Running head: LEADERSHIP STRATEGY TO PERFORMANCE
Leadership Strategy to Performance
Ruby Amey
Southwestern College of Professional Studies
Leadership Styles and Theories
LEAD 500
Dr. Terrance Cusaac
February 17, 2013
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Abstract
The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) provides customer service, sales of grocery items,
and employees who perform at some of the highest levels in government. The LMX Theory
proves in the commissary that a good relationship between a leader and a follower can enhance
sales and profits along with productivity in an effective way. The interaction between the leaders
and the follower are vital to the success of the overall mission. The Situational Leadership Model
changes performance when various occasions arise. The Contingency Leadership Model changes
the effectiveness on how a group performs contingent upon leader’s motivational patterns and
the situation that is given. The Analysis of Trust depends on how employees view their leader as
being fair, moral, honest, or ethical. They want their leaders to be a role model. Distrust is the
opposite because employees are in fear of having a leader who is unethical and unfair. He or she
cannot be trusted. Leadership Traits influences how a follower will respond. The leader is able to
persuade them. The six leadership traits are drive, motivation, honesty and integrity, selfconfidence, cognitive ability, and knowledge of the business. The two leadership styles that
influence a leader’s traits are transactional and transformational leadership. Motivation is the
key to unlocking performance within a changing leadership role.
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Leadership Strategy to Performance
The Department of Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) operates in the United States
and Overseas. Its headquarters is at Fort Lee, Va. The commissaries sell groceries. They also sell
perishable and non-perishable items, household products, and over the counter medicines to
active-duty military soldiers, the National Guard, the Reserves, and retired military plus their
family members. The first commissaries began with items being sold from commissary
department storehouses to military personnel began in 1825. Army officers at specified posts
could make purchases at cost for their personal use. In 1841, officers began to purchase items for
members of their immediate families. In 1867, enlisted men received the same at-cost purchasing
privileges officers had already enjoyed for four decades. Today’s commissary sales stores,
which were established to benefit all military personnel, celebrated its anniversary of 143 years
on July 1, 2010. (Defense Commissary Agency, n.d.)
The commissary will be examined through various theories dealing with leadership. The
first theory is the LMX Theory. The LMX Theory will show how leaders and followers maintain
a close relationship in order to be productive. Another concept is Situational Leadership Model.
The commissary has many different situations and the style used depends on who the leader is in
relation to the specific situation and current workforce. Contingency Leadership Model shows
the different ways commissary leaders motivate employees to perform at their best at all times.
Trust is also important in the commissary because employees will perform better when they feel
their leaders respect them and have their best interest at heart. Distrust can harm the workforce
and cause loss of progress. Leadership Traits describe what a leader is made of and how
followers respond to him or her. Certain styles of leadership cause employees to react in different
ways. The two styles that come to mind are Transactional and Transformational Leadership.
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Motivation is what drives employees to perform or not perform. In the commissary, motivation is
used to help employees have an active role in their daily duties and ambitions for their careers.
LMX Theory and How it Affects Promotion in Government
“Role conflict, role ambiguity, and intrinsic task satisfaction are found to moderate the
relationship between leader-member exchange (LMX) and subordinate performance. Data from a
field study of 146 supervisor-subordinate dyads indicate low conflict, high ambiguity, and high
intrinsic satisfaction enhance the link between LMX and performance” (Dunegan, Uhl-Bien, &
Duchon, 2002, p. 1).
LMX theory is the interaction between leaders and members. Leaders who had followers
that reacted well to their particular leadership style experience less stress and conflict from those
followers. (Pierce & Newstrom, 2011)
For example, working in the commissary leaders were developing training programs that
help followers that were interested in becoming leaders advance through merit promotion. These
programs were designed to have management internships to help establish who would be good
leaders and were willing to lead groups in certain departments of the store. If the produce
department needed an assistant produce manager, then in the management trainee program, there
would be an employee ready to fulfill the position. This would help when someone was sick or
gave their notice to vacate the position.
