The Leadership Style of Jamie Oliver - Assignment Example

Working with and Leading People Task 2 (LO 2) Using leadership and motivation theories to support your analysis, examine the leadership style presented in the case study and its impact on the trainees. Leadership is undoubtedly a key driving force in any establishment, as effectively demonstrated by Jamie Oliver in the case study. The latter’s leadership is in compliance with the term’s definition, as a process through which an individual influences a group of people to work towards achieving a certain goal. According to Spears (2010, p.26), the extent to which such a person demonstrates leadership attributes, depends not just on his or her personal abilities and features, but also on the environment in which one is working or prevailing situations. This means that a person has the ability to support the business venture if he or she believes that it will aid in achievement of outlined goals and objectives. In the case study, it is evident that Oliver, the chef/manager of ‘Fifteen’ depicts several leadership characteristics, which are in line with the definition of an effective leader. Key among these leadership qualities demonstrated by Oliver is his zeal and passion. The chef sets out to create a restaurant that taps the unexploited potential of young unqualified individuals. Despite the challenges, his desire to help individuals that are currently in a position that he once was, drives him to success. His passion is also evident when he uses it as criterion to select suitable chef candidates. By sharing this enthusiasm with his apprentices, Oliver motivates them to increase their professionalism and overall productivity. The chef also takes time to praise the candidates whenever they execute a duty efficiently or ask relevant questions. A leader’s tendency to give praise when appropriate acts as an extension of enthusiasm and fosters subordinates’ morale (Kressler, 2003, p.27). The other vital leadership attribute wielded by Oliver is his ability to communicate effectively with all the stakeholders with whom he works. As emphasized by Sinek (2011, p.17) effective leaders must have mastered the skill of communicating with staff, both at high and low levels of an establishment. This is because adept communication skills make it possible for leaders to explain tasks and undertakings in a manner that can be understood by all partisans. In addition, proficient communicators keep others informed about project updates or changes. In Oliver’s case, he takes the time to actually interact and impart knowledge on the trainees, making him effective in communication. As a result, the team is constantly aware of what is expected of them. The chef also possesses the crucial leadership quality of decisiveness. The latter refers to an individual’s ability to make swift, reasonable, and correct decisions. This trait makes a leader reliable and capable of ensuring smooth running of a project irrespective of emergent barriers. For example, Oliver understands the scope of chef work and the challenges it presents, such as immense pressure. As a result, he is quick to resolve disputes that arise in the kitchen during heated moments, only giving a warning, unless bad behavior escalates to violence. In addition to swift problem solving, the chef’s decisiveness is evident from his committed and analytical decision making regarding activities that the trainees undertake. For instance, in recognition of the trainees’ need to create connections with restaurant business stakeholders, he opts to let them accompany him when he goes sourcing ingredients from farmers and other suppliers. Judging from the case study, Oliver is an agent of change, as expected of any efficient leader. A leader is supposed to act in a manner that inspires others to make positive changes in their lives. This is a feat that Oliver meets efficiently. Even though he asserts himself as a leader, Oliver also takes trainees’ concerns and work environment into consideration when making decisions. The chef also ventures into an unexplored field, by seeking to empower unqualified youths through training them to become professional chefs. After taking these qualities into account, Oliver’s leadership style can best be describes as transformational. A person’s leadership style can be defined as his or her approach in motivating other individuals, implementing strategies, and providing overall direction, in the effort to achieve set objectives and goals. The chef’s transformational leadership style is not just demonstrated by his decision to venture into a field previously unexamined, but also his commitment to ensure advancement of trainees through skill development, motivation, and hard work. For example, he ensures that even after practical training in the kitchen, the trainees are sent to college, where they acquire basic culinary and restaurant management skills. The leader then trains and shapes them personally, in order to make sure that they meet the standards, needs, and style of the restaurant. Transformational leadership style is highly beneficial, since a leader is able to motivate followers to be innovative, productive, and effective, through individual skill development, participation and diligence. This leadership style is also instrumental in ensuring that all individuals uphold teamwork and are driven by common values and visions, coupled with mutual respect and trust (Wang, Chiang and Tung, 2012, pp.110-111). These are all characteristics evident from Oliver’s mode of leadership. Additionally, the leadership strategy helps participants to embrace growth opportunities not only at a personal level, but professionally as well; an aspect illustrated by trainees who graduate and successfully become professional chefs. This is because they have the necessary motivation to help them recognize their responsibilities, desired performance, and goals they would like to achieve over a given period of time. Task 3 (LO 3) Analyse the team working in Jamie