Leaders play a dominant role in giving direction to the business and contributing towards the success of the organization. There are several leadership styles that are adopted by the leaders to influence people. The purpose of this essay is to evaluate Meg Whitman’s style of leadership, using Darling and Leffel’s (2010) framework, which enabled her to be one of the most successful leaders in the world.
A leader, meaning more than merely a manager, is someone who is responsible to guide and direct his or her group. While the manager administers; the leader innovates and focuses on not only systems and structure but also on people. The leader has a long-range perspective.The manager does things right; whereas, the leader does the right things (Murray, 2010). There are different leadership theories supporting different points of view. The Great Man theory believes that great leaders haveinherited crucial characteristics that make them a natural-born leader. Behavioral theory of leadership believes that people can learn to become leaders through teaching and observation(Schyns, Kiefer, & Tymon, 2011). Whereas, the Participative leadership theories suggest that the ideal leadership style is one that takes the input of others into account the transactional theoryfocuses on supervising, organizing and performing as a group(Avolio, Walumbwa, & Weber, 2009). According to Darling &Leffel, there are four types of leadership that include Analyzer (gathering facts and analyze data to reach conclusions), Creator (likes to take an opportunity and innovate), Connector (create a friendly working environment and Director (pragmatic and focuses on tasks and results)(Darling & Leffel, 2010). According to situational theory, different styles of lead...
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...ailable online she stated that she was involved in several sports which enabled her to learn how to relate to a team, how to play the position assigned and the joy of winning as a team (Makers.com, 2014). The leadership traits of taking people along while solving problems tend to be that of a connector and the applying problem solving techniques by analyzing business condition is a demonstration of Analyzer leadership style.
In her keynote speech at the TiECON conference in 2007, she shared some valuable insights into her leadership success which included nurturing Innovation. Part of eBay’s incredible success was its constant innovation. Meg took the opportunity internet offered and transformed eBay into a successful company (Mills, 2008) . Thus out of four leadership dimensions of Darling and Leffel (2010) she demonstrated the traits of an innovator as well.
Keita Powell is a pint-sized powerhouse. She is energetic, result oriented, focused, and driven. Ms. Powell is one of many women in the Mary Kay Cosmetics sales force. She rose through the ranks from Independent Beauty Consultant to Independent Elite Executive Senior Sales Director rather quickly because of her charisma, ability to build a sales team of energetic men and women, and sheer enthusiasm to succeed. One would think that she was an amazing leader to get so many women to follow her in teaching skin care, beauty techniques, increasing and maintaining sells goals and to rise from a very junior consultant to one who is an executive in the business. However, she has made mistakes along the way and continues to feign focus on her sales force and customers but the true focus is on her needs, wants, and desires as well as keeping the use of her free pink Cadillac. This paper will evaluate Ms. Powell's leadership approach through four leadership models discovered through the Unit 3 readings.
Across the globe, there are CEO’s, managers, and several other individual’s in leadership-type roles that have the expectation of making their company successful in the eyes of the investors, the employees, and the customers that they serve. This may be measured by a company’s gross profitability, employee engagement or overall customer satisfaction. Most companies have leadership models and strategies in place that leaders are expected to use in order to drive the expectations of the company while maintaining consistency across the business. In an effort to examine various types of leadership styles, I have conducted interviews with two individuals that are or have been previously tasked with leading their teams and their company towards success.
Leaders are actively on targeting goals and objectives for the people who work for them. In management, many goals are established by staffs and carried out by the managers themselves. Leaders will act to develop in more creative ways solve the problems; keep on going and with new missions. Managers will continue to do whatever is necessary work to accomplish the tasks and usually to get the job done without taking on too much risk or moving forward. The leader's instinct is to take risks instead and to challenge that task holding back by people and think of new ideas within an organization. Leaders more concerned on relationship between staffs, they promote the good staff, help them to develop, and move forward. Managers assign people, focus on personnel issues; and focus on how the job task get done, how they solve it, and how are they finished. (Rashid A., A., 2007).
You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink is a proverb I have heard since I was young. Leadership is the skill of influencing people to accomplish goals (Huber, 2014). In today’s world with policy and technological changes the leaders must use their leadership skills to not only get the horse to the water, have him drink, but also do it with a smile an invite others to join him. Leaders use a variety of styles to accomplish their goals. I will discuss the leadership style that I utilize most often, how my style relates to leadership theories and the work type environment it is most useful in.
1. Leadership is not only a talent. It is also a science that it can be taught, 2. Mobilizing others is the key world of leadership theory. Inspiration is the basic tool that a leader can use, 3. Leadership is not dictatorship. It is a common effort that aims to a common goal, 4. ethics is a significant issue in leadership theory, 5. leadership is interesting to the feelings of the employees who work in a project. People are not numbers but personalities with particular characteristics and wishes, 6. a leader does not need types to be respected by the employees. He gains them with his personality and they follow him because they agree with his recommendations and they trust him.
"Developing a Philosophy of Leadership." . Leadership Paradigms Inc., n.d. Web. 12 Nov 2013. .
Mlls, D. Q. (2005). Leadership How to Lead, How to Live. Boston: Harvad Business School Press.
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
Leadership is a complex idea that is often is hard to define. Everyone seems to have different characteristics that they feel contribute to a good leader. Even though there is no straightforward definition of leadership, there are still certain personality traits, behaviors, skills, and motivators that people admire in a leader. The best example to show how leaders utilize these characteristics is to examine a prominent figure in pop culture, such as Beyoncé. Her life is transparent enough that we can analyze her leadership skills, and how they change in any given situation. Beyoncé’s impact as a leader will be analyzed in three different categories.
The role of leadership can impact an organization performance in many ways. Excellent leadership can propel a company to the fortune five hundred list. For Example, Harpo Incorporated Oprah Winfrey’s company is a successful business that has made billions of dollars over the years. The business consists of several different entities such as the Oprah Show, Oprah Winfrey Network, and The Dr. Phil Show to name a few. This could not have been accomplished with a weak or uneducated leader. Many years ago I heard her give advice to the Williams Sisters. The a...
The leadership is a result of a combination of traits, with special emphasis on the personal qualities of the leader, which he should possess certain personality traits that would be special facilitators in leadership performance. This theory shows that leaders are born as such, there is no likelihood of 'making' them later with personal development techniques.
Some people believe leadership and management are one in the same; however, this is not true because management involves planning, staffing, directing and controlling and, a manager is a person who performs these functions (Leadership Theories and Studies, 2009). The term manager is a formal title given to a person who has authority by virtue of his or her position or office. (Leadership Theories and Studies, 2009) Leadership, by contrast, is about influence; leaders use factors other than just their formal authority to influence subordinates. There are three major leadership theories developed from the 1930s to the 1970s which attempt to explain why some leaders are better than others, these theories are: trait leadership (1930s and 1940s), behavior leadership (1940s and 1950s), and contingency leadership (1960s and 1970s).
Northouse, P. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
...adership Practices in Relation to Productivity and Morale." In D. Cartwright and A. Zander, Group Dynamics: Research and Theory, 2nd ed. (Elmsford, NY: Row, Paterson, 1960)
In this paper I will look at the four major leadership styles, their characteristics, advantages, disadvantages, and in what situations a particular leadership style is desired. Additionally, I will look at my leadership style and how I acquired this style throughout my career.