In our grocery department, the grocery manager maintains a good working relationship
with each employee in his or her department. One for this is due to the outstanding relationships
each manager establishes when taking over the department. The lessons learned from the
outgoing manager with respect to the best practices of creating a solid working relationship built
off respect and consideration for feelings keeps our employees happy working in the grocery
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department. The following are some ways grocery managers establish a good intrinsic
motivation is by building good relationships, asking each employee to perform their best, valuing
positive and negative feedback, always consistent and honest, motivate those employees with
low self-esteem, teach employees how to work in groups and individually, and try to incorporate
some of the followers ideas.
Situational Leadership Model on Team Performance in the Commissary
The situational leadership model of a leader depends on what situation is happening
during any given work day. (Pierce & Newstrom, 2011) The performance of the commissary
employees depend on the leader’s response to these given situations.
For example, when certain squadrons need bulk items from the commissary then leaders
are forced to respond immediately by assigning certain employees to fill these orders. This can
happen during dining hall, deployment, and emergency situations for active duty military
personnel needs.
“This theory suggests that transformational leadership, more than transactional
leadership, has a stronger positive effect on employees' attitudes towards their job, their job
environment, and ultimately affects their work performance” (Vigoda-Gadot, 2007, p. 1).
As a leader in the commissary, by using transformational leadership, I have trained
employees by coaching and mentoring them. This has been a valuable way to get them motivated
to be more effective. I find that if you give on-the-job training, an employee will learn faster and
remember by doing the task rather than being told to teach themselves in transactional
leadership.
“Transformational leadership raises the employees' awareness of their need to grow,
validates their self-expression, and motivates them to perform at new and higher levels. A
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transformational leader influences the expectations of his subordinates, changes their beliefs and
values, and raises them in the hierarchy of needs” (Vigoda-Gadot, 2007, p. 3).
Being a leader, I have noticed that employees do not always want to grow or move to a
new position. This is because they need encouragement and motivation from their leaders. At
times, leaders have difficulty motivating employees to step out of their comfort zones and take
risks to take on more responsibility. Some employees in the commissary have been in their jobs
for over 20 years without moving up to another position. Some employees are satisfied with a
permanent steady job and not worry about learning new things to grow into another position.
This can be a problem because they might have low self-esteem, not be challenged in their
current position, or are afraid to have more responsibility. By encouraging and motivating them,
I find that if you give them a little opportunity and show them you have faith in them, they will
respond with higher self-esteem. This is happened so many times that I now use the annual
performance award to encourage feedback on whether or not an employee wants or is afraid to
move to another higher position. I want each employee to be cognitive of their abilities to gain
education and knowledge.
Contingency Leadership Model on Team Performance in the Commissary
The contingency model which is defined as, “that the effectiveness of group performance
is contingent upon (a) the leader’s motivational pattern and (b) the degree to which the situation
gives the leader power and influence” (Pierce & Newstrom, 2011, p. 209).
Contingency model seeks to influence and motivate by using communication skills of the
supervisors. Situational leadership uses the four leadership styles to communicate effectively
with their subordinates. The contingency model attempts the same goal. Communicating is the
main tool used by leaders to motivate their employees.
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In contrast, situational leadership the person who has the appropriate levels of maturity as
a follower and accomplishes more work. While the contingency leadership model uses the LPC
(Least Preferred Co-worker) to accomplish and take on more tasks. For example, various
situations bring out leadership styles in different people. When doing certain jobs as leaders in
the commissary, this happens because there are various departments that are for certain details
that need to be done in the workplace. If you are the store manager, you oversee the store as
leader in the details of store management. If you are a produce manager, you oversee all of the
produce market. This can go on and on with different leaders with various situations.
“Modem organizations face unprecedented challenges in today's fast-paced, high-tech,
information-based competitive environments. As more and more organizations move toward
decentralized, organic-type organizational structures, organizational members at all levels are
being encouraged to take greater responsibility for their own job tasks and work behaviors. This
trend leans towards a more flexible and decentralized organizational forms has focused attention
on a variety of participatory management concepts such as employee empowerment (e.g.,
Conger & Kanungo, 1988; Spreitzer, 1995; Thomas & Velthouse, 1990)” (Jeffery & Steven,
2005, p. 2).