Oliver’s restaurant. To what extent did team working benefit this organisation? Examine the difficulties in this situation and how they were dealt with by Oliver. Use theories relating to teamwork to strengthen your analysis. Teams refer to groups of individuals, who are unified by a common goal. Such individuals are dedicated to achieving the common purpose and they are empowered by the extant leadership framework to resolve issues, set specific goals, and make decisions pertinent to attainment of outlined objectives (Bratton and Gold, 2007, p.56). Without these common objectives, goals and traits, then the groups cannot constitute teams. Instead, they only make up groups of people that simply work together within a similar job environment. There is a wide range of benefits associated with teamwork. These advantages apply to team members individually, the team collectively, and even the organization at large (Hamel, 2007, p.15). For example, working together increases the morale of individuals and improves their performance. In the case study, the essence of working together is apparent, when the trainees are assigned a task to cook for fifty guests. Even though the task became chaotic, prompting Oliver to stop it, he effectively showed the trainees that chef work requires them to work together, to communicate, and to uphold mutual respect, in order to guarantee successful execution of responsibilities. Oliver’s advocacy of teamwork is also evident from his decision to take the trainees camping. It is through interacting with each other and working together that, the trainees are able to meet their responsibilities and sustain themselves in an environment where they are expected to fend for themselves. This shows that teamwork fosters creativity, improves productivity, and enhances members’ commitment to achieving set goals. Teamwork also enhances individuals’ willingness to take on additional responsibilities (Bramham, 2000, p.43). Despite the benefits of teamwork, challenges are inevitable, as can be discerned from the case study. For instance, under immense pressure in the kitchen, the trainees occasionally argued and questioned each other’s decisions or opinions. This shows that when working in a team, disagreement and friction may occasionally occur (Gordon and Yukl, 2004, p.360). Oliver successfully overcame this challenge, by encouraging individuals to respect and help each other at all times. The chef, for instance, asked the trainees to greet one another every morning and ensure that they wished each other a goodnight at the end of the day. This serves to show that disagreement at work is not personal and does not have to affect their interrelationship. The other challenge in team work is poor communication (Witt, 2011). Oliver enabled the trainees to overcome this challenge, by ensuring that they conveyed their opinions to each other in a respectful manner. He also encouraged them constantly to be proud of the work they did as a team, hence showing them that teamwork is a productive undertaking that should not be undermined at any cost. Oliver’s awareness of cooperation importance and teamwork in a commercial kitchen enabled him to encourage the team to work as one. This is because there are numerous benefits for any organization to have a strong and effective working team. Team effectiveness in this case therefore refers to the structure of getting individuals in any organization to effectively work together. This is because a group of individuals working together may achieve much more in terms of productivity. The effectiveness of a team is dependent on bringing together individuals with different skills to effectively complement work in a certain area. Since Oliver was training people that have not had the chance to have formal education, it was necessary to equip them with the imperative technical abilities as well as communication skills (Mullins, and Christy, 2013, p. 495). By teaming up individuals, they were able to share the ideologies on hoe to complete a certain task. It is evident that team effectiveness is dependent on individuals taking on different roles in a team setting. For instance, Oliver encouraged the trainees to participate in farm activities like ordering and evaluating the meat quality. However, if the students do not agree on what activities one should participate in, it is possible that they will fail terribly. Oliver also encouraged the trainees to be flexible in their teams. This is because it would encourage them to be more creative as well as responsive to their tasks. Trainees are also supposed to depict high involvement levels and accept responsibility for success of the team. During the training, the students were also involved in different conflicts. For instance, one of the students depicted violence towards other students and this was an issue that affected a lot of students. This means that there are measures that should be put in place in such cases. It is inevitable to refrain from possible differences when passionate individuals are working together. This is because, after any team gets through the initial orientation stage, they come to a realization that working together towards accomplishing the same goal is extremely tough. Therefore Oliver was able to get the trainers and trainees to examine any potential defects and come up with a solution. Additionally, by revisiting the organizations, goals, procedures, and solutions ensured that the best choices have been implemented (Witt, 2011). This is because Oliver understood the imperativeness of solving conflicts without compromising the quality of any project. If there is conflict in a team, then it is possible to have a key downfall. Conflict is instinctive to any job even for trainees and should be taken as challenges instead of a compromise (Masterclassmanagement, 2014). Oliver also ensures that all students understood the importance following the code of conduct. Task 4 (LO 4) Examine the factors involved in assessing the work performance of the trainees