ere leaders try to share decision-making with others.
The leadership of Mayor Giuliani on September 11, 2001, was directive leadership. We will now examine the events of that day and determine how a participative leadership style may have been more effective. By adopting a directive as opposed to a participative style of leadership on September 11, 2001, Mayor GiulianiÆs exposed the organization (New York City) to vulnerabilities. One of the most significant of these was his charismatic, directive style of leadership exhibited when the towers began to collapse and he and his support team had to evacuate nearby temporary headquarters. All of the MayorÆs top police, fire, and emergency commissioners were with him as the harrowing search for a new base of operations began. The police commissioner informs Giuliani they should stay inside until they know more, ôLetÆs find out whatÆs going on before we leave,ö to which Giuliani replied, ôNo, letÆs goö (Ripley, 2002, 3).
Such a directive attitude put the organization at risk by GiulianiÆs risking his life and ignoring the advice of his emergency personnel. While the group eventually setup a base of operations, had the conditions outside been worse the organization (city) may have been left rudderless during its greatest crisis had Giuliani been injured or killed. The Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid, now known as the Blake and McCanse Leadership Grid, identifies ôcommunication styles based on the degree of concern for production (task orientation) and concern for people (interpersonal orientation),ö (Hackman and Johnson, 1996, 50-51). The result of a leaderÆs orientation produces one of five different communication styles: Impoverished management; Authority-compliance; Middle-of-the-Road management; Country Club management; and Team management. GiulianiÆs style exhibited here is authoritative, when a middle-of-the-road approach may have put the organizationÆs su...