Laura is the associate director of a non-profit agency that provides assistance tochildren and families. she is the head of a department that focuses on evaluatingthe skill-building programs the agency provides to families. she reports directly tothe agency leadership. as a whole, the agency has been cautious in hiring thisyear because of increased competition for federal grant funding. however, theyhave also suffered high staff turnover. two directors have left as well as three keyresearch staff and one staff person from the finance department. laura has a demanding schedule that requires frequent travel; however, shesupervises two managers who in turn are responsible for five staff members each. both managers have been appointed within the last six months. manager 1: kelly has a specific background in research. she manages staff whoprovide research support to another department that delivers behavioral healthservices to youth. kelly supports her staff and is very organized; however, sheoften takes a very black and white view of issues. upper level leadership valueskelly’s latest research on the therapeutic division’s services. kelly is verymotivated and driven and expects the same from her staff. manager 2: linda has a strong background in social science research andevaluation. she manages staff that work on different projects within the agency. she is known as a problem solver and is extremely supportive of her staff. she isvery organized and has a wealth of experience in evaluation of family services. linda is very capable and can sometimes take on too much. the managers are sensing that staff are becoming over worked as everyone takeson increased responsibilities due to high staff turnover. staff have also mentionedthat laura’s "glass half-empty" conversation style leaves them feeling dejected. inaddition, laura has not shared budgets with her managers, so they are havingdifficulty appropriately allocating work to staff. laura said she has not receivedsufficient information from the finance department to complete the budgets. thefinance department said they have sent her all the information they haveavailable. as staff become distressed, the managers are becoming frustrated. they feel likethey are unable to advocate for their staff or problem solve without keyinformation like the departmental budget. discussion questions: 1.how can laura most effectively use both management and leadership skills inher role as associate director? what combination of the two do you think wouldwork best in this setting? 2. what steps could be taken to build staff confidence? 3. what advice would you give laura on improving her leadership skills and tothe managers on improving their management skills? 4. which leadership style do you think a leader would need to be effective in this situation?