in Oliver’s restaurant. Evaluate the success of the assessment process and of supporting the needs and development of the trainees. Use theories of learning, motivation theories and performance monitoring and feedback to support your evaluation. Monitoring as well as evaluation are usually two very distinct aspects, but interconnected, activities. Jamie Oliver’s restaurant utilizes monitoring to review ongoing training process and job experiences. The monitoring process is conducted by the selected team dealing with prevention and response interventions in determining if the trainees are developing in accordance to the budgetary and plan requirement. The team is also responsible for determining any possible adjustments needed in order to achieve their anticipated goals. The team in Oliver’s restaurant utilizes effective monitoring includes and coordinated reporting structure in assessing the performance of the trainees. Additionally, assessment of the trainees is evaluated in order to determine the relevance efficiency and effectiveness of the trainees. The evaluation strategies are used in determining if the trainee is qualifies to go to the next level. Additionally, the selectors decide on the future of the applicants as well as how well they benefit from the training. The success of the evaluation in Jamie Oliver’s restaurant is determined by different factors. For instance, the ability of the trainees to retain their job Skills and ability to perform exceptionally is one of the aspects. Therefore, Oliver is able to determine if the training being offered to the students is appropriate. This is also evaluated from the quantity and quality of completed work. In some cases the trainees are given different projects that they are supposed to complete. The students are given a chance to demonstrate and participate in practical activities in the kitchen. The quantity of the work completed is extremely imperative. This is because the students will be able to show if they can handle working under pressure and within a limited period of time. This is extremely crucial for an individual working in a restaurant. However, it is also crucial to produce quality products thus determining the ability of every trainee. In assessing the trainees’ performance, it is imperative to consider the work habits that an individual has been able to retain. Work habits usually assist in determining if an individual has gotten the right skills. Additionally the adaptability of the trainees is a factor that should be looked at when evaluating the success of the assessment period. This is crucial for the trainees because it will also assist in determining if the personal relations being utilized are efficient. The assessment process starts with identifying project milestones that were supposed to be completed. The trainees in Jamie Oliver’s restaurant are notified on any activities that supposed to be completed as well as projected final goals (Mullins, and Christy, 2013, p. 495). The assessment process determines whether the trainees have successfully all their projects on schedule. The deliverables are supposed to be produced and estimated costs met. Therefore, the degree of difference from the anticipated process is utilized in evaluating the performance success of the students. The other imperative factors considered when evaluating the success of the performance assessment are the impact assessments. These are the factors utilized in determining the medium as well as the long term success of the projects offered to the students. Therefore, there are indicators that should be used in measuring the quantitative or qualitative measurements on progress towards their attainment of crucial objective objectives. For instance, the main aim for this project is to make sure that everybody participating acquires the necessary skills to become a successful chef. Therefore, there are indicators that should be put in place that would help in determining the impact of the training on the students. Oliver should also be able to provide feedback to the trainees using various measurement methods in measuring the project effectiveness (Mullins, and Christy, 2013, p. 495). Performance success should also be reported back to all the stakeholders in order for them to give their response and comment on the possible benefits of indulging into this project. However, it is imperative to note that the trainees will react differently to the feedback. The feedback provided by Oliver does not only assist in determining the nest step to be taken, but also determines whether the trainees are able to use the acquired skills in the real world. Bibliography Bramham, J. 2000. Human Resource Planning. New York: Beekman Books Inc. Bratton, J., and Gold, J. 2007. Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Gordon, A. and Yukl, G., 2004. The future leadership research: challenges and opportunities, German Journal of Human Resource Research, 18(3), pp. 359–365. Hamel, G. 2007. The Future of Management. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Kressler, H. 2003. Motivate and Reward: Performance Appraisal and Incentive Systems for Business Success. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Masterclassmanagement. 2014. Dealing with Conflict. Available at Accessed 4 June 2014. Mullins, L.J. and Christy, G. 2013. Management and Organisational Behaviour. Harlow: Pearson. Sinek, S. 2011. Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. Westminster, London: Portfolio Trade. Spears, Larry. 2010. Character and Servant Leadership: Ten Characteristics of Effective, Caring Leaders. The Journal of Virtues & Leadership 1(1), pp. 25-30. Wang, K., Chiang, C., and Tung, C. 2012. Integrating Human Resource Management and Knowledge Management: From the Viewpoint of Core Employees and Organizational Performance. The International Journal of Organizational Innovation 5 (1): 109-137. Witt, D. 2011. The Challenge of Working in Teams-Dealing with Conflict. [Online]. Available at Accessed 4 June 2014. Read More