Question 1
One of the work stressors in Larry’s life was the feeling of inadequacy that came with him being the crew supervisor and being looked up to at the boss. The insurmountable pressure from the work expectations and those of the other employees threw him into a panic. The other work stressor was the fear of handling various tasks wrong and being reprimanded or fired for it. Larry also feared that in his situation, one of his juniors undertaking an engineering degree at night class would be promoted to taking his chief of the crew job position. At home, Larry’s non-work stressors mostly came from the shift in his wife’s career when she had to work the nights, and they barely saw each other. There was more pressure in handling the babysitting while his wife was out working. Financial pressure was also a factor in his stress as his baby was more of a surprise to him at a time when he had just begun enjoying the freedom that work brought.
Question 2
Larry’s central perspective of money was making more of it. As a surveyor, he worked hard to earn more money per month. He had to accept his promotion to being the supervisor at his workplace despite the challenges that came with it due to the realization that he had to work more hours and accept the promotion to earn more money, which he would use to support his family. He was irked by his wife’s suggestions when she suggested that they move to California or Alaska since he thought that it would be expensive to implement the shift. Furthermore, he was worried about his wife’s quitting of the full-time job to take care of their child since he believed that her stay at home was placing her intelligence at a waste.
Question 3
Larry’s self-leadership is not effective. Despite having to coordinate the workplace as a supervisor for the crew and being the provider for his family, Larry had a task to ensure that his emotional leadership was efficient. Both at work and home, Larry is not able to manage his stress, which comes from the pressure he faces. Much of the stress that Larry exhibits in his life is contributed to by his inability to flexibly adapt to the changing work and home environments and situations as a way of managing his stressors. Owing to the stress that he faces, he is soon into the drug abuse problem, with his response to the situation getting worse.
Question 4
One of the rewards that are applied in Larry’s workplace is the promotion. As a non-monetary motivation, promotion is depicted as a way to increase an employee’s seniority and comes with the benefit of being at the oversight of the other surveyors and hence a chance to sharpen one’s leadership skills. The other reward is the increase in salaries. At some point, Larry requests his first wage increment before becoming a supervisor and is granted. He uses the bonus to increase his financial capability regarding his family.
Question 5
Regarding the reaction of his juniors, while Larry smoked in the truck, the team is on the storming development stage. At the storming level, employees in the team are involved in more conflicts as the different personalities of people emerge. Earlier on, Larry did not smoke, and as his character changed, the team members were unable to keep up with his behavior. The storming stage comes after the forming stage when different people in the team interact and get oriented.