Assignment 2: 21st Century Leadership

The 20th and 21st centuries have produced many business leaders, such as corporate giants like Jack Welch of GE, Daymond John of FUBU, Steve Jobs of Apple, and Herb Kelleher of Southwest. In addition, many hip-hop moguls have risen to prominence, such as Sean Combs, aka P Diddy, of Bad Boy Records; Russell Simmons, founder of Def Jam; and Sean Carter, aka Jay Z, of Rock Nation.

 

Regardless of their business models and industries, organizational leaders are expected to create realistic visions for their companies and the people that they guide. However, such visions often result in vastly different leadership styles. Therefore, experts have concluded that there is no one best leadership style geared towards guiding employees and companies to accomplishing organizational goals.

 

Using the Internet and Strayer databases, research your favorite senior executive (CEO, CFO, COO, Director, President, Founder, etc.) from any organization that has made a strong impact on his or her industry (fashion, music, food, banking, technology, automotive, etc.).

 

Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:

1. Describe the overall leadership style(s) of your chosen senior executive. 
2. Analyze the organizational structure and culture of the company your chosen executive has led, or is currently leading, and determine the company’s approach to human capital management and employee development. Next, explain whether or not you believe your chosen senior executive’s leadership approach has enhanced workplace productivity and the shared vision of the organization. Provide one to two (1-2) examples of your chosen senior executive’s actions to support your response.
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of your selected leader’s performance, based on his or her ethical conduct and effective communication. Next, determine whether the chosen leader was successful in motivating and empowering his or her employees and gaining customer loyalty.
4. Determine three (3) best practices that other organizational leaders can use in order to motivate employees and transform their company, based on practices that you believe made your chosen leader successful at his or her company and within his or her industry. Support your rationale with an explanation of the potential benefits that other business leaders may reap from your chosen best practices.
5. Use at least five (5) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

 

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

 

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Explain the multiple aspects of the managerial planning process and the application of various business- and corporate-level strategies.
• Analyze the importance of ethical behavior to an organization’s culture and the new ethical dilemmas created by globalization.
• Determine viable organizational structures by addressing the key considerations in organizational structure, applying the process of division of labor, and adapting basic structural formats.
• Explain the principal theories of leadership and motivation, and describe the fundamental considerations in managing and motivating individual and group behavior.
• Describe actions to improve communications, manage conflict, develop strong organizational culture, and improve the ethical behavior in organizations.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in management concepts.
• Write clearly and concisely about management concepts using proper writing mechanics.

Assignment 2: 21st Century Leadership

LEADERSHIP Importance of Good Leadership to an Organization Student’s Name Institution Course Instructor’s Name Date   LEADERSHIP Importance of Good Leadership to an Organization Question #1: Leadership styles Most of leaders use more than one style of leadership in the organizations they lead. The selected senior executive is Cathy Engelbert of Deloitte. The leader uses three different types of leadership styles in the organization. The purpose of these diversifications is to optimize the performance of the employees and managers and hence the overall organization’s performance (Sethuraman & Suresh, 2014). The use of different styles also depends on the goals of the organization and the tasks that have to be completed. The following are the different types the leader is using in the company. Participative leadership style This is sometimes called the democratic leadership style. It is a situation where the leader in question values the input of the managers and employees, the team members of the organization and other executive members of the organization but the final decision is left for the leader (Sethuraman & Suresh, 2014). He therefore has the responsibility to provide insights and make evaluation to come up with the best alternatives to choose. It is an appropriate leadership style since it motivates employees and increases their morale to work in the organization. This is because they are also allowed to take part in the decision making process as their opinions and ideas are included as alternatives to be considered. (Sethuraman & Suresh, 2014) shows that, the general effect of this is that the productivity will increase and growth of the organization will be significant. It is also effective when an organization wants to make some changes in some ways of operations and in one of their systems, as the employees will easily accept the changes since there participation is valued. However, it can experience a number of challenges when it comes to making changes in the organization that are to be implemented within short periods of time. Transformational leadership style The leader also applies this kind of style when handling the organization strategic activities. This involves a situation where the leader utilizes high levels of communication that is very effective from the management team in order to achieve the organization’s goals (Sethuraman & Suresh, 2014). The communication helps provide visibility in the organization that the leader uses to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, motivation and productivity in the organization. The role of management is most valued in this leadership style in order to meet the objectives of the organization (Sethuraman & Suresh, 2014). The function of the leader is to look at the general perspective of the organization and carry out delegation of duties to different team members for the achievement of the goals. Transactional leadership style This is where managers are given tasks to perform and team members assigned to such tasks are rewarded or punished depending on the ...

• leadership.docx 51 KB

Assignment 2: 21st Century Leadership

The 20th and 21st centuries have produced many business leaders, such as corporate giants like Jack Welch of GE, Daymond John of FUBU, Steve Jobs of Apple, and Herb Kelleher of Southwest. In addition, many hip-hop moguls have risen to prominence, such as Sean Combs, aka P Diddy, of Bad Boy Records; Russell Simmons, founder of Def Jam; and Sean Carter, aka Jay Z, of Rock Nation. Regardless of their business models and industries, organizational leaders are expected to create realistic visions for their companies and the people that they guide. However, such visions often result in vastly different leadership styles. Therefore, experts have concluded that there is no one best leadership style geared towards guiding employees and companies to accomplishing organizational goals. Using the Internet and Strayer databases, research your favorite senior executive (CEO, CFO, COO, Director, President, Founder, etc.) from any organization that has made...

• Assignment 2 21st Century Leadership.docx 26 KB

Assignment 2: 21st Century Leadership

Regardless of their business models and industries, organizational leaders are expected to create realistic visions for their companies and the people that they guide. However, such visions often result in vastly different leadership styles. Therefore, experts have concluded that there is no one best leadership style geared towards guiding employees and companies to accomplishing organizational goals. Using the Internet and Strayer databases, research your favorite seni...

• leadership.docx 47 KB