Introduction
There's been a major rapid onset flood in Brown Trout Bay, a rural community with a population of about
3,000, located fifty miles from the major metropolitan area of Riverbend City. Roads and bridges are out,
and the water supply for much of the city has been compromised. The county's emergency operations
center (EOC) has been activated, and a Leadership Team is being assembled to address the crisis. You are
in charge of this leadership team.
Leading a group of people who have a variety of communication styles can be a challenge—whether
you're leading a casual neighborhood committee meeting or a response to a citywide disaster. As you
coordinate this Leadership Team, you will have to work effectively with eight people who have very
different communication styles. As a leader, you will need to develop a strategy for working effectively
with this group of people.
News Report
Victoria Moran: Welcome back to WNRT's continuing coverage of the Brown Trout Bay flood. We have
word that the city and county are working together to address the issue of providing potable water to
residents in the affected neighborhoods. Joining me now to discuss the situation is Brian Nicollet, the
mayor of Brown Trout Bay. Brian, can you tell me what's going on with the city's water supply?
Brian Nicollet: Well, as you know, citizens in affected areas have been without water for about 24 hours
now. Dodd County has activated its Emergency Operations Center to address this issue.
Victoria Moran: Brian, why is it that there are so many residents remaining in affected neighborhoods
after your office issued a mandatory evacuation order?
Brian Nicollet: Well, unfortunately, whenever you have a rapid onset emergency like this one, not all
residents will follow evacuation orders. In some cases, people refuse to leave, but more often than not,
people who stay can't leave – they don't have cars, for instance. We also have residents remaining in the
city in hospitals and nursing facilities. We were very fortunate that the flooding was not on a magnitude
anywhere near that of Hurricane Katrina, and as you know, there were no casualties. However, the city's
water supply has been compromised, and we need to restore that as soon as possible – and while that
process takes place, we have to distribute water to Brown Trout Bay residents.
Victoria Moran: How do you plan to do this?
Brian Nicollet: Well, as I said, Dodd County has activated their Emergency Operations Center, and the
city is working closely with the county. We're assembling a team of individuals who represent a number
of emergency service functions, and these individuals will be meeting later today to address the water
situation.
Victoria Moran: Who is in charge of this group?
Brian Nicollet: The mayor has assigned an experienced leader to this team. I am confident this leader will
do an excellent job guiding this team as they address the crucial issue of distributing water to the residents
of Brown Trout Bay.
You have an email from Mayor Nicollet. You
should read that now.
From: Mayor Brian Nicollet
Subject: Leading the Emergency Operations Team
I'm so glad to hear that you've agreed to facilitate our team of emergency managers. Each member of the
team represents an Emergency Support Function (ESF) as defined by FEMA. As the leader of the EOC
group, your goal is to help this group leverage their collective expertise to distribute clean water
efficiently to the people in Brown Trout Bay. I'm confident that with your help, this team will be able to
work together efficiently to get this done.
As you work with this group of individuals, please keep in mind that this is a diverse group. As is the case
with all working groups, you're going to find these individuals have a variety of communication styles.
Because this group needs to get to work immediately, you're going to have to figure out quickly what each
individual's communication style is—and you're going to have to come up with a strategy for working
effectively with this particular group of people and their combination of communication styles.
Best of luck! I know I can count on you.
--Brian
Leadership Team
Now it's time for you to meet the members of your leadership team! You will need to figure out how to
work effectively with these people to distribute water to the residents of Brown Trout Bay. Listen to what
each of these people has to say about themselves, and see what you can learn about their communication
styles.
Melanie Cohen
Executive Director of the Dodd County Transportation System
If you ask my colleagues, I'm sure they'll tell you that I'm very organized and thorough. I come to every
meeting with a detailed agenda. Also, as a leader, it's very important for me to set clear objectives for my
employees so that they know exactly what's expected of them. I think they appreciate that—at least, I
hope they do. I wouldn't consider myself a demanding supervisor, but it's very important to me that
people understand their roles and my expectations.
And—well, this is kind of comical—I'm so organized that I have to straighten up my desk every single day
before I go home. If I don't, I'm in a terrible mood the next morning when I come into a desk with a few
loose paperclips on it. That's kind of sad, huh? My desk is full of every kind of filing system and organizer
imaginable… seriously, if I can't figure out where to put something, I've been known to stop at an office
supply store on the way home to pick up another organizing device. (laughs) At least I can laugh at myself,
huh? I guess it's appropriate that I'm the person in charge of the bus system. Because nobody likes it when
their busses don't follow an exact schedule, right? And believe me, I'm big on schedules! I get so annoyed
when people are late. Too annoyed, really. People have good reasons to be late sometimes, and I have to
remind myself of that a lot.
Rodney Saunders
Chief Engineer for Dodd County
It's nice to meet you. You want me to tell you a little about myself? Not to be stereotypical, but most
engineers don't say more than we need to. Not a lot of small talk in my office. Don't get me wrong—we're
always up for a good happy hour, but when it comes to work, we're pretty heads down. I like people okay,
but what I really like is figuring out how to keep bridges from falling apart. Being an engineer is like one
big math problem—our challenge is to figure out the most efficient ways of doing things and then to
follow through on that.
Matthew Chu
Executive Director, Department of Business and Professional Regulation
It's so nice to meet you! I know you're going to do a great job getting this team to work together—and I'm
so glad I was asked to be on this team. I know that this is a difficult time in Brown Trout Bay, and I'm
excited and honored to have the opportunity to help. This is going to be such a terrific challenge!
