The Culture of the Organization - Case Study Example

Leadership of Jack Welch Background of Jack Welch Jack Welch is one of the global most respected and celebrated business leaders with unmatched track record of leadership success. Jack Welch is the head of Jack Welch LLC where he serves as a Senior Advisor with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice private equity firm (Jack Welch Management Institute, 2014). Jack works in the financial industry and has contributed immensely to growth of various enterprises. The organization is committed to identifying emerging business opportunities and investing in projects that will deliver higher returns to capital owners. The organization has a flexible culture that encourages informal communications, innovation and faster decision making. The culture of the organization is innovative and aims at tapping new ideas that are more efficient and effective in solving day-to-day problems in the society (Northouse, 2010). The culture encourages team spirit, individual achievement and higher performance. Jack Welch has worked in numerous leadership positions with the most notable being Chief Executive Officer of General Electric. Jack Welch’s love for people is evidenced his love for mentorship and commitment to building leaders through various seminars, higher institution of learning lecturers at the Jack Welch Management Institute and videoconferencing with leadership students (Jack Welch Management Institute, 2014). Jack Welch started his career at General Electric after graduating from Massachusetts University with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1960 (Jack Welch Management Institute, 2014). He initially worked in the Chemical Development division, but was later promoted to head worldwide plastics division as a general manager in 1972. He became the youngest CEO and Chairman in 1981 and guided the company through great transformation until he stepped down in 2001 (Jack Welch Management Institute, 2014). Jack Welch roles and responsibilities His roles include articulating the business vision, directing, coaching, supporting and delegating roles to the subordinates in order to attain the organizational vision. The leader is tasked with setting goals for the company after analyzing the current business environment trends and capabilities of the company. Jack sets challenging, attainable and time-bound goals that are realistic in attaining the overall objectives of the business (Northouse, 2010). The leader has a role in solving problems through encouraging the creativity and innovative ideas from his followers and making decisions that aim at implementing the solutions. The leader is tasked with inspiring and motivating the teams through getting the team members to understand the overall expected business outcomes (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012). The leader is also tasked with training and getting feedback on the impact of the training programs on the subordinates skills and attitudes. Jack Welch Leadership style Jack Welch uses transformational leadership style that aims at changing the status quo by appealing to the followers’ values. According to this style, leaders with higher moral values are considered as transformational due to their inspirational motivation, individualised consideration, charisma, and intellectual stimulation. The style is based on the assumption that people will follow those who inspire them and people with vision will attain the right results by identifying and removing all constraints that hinder performance (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012). Transformational leadership style of Jack Welch is effective since it encompasses use of intrinsic motivation and development of the followers. Jack Welch succeeded in turning around General Electric to the largest and most valuable company in the US by 2001 through intrinsic motivation of the employees (Northouse, 2010). For instance, the leader would offer verbal appreciation and recommendations for expected performance and behaviors of the subordinates. His leadership style entailed provision of challenging tasks and delegation of responsibility. Another reason why the leadership style is effective is because it promotes cooperation and harmony among colleagues in the organization (Northouse, 2010). Jack Welch encourages formation of high-performance and diverse teams that are essential in fostering creativity in the organization. The leadership style entails use of persuasive appeals and interpersonal relationships in order to foster teamwork that enhances the productivity of the organization. Transformational leadership is effective due to the inspirational motivation of the leader in articulating the shared vision and inspiring the followers. This aspect of the leadership style involves using challenging standards and always communicating optimism while interacting with the employees (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012). The employees must attain a strong sense of purpose that will drive their energy in their tasks. Jack Welch has excellent communication skills that enable him to communicate powerfully and in an engaging manner with the employees during various meetings and events that aim at creating optimism and strengthening working relationships in the organization. The third reason for the effectiveness of transformational leadership is the individualized consideration that ensures leaders take genuine concern for the individual concerns and needs of the followers. For instance, Jack Welch provides personal attention to individual employees through answering their questions and guiding them on how to become global leaders. The individualized consideration ensures that all employees feel valued and respected in the organization since their personal needs are addressed by the leaders (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012). Transformational leadership style is also effective due to the intellectual stimulation since the leader will challenge the followers to remain more innovative and creativity in their work (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012). The leader is capable of building a corporate culture that supports the ideas of subordinates thus leading to more efficient innovations that will improve the overall productivity of the organization (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012). For instance, Jack Welch allowed the subordinates to implement new and innovative designs at General Electric that led to streamlining of the production process and cost savings. However, transformational leadership style is ineffective in situations where the leader is incapable of inspiring the followers to commit their abilities towards the shared organizational goals. The style depends on the level of trust and popularity that the leader enjoys among the followers thus it is essential to instill a high sense of team spirit among the followers (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012). Accordingly, the style requires the leader to have a high degree of agreeableness and idealized influence in order to cater for the differing opinions and needs of all followers (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012). Significant challenges faced as a leader Jack Welch has faced significant challenges as a leader. One of the challenges was the management of change and transition to new systems and business strategy that will turnaround General Electric from low productivity to higher productivity immediately he appointed as the Chief Executive Officer. The leader had to change the culture of the company in order to facilitate learning and innovation and in this case he faced high