Darwin Smith, chief executive officer (CEO) of Kimberly-Clark from 1971 until his retirement in 1991 has been identified by Jim Collins in his number 1 best seller Good to Great as “a Level 5 leader—an individual who blends extreme personal humility with intense professional will” (p. 38) . Collins (2011) goes on to explain that the focus of Level 5 leaders is not on themselves or their egos, but rather on the building great companies. Darwin Smith earned his Level 5 designitaion by taking a company that during the twenty-year period (1951 – 1971) prior to his assuming the reins of Kimberly-Clark had under-performed the market by some
Social change and charity have two different effects on the community in chapter one of Leadership for a Better World by Susan R. Komives. Chapter one discusses the differentiation in the ideas when one is more practical in a culture. Social change is defined as affecting the root of the social problem (Komives 11). An example of social change is the Civil Rights Movement, where Martin Luther King Jr. led groups of people to end segregation. King wasn’t just trying to help the problem of having sit in the back of the bus or drinking from different water fountains, his objective was to generate an equal society where racial segregation didn’t exist. Charity classification as donating food, money, and other kinds of goods is given to a community. An illustration of this is the local soup kitchen, where they provide food for the
When Jim Kilts showed up at Gillette in 2001, the first outsider to run the Boston-based company in more than 70 years, he found a business with great brands losing market share. Its acquisitions of Duracell and Braun were not delivering. Sales and earnings were flat, the company had missed its earnings estimates for 15 straight quarters, the stock had plummeted, and Wall Street had lost patience. Yet two-thirds of the top managers were getting top ratings. People were being rewarded for effort; performance, under Mr. Kilts regime, became the new measure.
Central Theme: The most important trait of a great leader is humility. By definition to be humble means to be modest and free from vanity. Jim Collins explores the idea of paradoxical characteristics that make a Level 5 leader (Collins, p.116). According to Collins a level 5 leader is a person that combines “humility and professional will” (Collins p.116). What that essentially means is that the best leaders are humble and they care about making their business or work the best it can be even after they leave their position. Collins mentioned various leaders that combined traits like shyness, modesty, and calmness in combination with will, fearlessness, determination, and ambition. He also explains that these types of leaders do not motivate through charisma but through discipline and strategy. Some leaders, like Smith, tend to be seen as out of place but in reality their work and their ideas create a boost in a company’s success.
John W. Gardner born 1912, had a varied and productive career as an educator, public official, and political reformer. Gardner's belief in society's potential was his guiding force, but he was wary of the dangers of complacency and inaction. Perhaps best known as the founder of the lobby Common Cause, he was the author of several best-selling books on the themes of achieving personal and societal excellence.
“Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes” (Rost, 1931). But in today’s time, the styles of leadership are changed every time a new technology is invented or discovered so there is lack of persistency. The only thing which manages to stay constant is the principles of carrying out business activities. There are philosophies and ideologies on leadership which can be used in any time period as they are mostly a reflection of the principles of leadership. Theorists and authors like Hobbes (1679), Lewin (1947) and Aristotle (384–322 B.C.), in their time have produced enough material which can be put into use by modern day leaders and managers. Philosophers like Aristotle, who was known to be one of the most business-oriented and practical philosopher of his time, his work is still used by businesses today because of their relevance as he is interested in defining principles in terms of the ethics of leadership (Santa Clara University). In the essay I have tried to show how leadership has adapted to the changes around them and compared to the past and what circumstances caused need to change it. As a layman, anyone would think that the principles centuries ago will be very different to what we follow now but after studying on Hobbes, Lewin and Aristotle it has made a big impact on my way of thinking because the work produced by them still has more relevance compared to some of the work produced now. I have tried to explain the evolvement of leadership through three aspects which are psychology, sociology and philosophy.
Sears Holdings is a company in transition. Now, faced with adversity and the threat of bankruptcy looming its leadership has come under scrutiny. “Great leaders not only have drive; they want to lead. Also important is a high need for power, a preference to be in leadership rather than follower positions. A high power need induces people to attempt to influence others, and sustains interest and satisfaction in the process of leadership. When the power need is exercised in moral and socially constructive ways, rather than to the detriment of others, leaders inspire more trust, respect, and commitment to their vision (Bateman, pp 399, 2007).”
