Chapter 10 Video Case Teaching Note

When Women Lead: Space Shuttle Commander Eileen Collins

Teaching Objective: Allow students to hear from prominent women who lead their fields about some of the history of women ascending to leadership roles and some challenges they face.

Video Summary: Four prominent women relate their views, experiences, and opinions concerning issues facing women in leadership roles. They are fashion designer Vera Wang, advertising executive Shelly Lazarus of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, Deborah Wright of Carver Bancorp, and astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman space shuttle commander. The video mentions the women’s movement and resulting opportunities for women and the trade-offs women leaders make when juggling work and family. Commander Eileen Collins of NASA discusses her approach to leadership and ways to bring more women into math and science-related fields.

Questions:

1. What types of power would you say the leaders featured in this case possess?

As top managers in their organizations, each of these executives possesses legitimate, reward, and coercive power. Years of experience and proven talent generate expert power for each, and the tremendous amount of respect employees have for each generates referent power.

2. Which kinds of leadership behaviors are evident in the quotes by Vera Wang and Shelly Lazarus as well as the information about them?

Wang empowers her employees by sharing critical information with them. She also engages in consideration, demonstrated by her concern about her employees’ responsibility to earn a living, and engages in initiating structure as she manages and builds her business. Shelly Lazarus engages in initiating structure, as evidenced by the ad agency’s turnaround, which she headed, and its continued success. She also shows consideration and empowerment in her respect of fellow workers and her reliance on them.

3. Which basic leader style do you think Eileen Collins has, based on how she described her approach to a space shuttle mission?

Commander Collins said she focuses primarily on the mission and getting the job done, with concern also about the team. She appears to be a task-oriented leader, primarily concerned with ensuring that subordinates perform at a high level and focus on task accomplishment.

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