Relationship vs. Task Oriented Leadership at EG

The balance of a relationship and task oriented leader is crucial in effective leadership. Relationship oriented leaders focus more on the overall wellbeing and satisfaction of the team members, while task oriented leaders focus on the tasks that must be preformed to meet certain goals. In a sales job it is definitely crucial that goals are met because without goals and deadlines the team will fail. I think that it can definitely be easy to be more task oriented than relationship oriented because sometimes in a sales position it feels like you are constantly working to meet you goals and quotas. However, I feel as though my boss Djordje sets up an excellent model of leadership that balances both tasks and relationships in an equal balance. Coming into my internship I assumed that forming a relationship with my colleagues was going to be a bit difficult as I would not get the opportunity to meet everyone, and the whole office was across the Atlantic in a time zone six hours ahead. I was, however, hopeful, because I knew that Djordje was a Jepson graduate and I had faith in his ability to lead and put his lessons into real life use. Djordje, has exceeded all of my expectations and made me optimistic about the future of being a leader after Jepson.

Every morning when meeting with Djordje, I feel more and more comfortable as we discuss cultural differences between Serbia and the United States and his experiences as a Jepson student. We have discussed everything from his border collie Masha and their adventures sailing around Greece, to Novak Djokovic and his success. However, at the same time, Djordje has earned my respect so much so that I push myself to book more calls and create more prospecting lists because I do not want to let him down. I think that a lot of employees at European Gateway also share this sentiment with me as I catch them laughing in the background but also see the incredible numbers that they are able to put up. In my opinion, Djordje’s equal balance of task and relationship oriented leadership could not be stronger and I can tell that he has been influenced by his Jepson studies to maintain this balance.