Kevin Cataldo

Case Study 1

Tortuga Community College is under a big transition to become Tortuga State College (TSC).
This will allow the university to award four-year degrees. The transition itself has taken a lot of
time and effort from the faculty to ensure everything is done correctly and in the best interest for
the college, its faculty, and the community. There has been a big loss to TSC, as its President has
passed away. The facts of this situation are stated below.

What are the facts (not your interpretation of them)?

Tortuga State College is in the middle of a transition from a community college to a state
college.

The transition requires more faculty and staff members, and a different budget than
before.

The President of the college, Francis Dohr, has passed away, leaving behind a huge
transition that has yet to take place.

President Dohr took over the college when it was struggling. She had a vision of
expanding the educational programs the college would offer.

The vice president, Tom Elias, is struggling with the grieving process, as are the rest of
the faculty and community at TSC.

Tom was asked if he would consider taking the position; he was also asked to give a list
of people whom he thought would be a good replacement.

Tom is not sure if he wants to become the new President of TSC.

The Governor wants to bring in Joe Martinez, referred to as the Governors right hand
man, to replace Francis Dohr.

Tom does not like this decision and believes that Joe is not the right fit for the college.

Tom knows the transition plan well, as he and President Dohr worked on it together and
shared the same vision for the college.

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Case Study 1

After having a meeting, it was found that the faculty was divided as to the way the
college should move forward.

What are the leadership issues and tensions in the case? Why are these issues?
The most obvious issue is that the college is in the middle of a big transition and the
leader has passed away. This leaves the university without formal leadership at a critical time
and has created a lot of anxiety and questions for the followers, or faculty and staff. The college
is looking to assign a leader in order to move forward with the transition, but has not done so yet.
This in-between phase is what Bridges and Bridges (2000) referred to as the neutral zone (p.3),
or the state between two phases of transition. Bridges and Bridges (2000) noted that because the
neutral zone is uncomfortable and difficult, people are compelled to try and get out of the zone as
quickly as possible. Some may act rashly to move forward and pick a convenient leader
without full consideration of how that individual will affect the college, while others may try to
retreat backward and resist change in leadership as much as possible. Bridges and Bridges (2000)
also noted, however, that successful transition requires time in the neutral zone and that
psychological reorientation must take place for people to move forward with change.
Another issue is that the one person, Tom, that knows the proposed plan inside and out is
unsure about becoming the new leader. The Governor wants to appoint a different person,
someone who may be viewed as a convenient leader. In addition, this person, coming from
outside the college, may not have its best interest in mind. Faculty members feel similarly that
the leader the Governor wants appointed would not be a good fit. In addition to the potential
pitfalls of appointing a convenient leader noted above, the potential for not having strong
followership is also a looming concern. Hollander and Offerman (1997) stated that active

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Case Study 1

followership is just as important, if not more important, than active leadership, while Shivers
(2010) discussed the importance of followers in creating real change. If the followers (faculty
and staff) at TSC have reservations about the Governors choice of new leadership from the
beginning, it may be difficult to create the active followership the college would need to move
forward. This is a big problem for the college, because if they do not believe in their leader or
trust their leader, they will fail.

What is the basis of your view on the next steps? Your task is not to solve the case, but to
consider what next steps would be and why. Are there alternate approaches?
In my view of this situation, the faculty, staff, Governor, and community as a whole need
to realize that they may be moving too fast with this process. As stated above, the neutral zone is
an important part of the change process within a transition. Putting all of the facts on the table,
then stepping back and analyzing what the goal is and how the entire faculty and staff are feeling
as a whole, will allow for the staff to adapt and allow for a more natural leader to emerge. There
may not be a need to elect a formal leader at this point in time and may be real danger in doing
so rashly. As Hock (2000) stated, A true leader cannot be bound to lead. A true follower cannot
be bound to follow If the behavior of either is compelled, whether by force, economic
necessity, or contractual arrangement, the relationship is altered to one of superior/subordinate
different from leader/follower (p. 2).
President Dohr created excitement around a shared vision among the staff, thus the staff
members may be better able to choose a leader than someone outside of the college. In addition,
having the faculty and staff play an active role in choosing the next leader will instill active
followership as the college continues forward with its transition. Staff may also have insight on a

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Case Study 1

particularly strong leader within the organization that the Board of Directors, Vice President, or
Governor may be unaware of. Meyerson (2002) talked about senior managers going beyond their
immediate circle to find everyday leaders (p. 6). These leaders may in turn be good candidates
to step into a more formal leadership role within the college.
With this decision being up to the Governor, none of the previous suggestions for moving
forward may happen. The Governor may be set in his ways of appointing Joe Martinez as the
Acting President. Though Joe is, in Toms own words, an arrogant and self-aggrandizing ass,
this change may be good for the college. President Dohr was knows as a pit bull and from Toms
description, it sounds like Joe may be just as aggressive of a leader as President Dohr was. He
may be able to look at the transition from an outsiders perspective, and bring in different ideas
that have yet to be thought of or discussed. As Sivers (2010) stated, all it takes is for one
follower to step forward and show everyone else how to follow. This is a form of leadership in
its own right and, if the faculty is willing to have one person step forward and follow Joe, many
others may be willing to join in and create the active followership needed for the transition to
continue forward. The only way this will work is if Joe welcomes the followers as an equal,
acknowledging that it is about the movement, or in this case the transition, and not about Joe
himself (Sivers, 2010). Or, as Hock (2000) put it, followers lead by choosing where to be led
(p. 2).
Along with Joes outsiders perspective on how to move forward with the transition, he
may also be a good fit because he does not seem to have an emotional attachment to President
Dohr. High emotions, much like those the faculty are dealing with right now, may have an effect
on the colleges main goal of getting through the transition. Joe is just one person, so there
should not be fear that Joe will change everything the college stands for or that was created by

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Case Study 1

President Dohr. As summarized by Hock (2000), an organizational community is going to be

lead where the values and beliefs of the faculty lie.