As a leader in the commissary, you may have a variety of jobs. If you work in the grocery
department, you may have to learn computers, how to order items, how to work in the warehouse
as a receiver, how to maintain supply prices, how to change and update labels in the store, how
input data into the computer on certain software for the general ledger, and a variety of other
tasks. This can become overwhelming and cause you to feel a sense of greater responsibility.
This is when groups in the commissary are used because your daily tasks may become too much.
Based on a competitive environment, challenges are met by other people who are in groups and
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finish up the work. This is where on-the-job training gives employees who are followers a sense
of empowerment.
“Self-leadership is defined as a systematic set of strategies through which individuals
influence themselves toward higher levels of performance and effectiveness (Manz, 1986; Manz
& Neck, 2004; Manz & Sims, 2001)” (Jeffery & Steven, 2005, p. 2).
As a leader in the commissary, I feel like employees that are followers should have
leaders who are very effective and are open to discussion when it comes to any given situation. I
like the opened door policy. Other leaders can say this may not work, but I am proof that it does
help. It helps by giving the relationship between a leader and a follower more effective strategies
that can work in a variety of ways which is shown when a leader uses these powers.
The five bases of social power are expert, referent, legitimate, reward, and coercive.
(Pierce & Newstrom, 2011)
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As a leader, I can use any or a combination of these social powers to enhance the
performance of my followers. According to Pierce & Newstrom, (2011) my profile states that on
expert power that my score is 6.5 and I use this mostly as a leader. I agree because I have studied
management and leadership for 35 years now. In the commissary, leaders are usually trained
through seminars, intern management training, college education, and on-the-job training by
other leaders. My referent power is 6. I do believe in working with followers so that they can
become good leaders. My legitimate power score is 5.75. I agree with legitimate power but do
not always use it when working in the commissary. I believe some followers take the lead
because they want to become good leaders. They know their job and do not have to be led by me
unless there is a major change. My profile of coercive power is 1.25. I agree with this because I
do not like ever using this power. Followers do not have to be coerced in order to do their job. I
do not use this power because there are other means of getting workers to do their jobs by
incentives or rewards. My reward power score is 3.25. I agree with this. I use reward power as a
leader in order to show other employees what they can work for as an achievement of reward. If
one person gets employee of the month or employee of the year, they will be rewarded through a
cash bonus that is given to them in their paychecks. Some workers want time off instead of cash
bonuses. This gives them time with their spouses or children.
I believe my assessment of these powers to be true because this is exactly how I use them
in the commissary. The best way to establish good leadership is to know which kind of power or
powers is appropriate for what situation may arise. It is best to have a contingency plan.
Analysis of Trust
“Trust is related to the perception an individual has about a number of factors: How they
have been treated by the organization, management and other employees; whether they perceive
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that these parties have been fair, kept their promises and met their obligations; and whether the
parties can be trusted to fulfil their promises and obligations in the future ([20] Guest and
Conway, 2001; [16] Fuchs, 2003)” (Sharkie, 2009, p. 1).
Years ago in the commissary, there was a commissary officer who destroyed all trust in
many leaders because she was very toxic leader. For example, if a manager wanted to do things
their way she would be against it. She was a very transactional leader. When someone asked a
question as to why she wanted things that way, she would say do what I say with no explanation.
With all of her flaws, there were some good points because she managed to get superior on most
of her Inspector General inspections. Employees perceived her as being unfair and not willing to
compromise. Feeling like there was no future with her in charge, they rebelled. After so many
complaints, she was sent to another commissary.
“The traditional employment relationship, characterized by behavioural principles of
long-term commitment, reciprocity, internal promotion and development, has been adversely
affected not only by the pressures of the marketplace ([34] Sharkie, 2005) but also from
management practices such as restructuring, downsizing and benchmarking” (Sharkie, 2009, p.
1).
In the commissary, because it is a government agency, employees are subject to practices
of restructuring, being moved from one department to another and a lot of downsizing of the
Department of Defense. For example, earlier in my career with the commissary I was moved
from being a Lead Cashier to becoming a Product Coordinator. This was because the
government was rifting people from one job to another. This helped them to save money by
eliminating some positions. At first there was only 1,000 positions eliminated. The next year it
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became 5,000 positions that were eliminated. This has been continuous because of the deficit and
our bad economy.
