Devil Wears Prada Leadership Style

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For this study, we were to examine the organization and individual employees of Runway in The Devil Wears Prada. Andy Sachs, a recent college graduate from Northwestern University, lands a job at a high fashion magazine as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, an arduous boss that expects above and beyond from every individual. An important factor in hiring a new employee is their fit. The recognition of their similarities and differences with those of the organization will help to avoid high turnover and increase effectiveness through a stronger organizational culture. The idea candidate that would fill a position such as Andy’s would require conscientiousness, an extent of extraversion and emotional stability. Throughout the film, Andy …show more content…

Fiedler’s model views a person’s leadership style as part of their personality and is hard to change. This was present in Miranda as it was apparent that at work she was as strict as they come. She says what she wants and expects you to know what, when and how. She did not appreciate her time being wasted unnecessarily. For example, on Andy’s first day she was given a list of tasks and when asking a question Miranda stated to “bore someone else with your questions”. Her methods were very task-oriented that focused on “getting it done” even if the delivery may not have been in the best fashion. The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Model would suggest Miranda more frequently was “telling” Andy and Emily what to do. This method is quite low when measuring the relationship between leader and others. More often than not, Andy felt insecure with what she was doing and not confident that even if she did it correct that Miranda would still be unsatisfied. Miranda possessed such an elaborate and extensive knowledge that if she would have changed her delivery the results would have been so much better and the relationships she had would not have been so distant. The Leader-Member Exchange theory stated that there are in and out groups who are treated differently. Once someone is defined as part of the in-group, there is a special relationship formed and the attitudes within are more favorable. For instance, when Andy began to become a better fit for Miranda than Emily, you seen a shift from Andy in and Emily out. Miranda began to give Emily the tedious tasks of fetching coffee and throwing her purse and coat on her desk every day. It is important to see how all of these attributes combined to help Miranda become the icon she is, but also hurt her personal life. The way her leadership was embedded in her personality pushed her away from her husband leading to a

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