resistance from the senior employees who feared retrenchment after the change of the company structure. Jack managed to overcome the challenge through his inspirational approach and ability to articulate his business strategy to the subordinates (Roe, 2014). Greatest achievement as a leader One of the greatest achievements of Jack Welch was the transformation of General Electric during his tenure. He managed to propel the company from a market value of $ 14 billion in 1980s to $ 410 billion by the time he left in 2000 (Jack Welch Management Institute, 2014). At the time of his appointment as the CEO in 1980, General Electric was recorded $ 26.8 billion in annual revenues, but he guided the company through consistent growth to $ 130 annual revenue in 2000. The Fortune Magazine named him the manager of the century while the Financial Times recognized him as one of the most admired corporate leaders across the world today (Jack Welch Management Institute, 2014). Reflection The research has enabled me understand various leadership skills and styles that are essential for modern organizations. I have appreciated the role of a leader in articulating shared goals and influencing the efforts of the subordinates towards the attainment of the goals. The research has enabled me understand behavioral theories of leadership behavior that include the autocratic leaders, democratic leaders and laissez-faire leaders (Roe, 2014). I have learnt that certain leadership approaches such as autocratic leadership style where the leader makes decisions without consulting his followers are not appropriate since team input is essential and followers need a sense of ownership of the decisions that affect their lives (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012). In this case, autocratic leaders are authoritarian and demoralizing and will hinder cordial relationships within the organization. Accordingly, the research has enabled me gain knowledge of democratic leadership style that involves including all followers in decision-making thus leading to higher job satisfaction and higher productivity. Laissez-faire leaders have an hands-off approach in leading their teams since they allow the team members to make most decisions without providing close supervision. Another style that I have learned is the charismatic leadership which is similar to transformational leadership, but relies on the charisma and trust of the leader to drive organizational change in the organization (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012). Servant leadership approach aims at meeting the needs of the followers without formal position as a leader. Servant leaders are identified by their generosity, integrity and empathy that leads to positive corporate culture. On the other hand, transactional leadership is short-term and leaders use rewards and punishments to influence the behavior of their followers towards completing short-term tasks. The subordinates are motivated by the external rewards that include good salaries and their performance is evaluated on expected standards (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012). The research has enabled me understand the situational leadership theory that focuses on the contingent or existing situations that requires the leader to make a decision. In this case, the leader can make faster decisions in situations of emergency or where democratic participation or relationships with followers cannot allow for transformational leadership approach (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012). The research has enabled me understand that effective leadership will entail motivating the followers to buy in to and deliver the common organizational vision. Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy (2012) points out that the leader should combine change management skills that involve articulating a mission statement and telling stories that inspire subordinates through highlighting the positive impact of the new vision. The leader should manage the implementation of the vision through setting specific, measurable and realistic goals that involve certain short-term wins that will guide the overall vision (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012). The leader should communicate the roles and responsibilities of all the employees effectively and provide an environment that supports building of trust-based relationships. According to the research, power and influence contributes to leader’s behavior and some of the sources of power include expert power, position power, legitimate power, referent power and coercive power (Roe, 2014). The use of personal sources of power such as referent power is more effective in influencing the behavior of followers than use of coercive or reward power. In this case, successful leaders will rely on their charm, emotional intelligence, confidence, communication abilities, negotiation skills and personal appeal in order to mould the behavior and efforts of followers towards accomplishment of clear organizational goals (Roe, 2014). I have gained practical knowledge on how leaders succeed in influencing the behavior of subordinates and motivating them. The leaders use various motivational approaches such as provision of basic wants, offering job security and allowing the followers to form informal groups in order to attain a sense of belonging. In this case, effective leaders guide their followers in attaining self-esteem and self-actualization through offering opportunities where followers will exercise their creativity and attain a sense of personal accomplishment (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012). Implications for my personal leadership style The research has enabled me conduct a self-assessment on my personal leadership style. I have realized that I have high emotional intelligence and integrity and thus transformational leadership is my appropriate leadership style. I am capable of inspiring my colleagues and teams members through highlighting the need to attain certain goals and highlighting the future scenarios for not committing to achievement of the goals. Accordingly, I have excellent communication and negotiation skills that are critical in persuading team members and followers to dedicate their efforts and abilities towards the attainment of the shared goals. In this case, I will be capable of setting clear goals, encouraging others, and outlining high expectations in the organization. The research has enabled me acknowledge that I will be expected to be a model of integrity and fairness in my leadership position and get subordinates to look beyond their personal interests. As a future leader, I have realized that I will succeed in leading through developing a challenging vision and outlining a strategy that will be critical in attaining the vision. Accordingly, I will specify the action plans and express confidence through inspiring optimism. I will cater for the individual needs of my subordinates and recognize small successes that contribute to the attainment of the overall vision. Accordingly, I will encourage innovation through delegating responsibility, job enrichment and encouraging the subordinates to participate in decision-making. References: Hughes, R.L., Ginnett, R.C., & Curphy, G.J. (2012). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience. (7th ed). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Jack Welch Management Institute. (2014). ‘Jack Welch’, Accessed on 19th December, 2014 from http://jackwelch.strayer.edu/about/jack-welch. Northouse, P.G. (2010). Leadership: theory and practice. New York: Sage. Roe, K. (2014). Leadership: practice and perspectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Read More