Understanding the Leader Dynamic

There’s a very unique work culture at Olé. First, the dynamic between the leaders within the organization is interesting. It was clear to me from the first day that the Technical Director Declan Edge has a more important say in decisions than the CEO, Ben Sippola. Declan is vocal, blunt and leads with intimidation. There are obvious tensions when the two disagree and the rest of the staff is noticeably uncomfortable when they argue within staff meetings. Ben is more laid back and receptive to input but can also be very blunt.

Second, the dynamic between the leaders and the rest of the staff is notable. Something that I’ve noted as particularly interesting is that people don’t necessarily have jobs that are perfectly spelled out, the academy asks people to wear a lot of hats, so the expectations vary for different people doing different jobs. Some of the staff members I’ve talked to think their expectations are unfair because of the lack of information given beforehand. Additionally, some of my colleagues and I are also players on different teams at the academy, so the CEO and Technical Director both coach us on the field and supervise us in the office. One guy that I work with told me he was frustrated because he felt like the leaders of the organization couldn’t separate work and the field and were treating him differently in the office because of his performance on the field. I haven’t experienced that so far but I think it’s important to think about when looking at the role of leaders within this organization.

Both Declan and Ben are well respected by members of the organization but I wonder if their leadership styles could be adjusted to be more influential and not anger employees as much. I will be definitely be thinking about what could realistically be changed more in the coming weeks.