In his article, The leadership journey Schaeffer chronicled his transformation as a chief executive as he navigated what was previously known as Blue Cross and now WellPoint Health Networks insurance company through turbulent waters. Schaeffer adopted various management styles based on the business needs at the time. Autocracy breeds acrimony and the blame will normally be aimed at the leader but it is necessary to wield this type of leadership in order to drive results (Schaeffer, 2002). At the start, he managed with a top-down autocratic style in order to make healthy again the failing insurance organization and to produce consistent profits and growth. Under Schaeffer’s leadership, the company grew from $2 billion to $16 billion in annual …show more content…
Schaffer acknowledged that he was challenged with embracing and leading with varied styles given that autocracy was the leader style to which he naturally leaned towards. He notes that due to how large the company was and how far the company spans geographically that he really had to trust that his managers would know what was best for their employees and customers in their area (Schaeffer, 2002). With the success of the company’s reputation and profitability, Schaffer evolved his leadership style and moved in a reformer leader with traits that authenticated that process improvements and various other changes is possible and whose leadership influenced the numerous employees at the …show more content…
15 years ago when I worked at a previous company, there was new leadership brought in from outside of the company to do exactly what Schaeffer was tasked with, turning an organization around. In this instance, it was a division which encompassed 5 states. Our new leader, Dave, was charismatic and purposeful; he informed all of his leadership, during a face to face meeting, that a restructure needed to be done and why. Just as Schaeffer defined the autocratic leader as one whom must do what is necessary to turn around an emergency situation, not one who bullies their employees to get their way, Dave explained that he understood that many of us will likely dislike him intensely, but it is not personal, we are here to fulfill a business need (Schaeffer, 2002). He was very forthright and led our division with autocracy for approximately six months. I was promoted as his divisional trainer, and while I was in that position and having district manager experience, he held a confidential meeting with me told me he needed me to help with executing a restructure which will require office closures and employee layoffs as the district manager for this state was out on FMLA at the time. Like Schaffer, there had to be elements of surprise when executing such a big change. Dave, six others, including me, approached the closures and layoffs synchronized by our
John P. Kotter, a worldwide famous expert on leadership at Harvard Business School, was a graduate of MIT and Harvard. He joined the Harvard Business School faculty in 1972 and who was voted tenure and a full professorship at the age of thirty-three in 1980. Kotter's honors include an Exxon Award for Innovation in Graduate Business School Curriculum Design and a Johnson, Smith and Knisely Award for New Perspectives in Business Leadership. He again gained the title as the #1 ¡§Leadership Guru¡¨ from a survey for 504 enterprises that was conducted by Business Week magazine. Outline of this book
The CEO’s Day Overview This case examines the multiple duties that the President and CEO of Midvale Community Hospital, Terry Blaze, participated in throughout the day to ensure that the hospital is running effectively. Throughout the day, Blaze attends numerous meetings, which are directed towards improvements, changes, or concerns that will overall affect the hospital. During several of them, he is required to make final decisions; however, he often directs other personnel to make that final judgment call. It was evident that Blaze wore many hats as the President and CEO of the hospital, which made it evident that his time was stretched thin. This could result in tasks going unfinished or completed incorrectly.
If I received the question, “How could you improve your leadership style?” My answer would be “follow the ideals General Schwarzkopf pursued.” His desire to what is right for his followers and his colleagues is an example we should all try to follow. “It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle; it takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle” (Schwarzkopf & Petre, 1992, p. 1).
The styles of leadership to be discussed are transactional, transformational, and “level 5.” The leadership styles will be explored based on the scenario information. There will also be a theoretical assumption used to show company changes that will occur after Executive A retires. From the information presented, the changes could occur immediately or gradually depending on the length of the transition period.
The following information was gathered during an interview with Dr. Clayton Mork from the Crescent School District. Dr. Mork shared information about his leadership style and characteristics as an administrator. This discussion assisted me in the development of a personal theory-based model of school leadership.
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 this paper, we have examined our company of choice, TM Berhad, utilizing each of these four frames as a “spectacle” to determine the leadership approach of its management, and then detailing the more prominent of the frames used.
In hindsight, I believe a more autocratic approach to leadership should have been employed in order to improve the team score and to minimise time wastage. An article by Judge, Piccolo and Ilies (2004) suggested an initiating structure of leadership is highly correlated to objective outcomes including “leader job performance and group – organisation performance” (Judge, Piccolo and Ilies 2004 pp36). If I, as leader, were more informed concerning the task at hand, this form of leadership would have been more efficient, in order to avoid the interminable decision making process.
...ges with general statements that I recognize from my own experiences with leadership. It is very frustrating to be told about a new idea without any type of explanation for the change. I recognize that leading change is incredibly difficult and Kotter seems to understand the structure of organizational change. If leaders will follow his guidelines and recommendations for their organizations, they can improve business and become significantly better companies.
Reviewing this chapter as whole, I noticed that there is no fixed approach mentioned towards a leadership style, rather it suggests that range of different leadership style must be adapted based on the situation. Furthermore, I found out that this chapter lacked some useful information which should have been discussed e.g. it did not emphasis much about leadership styles and strategies in a service industry. However, some distinctive traits successful leader must have were highlighted such as good interpersonal skills, sociability and dominance. Some philosophers believe that leaders are born as a leader which perhaps I don’t really agree to, not all successful leaders were born as a leader. Leadership style can however be adapted in response to situation and needs of the business environment.
Leadership is necessary for a group to accomplish goals. Leadership according to Lamberton and Minor (2014), is the ability to impact people to attain a goal. A leader according to Gaiter (2013), sets direction and influences others to accomplish goals and directs cohesiveness. A leaders’ goal is not just the success of the team but, also the success of individuals on the team, a leader must motivate, inspire and empower others for success (Gaiter, 2013). To accomplish these goals a leader will utilize a leadership style.
Why now? Why are we focusing on transformational leadership? Healthcare costs are continuing to rise. Some of the critical problems and active debates prevalent in many hospital organizations include the rapidly intensifying healthcare costs, funding and reimbursement cutbacks, and concern regarding the overall quality and safety of health care. “Healthcare systems have come under pressure to improve performance and manage productivity” (Botting, 2011). To be successful in the 21st century, there is a demand on healthcare systems to have a vision and executive and clinical leadership to inspire the change process and make the difference between success and failure in change.
Have you ever had a leader that inspired you to develop your own leadership traits? “A leader is someone who demonstrates what’s possible” (Mark Yarnell, 2015). There are numerous leadership styles. Each of the numerous leadership styles can be beneficial if utilized in an appropriate means. I have chosen three leaders and their unique leadership styles to discuss in this paper. The unique styles that will be discussed are situational leadership, transformational leadership, and laissez-faire leadership. I will also discuss each leader’s approaches, their fundamental leadership principles, and how each leader used their style within their profession.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2012). The leadership challenge: How to make extraordinary
A brief description of transformational leadership, according to James MacGregor Burns, is a new paradigm