Task v. Relational Leadership

Task v. Relational leadership was something that was studied extensively during my time in Theories and Models. Task-oriented leadership involves a leader being focused on completing tasks in order to meet goals. Relation-oriented leadership involves concentrating on motivating and forming relationships with team members. 

Over the summer I got to see the different theories of leadership in the context of the Capital Defender Office, task v. relational being one of them. It is clear that the lead capital defender, Dan, does emphasize meeting court deadlines and staying on track with assignments, meaning that he does have elements of a task-oriented leader. However, Dan and the deputy capital defender, Meghan, both place a large emphasis on the relationships between everyone in the office. They constantly made themselves available to answer questions and offer guidance on projects as well as checked in with interns and other attorneys about their wellbeing. As with in many offices, there are always deadlines to meet and tasks to complete, however positive relationships between leaders and followers are encouraged at the CDO and generally regarded as a way to ensure that the best quality of work is produced.