Good to Great: Responding to Change. I think that Jim Collins' book is essential for future entrepreneurs, managers, and leaders in the Philippines. The tips given by the author are useful in the dynamic, ever-changing, and constantly fluctuating business environment of the Philippines. Jim Collins described the kind of leader who can address these changes as a Level 5 leader "a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will." The Level 5 leader is not the "corporate savior" or "turnaround expert". Most of the CEOs of the Good To Great companies as they made the transition were company insiders. They were more concerned about what they could "build, create and contribute" than what they could "get - fame, fortune, adulation, power, whatever". No Ken Lay of Enron or Carly Fiorina of HP, the larger-than-life CEO, led a Good To Great company. This kind of executive is "concerned more with their own reputation for personal greatness" than they are with "setting the company up for success in the next generation". Transformations from Good to Great start when a company finds a CEO who is humble but iron-willed, and who is ambitious for the company, not necessarily for himself or herself.
This case study demonstrates a young woman leader, Toby Johnson, who used to serve in the military as a pilot and attended Harvard Business School, joined PepsiCo’s Leadership Development Program (LDP), and was working in the management team at the Williamsport plant. She determined to forge ahead, and led the plant to achieve the Level 3 CI and also won the Doolin Award, which the Williamsport plant had never achieved before. The problem that Johnson encounters currently is that if the plant should continue to forge ahead and achieve the ultimate Level 4 CI, which will cost huge amount of money and efforts with the risk of her sudden leave of plant.
In the 19th century, two revolutionaries who shaped the world’s way of thinking were born on the same exact day and year, Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. These two meticulous, well-spoken leaders made advancements that no other man had ever succeeded in their fields, one in politics, and the other in biological sciences. Besides their identical birthday, they also shared many traits and writing styles. Lincoln and Darwin each allocated time to master specific areas and revised their pieces non-stop, always striving for perfection in order to be satisfied. Although each man improved their fields drastically, Lincoln improved life for many people whilst Darwin’s ideas were already being discovered at the time he released his findings. Lincoln
A particular approach to the idea of leadership style is provided by ROBERT R. Blake and JANE S. Mouton. Blake and mouton managerial grid will be showed in the figure below reflect a theme that is common in many approach to leadership. That theme is that effective leadership requires attention to both task and people. We saw the theme in the Ohio state leader behavior dimensions of initiating structure and considerations. Likert also develops this theme in his theme research when he discusses job centered and employees centered supervision.
CEO Johnston also has plans to bolster the company’s leadership with the best minds available and also use motivational techniques to invigorate his employees. These ideas show the character of the CEO in enhancing productivity from his work force.
Read Chapter 1 in Northouse. What does leadership mean? Justify your response. Explain the following components of leadership: process, influence, group context, and goal attainment.
One of the topics in organizational development today is leadership. Leadership is what individuals do to mobilize other people in organizations and communities. According to Kouzes & Posner, there are five practices and ten commitments of exemplary leadership. The five practices of exemplary leadership include: Model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart. In the Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner found similar patterns and actions of leadership that created the essentials to achieve success. Utilizing the research conducted by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, I have created a leadership plan that would apply to the Admission Department at Texas Wesleyan University.
The leadership style combination between autocratic leadership and empowerment leadership would give the futuristic cutting edge per se, to create a diversified ultimate decision making policy. Autocratic leadership, which is a style that leaders who make decisions on their own without consulting employees enjoy and empowerment, which is a practice in which managers lead employees by sharing power, responsibility, and decision making with them (Boone, L. E., & Kurtz, D. L. 2009 p. 260-270). This mixture creates responsibility and accountability. If the leader is made to lead then, in return they will make certain key decisions based on experience, proven results and a “pocket” of advisors that will guide them based on their on comprehension of the field along the way. This creates a “hierarchy” which is necessary to let the employees who are coming up on the ladder to have a cause and effect “history” so to speak, for many different common and uncommon situations to use in the future.
Leadership is one of the most important facets in organizations. In most cases, leaders act with respect to organizational culture as well as the codes of conduct that determine the manner in which leaders relate with subordinates. Leadership entails the use of effective communication skills to get activities done in the workplace and to ensure that employees shelve their individual interests for the sake of their organizations’ shared targets. It is the role of leaders to ensure that consumers attain high quality products and services by making certain that members of their firms’ workforce are fully motivated to work effectively and utilize resources in an efficient manner (Bass, 22). With the increasingly sophisticated nature of the corporate world, leadership should not be based solely on the desire to control and coordinate affairs within the workplace, but leaders should also exhibit positive examples and continually monitor the changing trends in corporate governance to initiate the most relevant guidelines. Competitiveness can only be attained when leaders are in a position to set the right standards in their firms and coordinate affairs appropriately by understanding consumer and employee needs.