Leadership Failure Position - Essay Example

Leadership Failure Position Essay The nature of effective leadership is central to effective organizations. While considerable investigation has been given to what contributes to effective leadership, the nature of ineffective leadership, or leadership failures, are often sensationalized. Indeed, over the last year a number of highly publicized leadership failures occurred gaining great media acclaim and even greater shame for those involved. In this context of understanding, one considers everything from Jon Corzine at MF Global, to Rupert Murdoch with News International, and the Anthony Weiner Twitter scandal. Among these leadership failures the Anthony Weiner scandal is unique to the 21st century, as social media directly contributed it to. This essay examines the extent of Anthony Weiner’s failure of leadership in terms of Weiner’s personal responsibility, Weiner’s institutional affiliation as a member of the House of Representatives, and the significance of the incident occurring through social media. One of the central considerations of the Anthony Weiner scandal is the extent that the Congressman failed to live up to his own leadership responsibilities. The Contingency Model of Leadership considers that personal and situational characteristic affect leadership effectiveness. These considerations are also notable when considering that the Contingency Model presents a number of predictive patterns of behavior for the leader. These predictive patterns are based on relative amounts of situational control. In these regards, one considers that Weiner’s propensity towards such behavior may be indicative of a lack of ethical responsibility in other aspects of his life. To an extent it seems that Weiner demonstrates a charismatic and relationship-motivated leadership approach.Indeed, a New York Times article announcing Weiner’s resignation notes that some of his colleagues described him as, “a publicity seeker unwilling to put in the hard work needed to pass serious legislation” (Hernandez, 2011). This is seemingly indicative of an individual that is task-averse. To an extent then the action’s Weiner took may be thematically indicative of his situational approach to other aspects of his life and career. One also considers if Weiner’s gender may have contributed to his increased scrutiny. Such a consideration has long been a question in prominent sex cases where an older woman engages in consensual relations with a minor. While Weiner’s situation is clearly different, it seems that to an extent the logic could be applied to this situation. In Weiner’s situation the nature of him sending photos of a sexual nature to a woman seemingly is indicative of an abuse of power on his part. The nature of such an act being more pronounced when emerging from a male because of both masculine physicality, as well as the social connotations that surround the male gender. While Weiner’s personal responsibility is a prominent element of his leadership failure, it’s also necessary to consider Weiner’s institutional position as Congressman. Clearly, the scandal gained media attention for Weiner’s position as a member of the House of Representatives. One considers that prior to the scandal Anthony Weiner had gained a reputation for bombastic and sensational speeches on the House floor that may have alienated him from his colleagues. Following the emergence of the sexting scandal a Democratic strategist noted that,“The key for Weiner to hold onto his seat will be his ability to work the ‘inside game’” (Hennessey, 2011).In this context of understanding, the individual is noting that to a great extent Weiner’s ability to save his seat was contingent on his ability to network within Congress. Such an understanding seems to throw into question the extent that Weiner’s actions were truly a failure of leadership, and instead a failure to effectively play the political game. The Anthony Weiner incident also presents a unique situational context having occurred on the social media platform Twitter. Within this context of understanding, one considers the Contingency Model of leadership. It is understood that contingency, or situational, leadership is such that a leader’s approach to a situation is contingent on the specific context of this situation. One considers that social media presented a new medium that had limited ethical precedent. While few would condone Weiner’s behavior, his actions did constitute a form of interaction that had neither been affirmed nor rejected in mainstream society. Still, in following situational leadership, one considers that an effective leader would have carried over the proper decorum into the social networking context. As such Weiner’s failure as a leader was a failure to meet the demands of the specific situation. From another perspective one considers that the social network context may have contributed to the sensational nature of the scandal. Consider that major media outlets consistently focused on the lascivious nature of the scandal. One outlet noted that,“RadarOnline published some of a March 16 exchange in which Weiner wrote that he had a “‘ridiculous bulge in my shorts now. wanna see?’” (Gendar 2011). Another news story quoted the woman involved in the scandal, as she stated, "I have more than 200 messages from him and they're all explicit in nature," ("Anthony weiner twitter," 2011). While these elements are slightly informative, they are seemingly more appropriate for TMZ than they are a serious news publication. To an extent it seems that the addictive and viral nature of Twitter and Facebook may have contributed to the widespread and sensationalized nature of the scandal. When one examines this potential, the extent that Congressman Weiner truly had a failure of leadership -- or simply became the victim of the 24-hour news and gossip cycle -- is brought to the forefront of consideration. In conclusion, this essay has examined the extent that the Anthony Weiner scandal constituted a failure of leadership. Within this mode of understanding, Weiner’s personal responsibility, his institutional affiliation, and the social media context of the scandal have been considered. Further consideration has been given to the Contingency Leadership Model and Weiner’s nature as a charismatic and relationship-based leader. Ultimately, the essay argues that while Weiner traversed a clear moral boundary, extraneous and at times hypocritical factors contributed to the widespread and sensational nature of the incident. References Anthony weiner twitter scandal: New photos emerge . (2011). Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/06/anthony-weiner-twitter-new-photos_n_871817.html Gendar, A. (2011). Rep. anthonyweiner's 'sext' scandal grows. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/06/06/rep-anthony-weiners-sext-scandal-grows Hennessey, K. (2011). Pressure on rep. weiner unrelenting, for now. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/07/nation/la-na-weiner-20110608 Hernandez, R. (2011). Weiner resigns in chaotic final scene. 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