Several participants also felt that one of the most serious problems with the service was the perceived
dictatorial, top-down approach. A survey conducted by the organisation just before this study indicated that only
7% of employees felt that they were able to contribute to executive decisions. Some participants thought that
there was no collaboration with staff, that everything was generally on a need-to-know basis, and that team
leaders were not given access to important documents, including evaluation reports. Others contended that the
leadership styles had encouraged an "us and them" mentality that had resulted in exclusion-based decision
making. Most participants advocated for a more inclusive, bottom-up-based leadership style. It appeared from
the data that leaders may not have adopted an organisational development approach, using the skills of
education and communication, participation and involvement, and facilitation and support, in leading change