So you want to know a little about me? Well, I guess you could say I'm pretty spontaneous. I have a
master's degree in entrepreneurship—don't even ask me how I wound up in government! I work best
when I have the opportunity to think on my feet. I think that's the most important skill for people
working in business these days, or really for any organization—I mean, things change fast in this world,
and everyone needs to be flexible when it comes to figuring things out. I do get frustrated with
government sometimes because there are so many rules and regulations, and sometimes those rules don't
make any sense and it takes forever to change them.
Sophia Perez
Chief Liaison for the Dodd County Department of Planning
So you want to know a little bit about me? That's a question I don't hear very often. I like to keep my
personal life and my private life separate. It's not that I'm not a friendly person. It's just that I take my job
seriously. County planning work is very important and the public relies on us. I want to spend my time
figuring out how to help people—not socializing. We did these personality assessments at work recently,
and that annoyed me. I get annoyed when I'm asked to do things that aren't relevant to getting work
done. That's what's important.
Lisa Truman
Director of Dodd County Department of Public Health
It's so nice to meet you. Can I get you anything? No? I'm so glad to hear that you're going to be directing
this group during the flood response. Please let me know if you need anything. The group of people we're
going to be working with—well, there's some strong personalities in the group. They're all great, don't get
me wrong. I truly believe that everyone in this group has the best interests of the public in mind. But not
everyone agrees on how to make that happen… well, you'll see. Like I said, if you need help figuring this
group out, just let me know.
I'm glad you're asking people to tell you a little about themselves. It's so important for leaders to have a
good sense of the people on their teams. Especially in a situation like this one, where a good deal is at stake
and you have to pull together a group at the last minute.
But anyway, you asked about me. Hmmm... I guess I would say that I'm friendly. I like working with
people very much. That's one of the things I like best about my job. In public health, you get to
collaborate with schools, with businesses, with other government offices. Recently we had an opportunity
to collaborate with a school district that has a high incidence of childhood diabetes. I had the opportunity
to talk to parents and teachers and kids and listen to them talk about their needs. It was so rewarding to
work with the community to come up with some solutions together.
Brad Nygard
Administrator, Dodd County Planning Division
I guess you could say I'm a straightforward guy. Very much so. I know I get on people's nerves sometimes
because I say what I mean. I get really annoyed with passive-aggressive stuff—you know, when people
beat around the bush and you have to translate what they're really trying to say? That's just wasting time.
I actually got into trouble with that at my kid's school. I wanted to know if he was eligible for this
program, and I went to talk to a teacher about it. And the answer was actually "no," my kid wasn't eligible.
But the teacher wouldn't just come out and say that. She kept going on and on about policy, and finally I
just said, look, lady, is my kid eligible, yes or no? And she looked at me like I hit her or something. So
ridiculous.
And the thing is… I mean, I'm fine with the fact that my kid wasn't eligible. Those are the rules and I
respect that. I mean, that's one of the things I like best about working for government. There are
guidelines you have to follow because it's the law. There aren't a lot of gray areas—and if there are gray
areas, you talk to a lawyer or some other expert to figure out what to do. I work with oil and hazardous
materials. When you're talking about an oil leak, there's no gray area about how to deal with it. There are
firm guidelines, established by the government to protect the public's safety. I get annoyed by people who
like to think outside of the box too much—I don't even like that phrase! There's a time and a place for
being creative, like if you're painting a mural or something. But when you're talking about an emergency
like this flood, the best thing we can do for the public is follow the guidelines for protecting them. If it
turns out those guidelines aren't effective, then you go through the proper channels to try to modify them.
That's how it works.
Sebastian Cardoza
Undersheriff of Dodd County
Hey, it's so nice to meet you. You want to know a little bit about me? I think I surprise people. They think
that because I'm a cop, I must be gruff and no-nonsense and stuff like that. But it's a stereotype that we're
all like that. I'm actually more of a people person. I'm a big advocate of community policing… you know,
working with communities to deal with public safety issues? When you build trust and relationships with
community members, then they're way more likely to report suspicious activity. Some people think that
community policing is a little wishy-washy, but it's not. Building relationships works, and it's a better way
to get things done.
Janice Keller
Brown Trout Bay Emergency Manager
I'd say I'm a problem solver, for the most part. Sometimes I get into trouble with friends when they come
to me with problems, and I'm always trying to come up with solutions—and what they're really looking
for is just a shoulder to cry on. Not that I'm not sympathetic to their feelings. It's just my first instinct to
try to analyze the situation and try to help them fix it. And women aren't expected to be that way, which
can be frustrating. It serves me well at work though. When there's an emergency situation, you need to be
on task and figure out quickly how to solve problems. You have to keep calm when there's chaos. And I'm
pretty good at that.
Brianne Twyha
Social Worker, Dodd County
"It’s nice to meet you, and thank you for asking about me. I’m originally from Riverbend City, and I
moved down to Brown Trout Bay 10 years ago to be a county social worker. I love my job. Sure, it can be
exhausting and frustrating. But the best part is collaborating with people to make meaningful change. I
advocate for my clients and help connect them to resources – and in a rural community, it can take some
real imagination to help people find what they need. But I feel the most rewarded when I teach clients the
skills they need to navigate the system for themselves. I like to empower people—that’s what really
motivates me. So that’s a little about me – tell me a little bit about yourself."
True Colors Guide:
BLUE
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Relationship oriented.
Encouraging, compassionate, idealistic, flexible, imaginative.
Strong collaborator and motivator.
GOLD
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Structure oriented.
Loyal, organized, dependable, prepared, rule-orientated, concrete.
Provides stability and maintenance to an organization.
GREEN
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Cognitive oriented.
Analytical, logical, conceptual, calm, inventive, perfectionistic, investigative.
Strong problem-solver and independent thinker.
ORANGE
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Impulse oriented.
Optimistic, immediate, charming, generous, resourceful, friendly, bold.
Strong trouble-shooter and performer.
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