Week 2: Leader/ Follower Dynamics

At the current moment, the only full time staff in the office is the Executive Director, Jay and the office coordinator, Therese. The rest of the work is done by Committees whose members volunteer their time. Being only 1 of 3 people in the office is interesting. Jay, new to the position, is lively and enthusiastic about revitalizing the organization. In general, she is personable and appears to be relationship oriented. She has  been very kind to me and has set aside time each week so that we may touch base. I always feel welcome to walk into her office to clarify something or ask for help. However, I have noticed some tension between her and Therese. Twice now, I have been in the room during tense conversations. During the first, they were discussing a discrepancy between their two records and discovered a mistake that Therese had made. Instead of working together to find a solution, Jay left early and instructed her to fix it. During the second meeting, they were discussing an unrelated project. Jay had asked Therese to plan an event and relay the schedule to her. After everything Therese said, Jay criticized it and told her how it should be done. While I am unaware of the history between the two of them, I find this style of leadership to be un-motivating and unproductive. From the outside looking in, it seems that if Jay asked Therese what she would need to be successful or devised a plan to solve these issues, the work would be done better and more efficiently. It seems as though in this situation, employing the LMX theory would be beneficial.