Westinghouse Leadership System - Essay Example

Leadership System For any given organization, there are a number of leadership systems and styles that can be put in place to ensure the rapid running of the organization. All in all, leadership system is defined by the approach the leader uses in dealing with subordinates as well as the level of involvement allowed in decision making in the organization. To this end, there may be three major forms of leadership systems, which include democratic leadership, in which leaders allow a high level of participation of subordinates in the decision making process.

In this instance, leaders do not sit back during decision making. They come together with workers to share ideas on the best ways for directing the organization. There also is the lazier faire leadership system in which leaders delegate most of their responsibilities to their subordinates. During most of these times, leaders sit back and watch subordinates take up the decision making process. The final form is the autocratic leadership, which may be said to be the opposite of the lazier faire because leaders take decisions all alone.

For Westinghouse, democratic leadership has been practiced for such a long time. This means that there is a high level of decentralization of decision making in the sense that workers and leaders have all had their inputs coming aboard the decision table for thorough scrutiny and brainstorming till a concluding decision is made. Design of Effective Leadership System In the opinion of the writer, a leadership system that can be described as effective is one that is dynamic and responds to time.

What this means is that no one of the three leadership systems should be treated sacrosanct. Rather, leadership should adapt to any of the systems as and when it becomes necessary. This system may be dubbed the 3-tier leadership approach. It would be noted that there are major merits associated with each of the three leadership systems. For instance the autocratic leadership is very appropriate for high level executive decisions that have to do with the shareholding structure of the organization.

For such decisions as acquisitions and mergers, it is important that leadership use their experience, authority and expertise to take firm decisions that should not necessarily involve other junior workers and executives. The lazier faire leadership also becomes necessary when leaders want to train new executives to take over major roles and positions at the work place, in such a situation, it will always be important to leave out task to trainees to make evaluation and monitoring of their performances possible.

On the part of democratic leadership, it should be a leadership system that comes in with everyday basic decisions that can easily involve the ideologies, thoughts and views of other workers. The Leadership Case of Westinghouse Among the current leaders of Westinghouse is Anthony D. Greco who is the Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Corporate Relations. Some of his major accomplishments include the provision of “executive leadership for global organizational integration efforts (Westinghouse, 2012).

It is also on record that “he took the lead in executive assessment, staffing and development, recommending and implementing high-level organizational change efforts” (Westinghouse, 2012). Part of his success has been attributed to the fact that he allows a very high level of participation from all workers who serve under him. This has however led to some minor setbacks such as delay in some executive decisions. Generally, some of these delays account for a few successes that he could have easily accrued that have not been accrued yet.

In conclusion therefore, it would be said that it is important that he blends all three leadership systems to ensure that where necessary, decision making would not have to go through the long chain process of getting the ideas of each and every member on board. Just as explained in the 3-tier system, he needs to implement this effectively. REFERENCE LIST Buttell, A. E. (2009, November/December). Scenario planning for your business. Journal of Financial Planning, 10-11. [Jones e-global library.

Business Source Premier] Goldman, E., Cahill, T., & Filho, R. (2009). Experiences that develop the ability to think strategically. Journal of Healthcare Management, 54(6), 403–417. [Jones e-global library: Academic Search Premier] Westinghouse (2012). Executive Biographies: Anthony D. Greco. Accessed June 10, 2012 from http://www.westinghousenuclear.com/our_company/executive_biographies/anthony_greco_bio.shtm