and objectives. It is imperative that the employees identify with the company goals and objectives and this onus lies entirely with the company leaders to communicate these effectively. These need to be articulated in an effective and dramatic manner to create enthusiasm within the workforce. To induce a strong belief in the company’s goals, the leaders need to believe in these goals foremost. The crucial task faced by the leaders is to build a shared vision. All the employees need to share the company’s vision and long-term objectives to meet them successfully. Leadership begins with a vision that is shared by all the team members. An effective leader will be able to articulate the vision in clear practical terms that the others can relate to (Rowe and Guerrero, 2011). The Leadership concept has been studied and analyzed by number of researchers and academicians. The theoretical frameworks have proved the basic tenet of leadership as individual traits that define the scope of leadership and the ability to lead others (Northouse, 2004). One of the basic traits of an effective leader is having the determination and courage to move ahead in realizing his goals and objectives. Decisiveness is another trait that is not a part of individual characteristics. Some people are naturally decisive by nature while there are others who feel confused and unsure of themselves in critical situations. This part of the personality trait plays an important role in making up a leader. In addition to the above traits dependability, intelligence, honesty, trust, competence, initiative and knowledge are some of the important traits that need to be incorporated into an educational environment. Some people possess the basic traits of influencing people and making themselves heard in a crowd. Certain traits are in-born while there are other traits that can be identified and reproduced through training and education. An effective leader requires certain personality traits that can be developed with the assistance of adequate training and self-development process. . Moreover, inherent qualities can be further worked upon to produce better results and become an effective leader since a good leader needs to have the urge to continually develop his skills. Continuous process of learning and analysing their strengths and weaknesses is an effective way of developing oneself (Northouse, 2004). It is also believed that leadership qualities can be developed and learned through learning process and self-development. Good leaders evolve and develop through a continuous process of learning, training, and experience. An effective leader will always stand up to act appropriately in times of need providing support and guidance to his fellow team members. Such individuals are always visible and can be relied upon. They motivate their followers infusing a sense of pride in what they are doing. Leadership practices earlier involved authoritarian styles where managers dictated the terms and conditions to be followed within the organizations. However, the emerging global business environment requires an increased humane approach and this has led to the popularity of participatory style of leadership. Participative style of leadership enables organizations to draw suggestions and responses from employees thus making them feel a valuable part of the change process (Nickels, 2008). One of the most important aspects of leadership is to motivate the employees – that keeps them going and induces them to give the job their best effort. To motivate others the leaders need to keep their own motivation level high. This often is a challenging aspect of leadership – self-motivation is the key to their enthusiasm. Managing teams and issues at workplace can be a challenging task that requires an improved understanding and knowledge of different dimensions related to the work processes and team attitudes. It is difficult to explain what constitutes good leadership merely through a study of these theoretical concepts. A more practical assessment of leadership studies reveal that different situations demand different approach and thus highlights the significance of dynamic qualities in leaders who are capable of understanding the needs of the situation and adopt strategic options best suited to the emergent issue. Conclusion Rapidly changing business environment and global influences have given way to innovative means of conducting business. This has impacted the way human resource department is being handled today and highlights the changing status quo of employees and co-workers. A need for leadership development is evident in the changing demographics of society and business world. Cases like Wagner Dodge and his role in Mann Gulch highlight the significance of individual trust and leadership capabilities for effective outcomes. Leading a team can be a challenging task but an effective leader can ensure group cohesion through frequent interactions, increased team participation and knowledge building activities that boost the confidence of the team members working on any project. References Hurley, R.F. (2011). The decision to trust: how leaders create high trust organizations. Jossey Bass. Nickels, William G. (2008). Understanding Business. Chapter 7: Management, Leadership, and Employee Empowerment. McGraw Hill Higher Education. Northouse, P. (2004). Leadership: theory and practice. Sage publications. O’Callaghan, S. (2010). Turnaround leadership – making decisions, rebuilding trust and delivering results after a crisis. Kogan Page Limited. Rowe, W.G. and Guerrero, L. (2011). Cases in leadership. Sage Publications Inc. Shamir, B., Pillai, R., Bligh, M.C. and Uhl-Bien, M. (2007). Follower-centered perspectives on leadership. Information Age Publishing Inc. Useem, M. (1998). The leadership moment: nine true stories of triumph and disaster and their lessons for us all. Wagner Dodge Retreats in Mann Gulch Introduction Leadership qualities and capabilities have been deeply analyzed by researchers and academicians in different contexts. These studies