Report Activity (Leadership Theory: X &Y).

Amado Alejandro Macosay Marín

e-mail: al1709082@upy.edu.mx
Universidad Politécnica de Yucatán
Ingeniería en Robótica Computacional
Leadership of High-Performance Teams, Victor Cámara
Robotics 6A, 09/24/2019

Abstract — The following document shows the development of the activity that will be carried out on
Tuesday, September 24, 2019, about the theory of leadership X and Y, the activity takes place over 40
minutes, in a fast and comprehensive, so that participants can bring as much knowledge and application
of the theory as possible.

Key-words— Leadership X, Y, Activity, Activity.

I. INTRODUCTION
With this activity we will demonstrate how to apply the
theory of leadership X and Y through an activity in this,
we will try to demonstrate how the leader should act
according to the situation, to be able to see in which of
the 5 stages of the activity he takes Better decisions the
leader.

II. GENERAL OBJECTIVES

-Develop an activity, where our theory is demonstrated, which lasts 40 exact minutes, in a dynamic
and creative way.

III. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

-Participants learn the difference between an X leader and a Y leader.
-The participants learn that it is a leader "X"
-The participants know how a leader "Y" works
-Participants have fun

IV. DOUGLAS MCGREGOR

Douglas McGregor was born in Detroit in 1906; He went from an assistant at a service station in
Buffalo, New York, to a professor at the Sloan School of Technology at Massachusetts, until he
became president of Antioch College until 1954.

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He was a mechanical engineer, a graduate in psychology, a master's degree in psychology and a
doctor in experimental psychology from Harvard; For many, he is the ideal character to document
theories about human behavior, motivation and leadership to answer questions such as human
attitude in interpersonal relationships and the organizational climate. [1]

V. THEORY
Theory X
In Theory X, Douglas McGregor summarizes the traditional view of management in a number of
characteristic assumptions in which autocratic leadership style, close supervision and the
hierarchical principle are the key elements.
Theory X starts from the assumption that people are naturally lazy, want to avoid work as much as
possible, do not wish to take responsibility, have no ambition and prefer to be supervised. The
authoritarian leadership style is therefore the most appropriate leadership style in Theory X.
According to this theory, pure work motivation consists of financial incentives. People want to
avoid work and they must be continually coerced and controlled. Therefore, the system of rewards
and punishments works best for them. Furthermore, their tasks and how these should executed must
be laid down in detail. According to this theory, people definitely do not wish to bear any
responsibility for their work. [2]
Theory Y
The central principle of Theory Y is that of integration: individuals can achieve their own goals by
also focusing their efforts on the objectives of the organization they work for. They want to get the
most out of their work through satisfaction, appreciation and motivation. Theory Y invites renewal
processes and motivation can be traced back to the style of leadership. Theory Y therefore assumes
that control, rewards and punishments are not the only ways to stimulate people. People can focus
on the objectives they pursue through self-direction and self-control. [2]

VI. DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTIVITY

Name: Robotics Team War20
The activity is a Rally, where participants go through 5 stages,
they will be divided into 4 teams, in which each team will have a
leader, this leader is assigned a role in the theory, for example
German is a leader "X" and he will be told that in activities he can
only make decisions, without consulting anyone, while leader "Y"
Giovanna can make decisions together with his team.

In the 4 teams, they will have 6 members, each member will have
a different point value, which when added gives a total of 100
points.
The activities consist of 2 activities of strength and 2 of intellect plus one of surprise or random, in
each activity the leader can go on to do the activity or choose who will happen, only that this will
depend on the role of the type of leader that is assigned, either "X" or "Y", in each activity if they
pass it, they keep their points, but in case they do not pass it, they have the option of leaving the

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member who lost it and only losing the points of that member, example Aaron is worth 5 points, he
goes on to do a strength test and he fails, the leader can choose to lose Aaron who are 5 points or
lose 20 points if he wants to keep it, but this is at his discretion because Aaron may be more
important in another activity, for example intelligence.
The team wins in two ways if it has the most points or if I keep all its members. In the end they will
have a final reflection where they will be explained which were the best options. Remember that
leader X and Y do not have to be one is good or another is bad, since the type of leadership depends
on the situation.
The participation of us in this activity, each one will be assigned to a team, we will explain to them
that they understand each stage, we will explain the theory only in a general way and we will ensure
that they comply with the rules.

VII. PLAN OF THE ACTIVITY

Description

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Instructions

Example

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Teams

Stages description

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Stages map

VIII. CONCLUSION
Well, I learned many things thanks to the realization of this activity, such as, that an X
leader cannot always be seen as a bad one, since in Douglas's theory, this was strongly
criticized, since he left Leader X as the bad and selfish, and I thought that the Y was a
leader we should all get to, but it is not like that, it is very good to delegate work, but
everything depends on the situation you are in, since not in all cases it will be the right
thing to consult with all, since this can be delayed, since they still have to do a negotiation
process with the application of their ideas, so that the employees or members of the team
are not affected.

The leadership of our team was led by Daniel and Thomas in the end, it was a mix between
leader X and Y, since at first they were doing all the work by themselves, until they were
involved that their ideas did not give more and always they were in conflict with each other,
so we held a series of meetings where we began to dialogue with each other and we mixed
their ideas, improving others and even removing and putting new things, until reaching a
consensus where we were all satisfied. In my opinion the activity looks very fun and I
would like to participate in a team that I would play even more in one with a "Y" leader,
because I want to be heard. The negotiation processes in the team were slow at the
beginning, until Friday we reached an agreement in a more concrete and solid way.
IX. REFERS
[1] McGregor's leadership theory. (2019). Retrieved 24 September 2019, from
https://www.cuidatudinero.com/13174209/la-teoria-del-liderazgo-de-mcgregor
[2] Mulder, P. (2019). McGregor Theory X and Theory Y, 2 different leadership styles | ToolsHero.
Retrieved 24 September 2019, from https://www.toolshero.com/leadership/mcgregor-theory/

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