Distrust
Distrust is when employees are not sure of their leadership and decide to either find
another job at another organization or lose faith in the system and result in absenteeism in their
current job.
For example, I have found as a leader that employees like to be loyal to their
organizations because this gives them a sense of security. When that trust is broken by a leader
who is toxic or the misuse of an employee’s abilities, then employees shy away from
responsibility. They feel that their religious beliefs, cultural, moral, or ethical beliefs have been
violated. A leader should establish a good character role when dealing with employees by being
ethical, having integrity, and loyal to the organization and its employees. Having a sense of
respect from leadership helps employees to feel welcome and want to come to work because they
feel safe. This is one of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
Leadership Traits
“Research on the personality traits associated with transactional and transformational
leadership supports the conceptualisation of the leadership styles in terms of leadership
behaviours and the nature of the influencing process, the latter consisting of a visionary and an
interpersonal component” (Van Eeden, Cilliers, & Van Deventer, 2008, p. 2).
If a leader has a participative style then employees will think of him or her as a working
leader. This is good for them to see him or her as a working leader because some leaders are
distant, micro-managing and not receptive to change.
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For example, as a leader in the commissary I see different department leaders that do not
work hands on with employees who are followers. Instead they feel the need for the follower to
work individually as quickly as possible. This presents a problem because some employees have
to have the emotional and motivational contact with their leaders. This helps them to develop
that sense of doing a job well done.
Transactional Leadership
“Transactional leadership styles are more concerned with maintaining the normal flow of
operations. Transactional leadership can be described as "keeping the ship afloat." Transactional
leaders use disciplinary power and an array of incentives to motivate employees to perform at
their best. The term "transactional" refers to the fact that this type of leader essentially motivates
subordinates by exchanging rewards for performance. A transactional leader generally does not
look ahead in strategically guiding an organization to a position of market leadership; instead,
these managers are solely concerned with making sure everything flows smoothly today”
(Ingram, 2013, p. 1).
On a daily basis in the commissary there are tasks to be done that are used to determine
the job descriptions of each employee. The annual performance ratings are based off of how well
an employee can do his or her daily job. He or she is rated unacceptable, minimally acceptable,
full successful, excellent or outstanding. The outstanding rating is equal to superior. After you
have received one of these ratings it is determined whether or not you deserve a bonus or reward.
It can be a cash bonus award that can range from anywhere from 3% to 10% of your salary. It
used to be larger but the government has cracked down on large amounts. If transactional
leadership is essentially to motivate employees to perform their best on a daily basis, then I am
finding that most employees would rather have time off with their families than to have
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monetary rewards because the IRS takes their share out of it. Spending time with one’s family is
more important and no taxes are taken out. This gives the employee a sense of control over their
jobs. They get to make a choice.
Transformational Leadership
“A transformational leader goes beyond managing day-to-day operations and crafts
strategies for taking his company, department or work team to the next level of performance and
success. Transformational leadership styles focus on team-building, motivation and collaboration
with employees at different levels of an organization to accomplish change for the better.
Transformational leaders set goals and incentives to push their subordinates to higher
performance levels, while providing opportunities for personal and professional growth for each
employee” (Ingram, 2013, p. 1).
On a daily basis of working at the commissary, I find that a transformational leader can
be better equipped to take on tasks that are immediate and have deadlines plus future goals at the
same time. If you train your employees, have a staff that knows other employee jobs, determine
what needs to be done immediately, plans ahead for the next week in sales and receiving, they
will increase profit and productivity. Most of the annual reviews are discussed with feedback
from all the employees to see how we can make improvements in the future. This involves
increasing sales, providing better customer service and making forecasted plans for the next four
years. This is where I find that groups or individuals can exceed their success in their job levels. I
also find that education such as management training, leadership training, motivation classes and
college education can make a difference in how an employee’s self-esteem is motivated. If I as a
leader help to encourage others to become leaders then it is easy to have a workforce of
employees that are willing to exceed the daily production requirements.