and theoretical insights have defined a number of variables and parameters that have emerged as the key to effective leadership in teams and groups (Hurley, 2011). The most commonly used variables for defining the effectiveness of leadership in groups are trust, confidence and ability to convince team members to follow a distinctive path to reach the desired goal or objective. Besides trust and confidence another aspect determining the effectiveness of leadership is communication between group members and the extent to which they understand each other. Interaction between team members and the team leader plays an important role in assessing existing situations, understanding the need of the time and effective resolution of existing problems. The case study of Wagner Dodge provides interesting insights into these aspects of leadership and how certain situations test the leadership abilities of an individual. Background Wagner Dodge headed a fire fighters team of 15 into Mann Gulch, a remote place in Montana to control a huge fire that had broken out in the prairies region. Dodge was an experienced fire fighter and he was responsible for putting out the prairie fire. The team was flown to the area and parachutes were used to drop them down to the fire affected region. However, on landing in Mann Gulch, the team realized that the fire was more aggressive than they had initially thought. The flames were catching on at great speed and there was no escape route since the radio with one of the team members had broken on landing and the map was lost too. Left with no possibilities of surviving the fire, Wagner lit a fire and let the area burn out before he landed himself in the middle of this fire circle to protect himself from the prairie fire. He signaled him men to follow him but only one of them joined him in the circle of fire. The rest of the team members did not trust his decision and felt that it was crazy to go into the fire circle started by Wagner. Thus, 13 members out of the 15 perished in the prairie fire (Useem, 1998). Wagner Dodge – decision making and leadership The Mann Gulch fire incident raises a number of pertinent questions relating to the team behavior and understanding existing between Wagner Dodge and his team members. Why did they choose not to follow him and how could the team be unaware of the ground realities? The first question strongly raises doubts over the capabilities of Wagner Dodge as a leader and the lack of trust existing between the chief and his team members. His order to his team to stick to the burned area were met with disbelief and anger from most of the team members and each of them decided to escape the fire in their own ways. The results were tragic and there was nothing much that Dodge could do at the moment to convince them his ways. A review of the situation reveals that though Dodge was a good and experienced fire=fighter, he had very limited success in achieving the trust and confidence of his team members. He failed to articulate his thoughts and plans in an effective manner to the team members. His inability lay in the fact that he did not communicate emergency plans and guidelines that the team members could follow in such situations. The crew was fairly inexperienced or they would have realized the potential escape route offered by Dodge. If Dodge has explained some possibilities and means of surviving such emergencies earlier, probably all 15 could have been saved from the prairie fires (Useem, 1998). Wagner Dodge also failed to communicate the effectiveness of the burnt patch of ground to his team members at the critical hour. This could be associated with lack of time to explain the details to the team members and the inability of the team to grasp in times of the pending crisis. Leading a team in times of crisis can be a challenging task and it is times like these that test the individual’s leadership abilities. Wagner Dodge displayed courage and wisdom that saved two lives but his inability to convince his team members of his plans were his failure as the chief of the fire fighting team. Moreover, this incident highlights the significance of prior planning and ascertaining facts before the execution of plans. Team members must be fully aware of the situation and the challenges that it may present. Safety zones and escape routes must be carefully chalked out before embarking on such a mission. Current fire fighting practices focus on meticulous planning and study of the situation where the team is briefed in detail of the course of action and safety networks available to them (Hurley, 2011). The case highlights the fact that Warner Dodge did not waste his words and hence he did not gain the trust and respect of his crew members (Shamir, Pillai, Bligh and Uhl-Bien, 2007). When he decided to start the circle of fire, the team members thought he was mad and proceeded to ignore his orders to jump into the burned ground in the fire circle. His orders were more autocratic that did not invite much discussion or participation from the team members. This was one more reason why his orders did not make much sense to others and they chose to act on their own. Intuition and experience were the key factors that influenced the decision of Dodge and it proved an effective solution under the circumstances. Analysis The case study brings out the focus on leadership capabilities and its effectiveness in times of crisis. Businesses often face similar challenges that test the managerial capabilities and their skills in persuading the workforce to work towards common goals and objectives. Contingencies can happen and the effective means by which the manager meets these contingencies is an important yardstick in measuring leadership capabilities. Most leaders within an organization resort to a laid back approach that follows guidelines and performance standards outlined by the company. There are only few leaders who think out of the box and try to implement new things and practices that can contribute to operational efficiencies (O’Callaghan, 2010). Besides, taking on new challenges and resolving issues, the leader must also try to strengthen team capabilities and develop individual skills to achieve desired goals and objectives. It is imperative that the employees identify with the company goals and objectives and this onus lies entirely with the company leaders to communicate these effectively. These need to be articulated in an effective and dramatic manner to create enthusiasm within the workforce. To induce a strong belief in the company’s goals, the leaders need to believe in these goals foremost. The crucial task faced by the leaders is to build a shared vision. All the employees need to share the company’s vision and long-term objectives to meet them successfully. Leadership begins with a vision that is shared by all the team members. An effective leader will be able to articulate the vision in clear practical terms that the others can relate to (Rowe and Guerrero, 2011). Leadership concept has been studied and analyzed by number of researchers and academicians. The theoretical frameworks have proved the basic tenet of leadership as individual traits that define the scope of leadership and the ability to lead others (Northouse, 2004). One of the basic traits of an effective leader is having the determination and courage to move ahead in realizing his goals and objectives. Decisiveness is another trait that is not a part of individual characteristics. Some people are naturally decisive by nature while there are others who feel confused and unsure of themselves in critical situations. This part of the personality trait plays an important role in making up a leader. In addition to the above traits dependability, intelligence, honesty, trust, competence, initiative and knowledge are some of the important traits that need to be incorporated into an educational environment. Some people possess the basic traits of influencing people and making themselves heard in a crowd. Certain traits are in-born while there are other traits that can be identified and reproduced through training and education. An effective leader requires certain personality traits that can be developed with the assistance of adequate training and self-development process. . Moreover, inherent qualities can be further worked upon to produce better results and become an effective leader since a good leader needs to have the urge to continually develop his skills. Continuous process of learning and analysing their strengths and weaknesses is an effective way of developing oneself (Northouse, 2004). It is also believed that leadership qualities can be developed and learned through learning process and self-development. Good leaders evolve and develop through a continuous process of learning, training, and experience. An effective leader will always stand up to act appropriately in times of need providing support and guidance to his fellow team members. Such individuals are always visible and can be relied upon. They motivate their followers infusing a sense of pride in what they are doing. Leadership practices earlier involved authoritarian styles where managers dictated the terms and conditions to be followed within the organizations. However, the emerging global business environment requires an increased humane approach and this has led to the popularity of participatory style of leadership. Participative style of leadership enables organizations to draw suggestions and responses from employees thus making them feel a valuable part of the change process (Nickels, 2008). One of the most important aspects of leadership is to motivate the employees – that keeps them going and induces them to give the job their best effort. To motivate others the leaders need to keep their own motivation level high. This often is a challenging aspect of leadership – self-motivation is the key to their enthusiasm. Managing teams and issues at workplace can be a challenging task that requires an improved understanding and knowledge of different dimensions related to the work processes and team attitudes. It is difficult to explain what constitutes good leadership merely through a study of these theoretical concepts. A more practical assessment of leadership studies reveal that different situations demand different approach and thus highlights the significance of dynamic qualities in leaders who are capable of understanding the needs of the situation and adopt strategic options best suited to the emergent issue. Conclusion Rapidly changing business environment and global influences have given way to innovative means of conducting business. This has impacted the way human resource department is being handled today and highlights the changing status quo of employees and co-workers. A need for leadership development is evident in the changing demographics of society and business world. Cases like Wagner Dodge and his role in Mann Gulch highlight the significance of individual trust and leadership capabilities for effective outcomes. Leading a team can be a challenging task but an effective leader can ensure group cohesion through frequent interactions, increased team participation and knowledge building activities that boost the confidence of the team members working on any project. References Hurley, R.F. (2011). The decision to trust: how leaders create high trust organizations. Jossey Bass. Nickels, William G. (2008). Understanding Business. Chapter 7: Management, Leadership, and Employee Empowerment. McGraw Hill Higher Education. Northouse, P. (2004). Leadership: theory and practice. Sage publications. O’Callaghan, S. (2010). Turnaround leadership – making decisions, rebuilding trust and delivering results after a crisis. Kogan Page Limited. Rowe, W.G. and Guerrero, L. (2011). Cases in leadership. Sage Publications Inc. Shamir, B., Pillai, R., Bligh, M.C. and Uhl-Bien, M. (2007). Follower-centered perspectives on leadership. Information Age Publishing Inc. Useem, M. (1998). The leadership moment: nine true stories of triumph and disaster and their lessons for us all. Times Business. Read More