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Traits cannot be used alone for successful leadership. Leaders have to create a vision, use
role models, and set goals to achieve success. The six traits which separate leaders from nonleaders are drive- achievement motivation, ambition, energy, tenacity, and initiative; leadership
motivation- personalized power motive, and socialized power motive; honesty and integrity;
self-confidence-emotional stability; cognitive ability; and knowledge of the business. (Pierce
& Newstrom, 2011)
Most leaders have a drive or a sense of personal goals that they want to achieve within
five to ten years. I am one of those leaders. I like to plan ahead in the commissary where I should
be as a leader down the line and also encourage employees to make that same goal of knowing
where they want to be in five to ten years. So during feedback, I ask at the end of the appraisals,
what position would they like to be in over the next ten years. Most will not give a definitive
answer because they may not know. I still have them guess. One lady told me that this makes her
feel like leadership cares about where they are going in their careers and lets them know that the
company is willing to be there for them. This has given me a good sense of loyalty from
employees to the Defense Commissary Agency.
Motivation
In order to motivate subordinate employees finding common ground proved very
effective. Throughout the years our employees have always responded well to leaders who strive
to communicate, listen, and value their opinions on how best to accomplish their duties.
For example, each year we have case lot sales. Case lot sale is an event that maximizes
the savings to our customers in bulk items. These items are placed on pallets in a large area of
the parking lot where customers can walk around them taking as much as they desire of products
of their choice. In each event we are challenged by the different problems that present
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themselves specific to the weather, deployment status of the installation, or demand for popular
products like diapers and toilet paper. My employees continually want to provide their input on
how to design the layout of the parking lot and placement of the pallets. These sales events
experience a high level of success when employees are allowed to put into action their ideas. In
addition, we provide an incentive to motivate each cashier to assist as many customers. The
cashier with the highest profit of sales for the day is awarded an incentive award.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Defense Commissary Agency is a great place to work at. As a leader,
the commissary officer and other managers have encouraged all employees to respect their coworkers and leadership by setting examples as loyal, ethical employees. They have encouraged
their customers to shop knowing that their customer service needs will be taken care of by us.
The LMX Theory proves in the commissary that a good relationship between a leader and a
follower can enhance sales and profits along with productivity in an effective way. The
interaction between the leaders and the follower are vital to the success of the overall mission.
The Situational Leadership Model changes performance when various occasions arise. A leader
may have to use certain leadership styles in order for employees to be motivated to perform
during sudden changes, deadlines, and projects. The Contingency Leadership Model changes the
effectiveness on how a group performs contingent upon leader’s motivational patterns and the
situation that is given. The Analysis of Trust depends on how employees view their leader as
being fair, moral, honest, or ethical. They want their leaders to be a role model. Distrust is the
opposite because employees are in fear of having a leader who is unethical and unfair. He or she
cannot be trusted. Leadership Traits influences how a follower will respond. The leader is able to
persuade them. The six leadership traits are drive, motivation, honesty and integrity, self-
LEADERSHIP STRATEGY TO PERFORMANCE
confidence, cognitive ability, and knowledge of the business. The two leadership styles that
influence a leader’s traits are transactional and transformational leadership. Motivation is the
key to unlocking performance within a changing leadership role.
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Reference
Defense Commissary Agency. (n.d.). Commissaries.com. Retrieved February 17, 2013, from
Commissaries.com: The official online resource of the Defense Commissary Agency
(DeCA: https://www.commissaries.com/
Dunegan, K. J., Mary Uhl-Bien, & Duchon, D. (2002). LMX and subordinate performance: The
moderating effects of task characteristics. Journal of Business and Psychology, 17(2),
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Eran Vigoda-Gadot. (2007). Leadership style, organizational politics, and employees'
performance. Personnel Review, 36(5), 661-661. doi:
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Ingram, David, (2013). Demand Media. Chron, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/transformationalleadership-vs-transactional-leadership-definition-13834.html
Jeffery, D. H., & Steven, K. Y. (2005). Toward a contingency model of leadership and
psychological empowerment: When should self-leadership be encouraged? Journal of
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untid=13979
Pierce, J., Newstrom J. (2011) Leaders and the leadership Process: Readings, Self-Assessment &
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Van Eeden, R., Cilliers, F., & Van Deventer, V. (2008). Leadership styles and associated
personality traits: Support for the conceptualisation of transactional and transformational
leadership. South African Journal of Psychology, 38(2), 253-267.