The Right Kind of Leaders in the Growth of the Company - Term Paper Example

Understanding How The Development The Right Kind of Leaders and the Establish a Dynamic Working Environment Can Affect The Growth of the Company and Its Ability To Stay Competitive I. Introduction According to Bailey (1997), a leader is like a conductor of an orchestra. With use of his baton, the leader directs hundreds of musicians to create a unified sound or music. If the conductor does not know how to wield his or her baton to direct his or her members, the orchestra will not be able to produce that desirable sound. In the same manner, if the leader does not know how to set his or her organization in the right direction, the organization will not be productive (Blanchard et al 2005). In fact, a misguided organization may not even survive in a very competitive environment. In today’s business environment, an organization needs to have the right kind of leader to stay competitive. As consultant for an organization, my task is to advice my client quality of leadership and improving teamwork success. To go about these tasks, General Electric Inc under the leadership of Jack Welch, Apple Inc under Steve Jobs and Microsoft under the leadership of Bill Gates as my model. General Electric Inc is one of the leading companies in the country today and it has been through a lot of challenges in its bid to stay on top. On the other hand, Apple Inc is one of the pioneers in the field of technology. This company has produced some of the selling gadgets in the market today. Moreover, I will touch on the teamwork of Federal Express’ newest addition to its group, the FedEx Kinko. Although FedEx Kinko is relatively new, it has drawn a wealth of ideas from the experience of FedEx itself so this company is more or less on the right track when it comes to its company goals and strategies. II. Defining Leadership and The Winning Team In order for a company to move forward and in the right direction, it needs to attract the right kind of leaders to run its affairs. As consultant, I will advise my client to (a) hire the right kind of people that can lead the company to the next level, (b) develop a leadership and management style that nurture its people and harness their full potentials, (c) create an environment that facilitates dynamic exchange of ideas (d) create an working environment where the team members have a sense of ownership over the outcomes of the company’s projects and undertaking and (e) create a working environment where the team members are given recognition for their contribution to their company. By hiring the right kind of people, the company will spend less time and money on training and capacity building. When hiring leaders to lead the company, the company needs to look into certain sets of criteria and leadership style. According to Drucker (1967), characteristics of leaders may differ but they always get the right things done and in doing their jobs, these people also utilize their time effectively, organize their tasks according to priorities, focus on the contribution of others and make effective decisions. Barrick et al (2001) on the other hand said that good leaders often follow the five factor models of personality which are (a) emotional stability (b) extraversion, (c) agreeableness, (d) conscientiousness and (e) openness to new ideas and experiences. Different leaders have varying styles of leadership but for purposes of building a winning team, I would recommend to my client to use the transformational leadership style. According to Burns (1978), leadership is not just about giving orders to subordinates or employees but it is more of bringing out the best out from the subordinates. Burns believe that if a leader wants to get the best out of his or her employees, he or she needs to motivate the employees and make them feel that they are part of the success or failure of the organization. By letting the employees feel that they have a stake over the company, the leader can draw-out more support from the subordinates (Bass, B. 1995). In other words, a transformational leader lets the follower feel that he or she is needed and that his or her contribution to the company is recognized and valued. In order for the transformational leader to be effective at his or her job, he or she needs to exude a certain degree of charisma that encourages people to follow him or her (Bass, B. 1985; Harvey, A 2001). A clear example of this type of leader is Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. These two people have become like a cult in the computer industry and highly skilled people fall all over themselves to work for these two people. You see, charismatic leaders tend to attract the right kind of people and they tend to command loyalty from the people who work for them (Harvey, A 2001). The people at Apple Inc and Microsoft believe in their leaders so they tend to stick with the company and work hard to be part of it. Now, not all companies can have Executive Officers like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs but the point here is that if a company has a leader that inspire confidence among his or her followers, that company is better off than the other companies whose leaders are not charismatic. Another leader who is known for his charisma and ability to sway people to his liking is Jack Welch who was the CEO of General Electric for 20 years (Fox, 2002). While Welch was at the helm of General Electric, he shaped the company according to his vision of a truly competitive organization (Byrne & Welch, 2001). Like Bill Gates, he knows how to hire the right kind of people. He also understands the importance of teamwork so despite the fact that he was unwilling to change for the company, Welch went out of the way to build teams and gather ideas from his subordinates (Byrne & Welch, 2001). Welch was driven by his love for competition and he inspires his people to stay on top of the game (Byrne & Welch, 2001). His blunt and impatient nature made him a tough person to work for but since he also knows how to thank his people for a job well-done, many of his people stayed with the company through thick and thin (Byrne & Welch, 2001). Won’t a charismatic leader tend to be egotistic and tends to become the “company” himself? Yes, there is always a danger that the charismatic leader will become the cornerstone of the company and that the company will become leader driven (Benezra, Karen & Jennifer Gilbert 2002). However, if the company has teams that work under the supervision of the charismatic leader, then the company will continue to grow even when the charismatic leader steps down (Benezra, Karen & Jennifer Gilbert 2002). A clear example of this situation is the case of Microsoft. When Bill Gates stepped down as CEO of the company in 2001, the company did not die (Lesinski, Jeanne M., 2006). Yes, there was a temporary loss of momentum but because Microsoft has teams that work for the company, it survived and stayed on top of the competition. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Jack Welch may not be the ideal pictures of transformational leaders but they posses most of the desirable traits of a transformational leader. Note that the most basic principle behind the theory of transformational leadership is ability of the leader to reach out to his or her subordinates. According to Kouzes, J.,Posner, B. (1999), for a leader to be able to build a strong and cohesive team, he or she must be able to manage the emotions of his or her subordinates. Kouzes, J.,Posner, B. (1999) suggested that for a leader to be able to bring out the best in his or her subordinates, her or she must use the seven elements of leading through emotions. These seven desirable traits are the ability to (1) set clear goals, (2) expect the best from subordinates or employees, (3) pay close attention to the tasks at hand and the people who are involved in the performance of the tasks, (4) give personalized attention, (5) tell inspiring stories, (6) celebrate the success of the company together with the subordinates of employees, and (7) set examples (Kouzes, J.,Posner, B. 1999). Out of the seven traits mentioned above, Kouzes, J.,Posner, B. (1999) distilled four elements of successful transformational leadership. These elements are (a) individualized consideration, (b) intellectual stimulation, (c) inspirational motivation, and (d) idealized influence. In terms of individualized consideration, the transformational leader takes time to attend to the needs of each follow and act as mentor or coach to these people. Despite being busy, the transformational leader finds the time to listen to his or her follower’s concerns and ideas. According to Kouzes, J.,Posner, B. (1999), once the followers feel that they are valuable to the company, they tend to work harder to develop themselves and contribute more to the company. As the followers become more aware of the support of the company to them, they tend to tune in to each other and see each other as part of a highly motivated team. A good example of a company that uses this strategy is FedEx Kinko, the newest addition to the FedEx companies. The core values of this company states that “We value and care for our team members so that they can succeed. We support diversity” (see http://www.fedexkinkos.ae/our_values.html). Note that this company does refer to its people as employees but rather as team members. The strategy of the company is to harness the full potentials of its people by building strong teams that drive the company’s operations. The company believes that teamwork in very important to put the company ahead of the competition (see http://www.fedexkinkos.ae/our_strategies.html ). Aside from giving individualized consideration to his or her followers, the transformational leader knows how to stimulate his or her followers intellectually (Burns, J.M, (1978). A good transformational leader takes the risk and act for the ideas of his or her followers (Bass, B, M., Avolio J. B, 1993). He or she believes that the best people to consult regarding the operations and development of the company are the very people who are involved in the process (Bass, B, M., Avolio J. B, (1993). To facilitate the sharing of knowledge and to stimulate active exchange of ideas, the transformational leader encourages the people to work as in small groups or teams (Bass, B, M., Avolio J. B, (1993). A good transformational leader sees unexpected situations as a source for inspiration and opportunities for advancement of the followers and the company (Bass, BM & Avolio, BJ 1994). He or she also encourages followers to ask questions and think independently about how to go about their tasks to bring in good results (Bass, BM & Avolio, BJ 1994). A good example of this type of leadership can be seen in the case of Apple Inc. Although there are many people who criticize Steve Jobs for his leadership style, it cannot be denied that the way that he handled his people made the company one of the leaders in the market today. When Jobs started Apple computer way back in 1976, he only had a small office at home and he did not have employees (Burrows, P 2006). However, by 2005, the company is said to have about 15,000 employees and have offices in different parts of the globe (Young, Jeffrey 2005). How Steve Jobs developed and push his company forward despite many constraints? According to Young, Jeffrey (2005), Jobs’ ability to strive for perfection, innovate and convey his ideas to his followers, create small teams of highly talented people to work for the company, ignite the feeling of brand fanaticism and transforming his personal interest into company interest made Apple Inc as one of the leaders in the computer industry (Burrows, P 2006). Jobs believe that every individual under him has potentials to create something useful so he keeps telling his people to listen to their inner voice and follow their heart and intuition (Young, Jeffrey 2005). He understands that everyone has potential to contribute to the team so he sees to it that everyone’s ideas are heard and debated upon (Young, Jeffrey 2005). During staff meetings and group discussions, he creates an atmosphere that stimulates intellectual exchange and discussions. He wanted to let everyone in the group have that sense of ownership over a project so that everyone will have a personal stake on its success (Young, Jeffrey 2005). He believes that once a person feels that he or she has a personal stake over a certain project; he or she will give his best to make that project successful even without being told or prodded to do so (Young, Jeffrey 2005). At fist glance, we can say that the driving force of Apple Inc is the creativity of Steve Jobs but if we really take the time to investigate what drives the company, we can see that it is the people behind Steve Jobs that are really driving the company (Young, Jeffrey, 2005). Because the people in the company are very much inspired, they are fired up to perform at top level. The small teams of highly technical people are the think tanks of the company and they provide fuel to the company’s development and advancement. The free exchange of ideas among the members of these small teams made the company dynamic and forward looking (Young, Jeffrey (2005). The role of Steve Jobs here is more like the conductor who wields his baton to harness the talents of the different players and create a unified sound. Having a good leader is important but it is not the only thing that a company should focus on if it wants to stay productive and competitive. According to Yulk (1994), a good transformational leader much be able to develop and challenging and attractive vision together with his or her followers and then tie the vision to the different strategies that the company needs to adopt in order to achieve the vision. In other words, to move forward and stay on top of the competition, a company must develop teams that work in line with a shared vision and shared values. According to Blanchard et al (2005), the company must know how to diagnose its development level and then match its leadership style with its development level. Matching the development level of the company with its management style is very important so as to let the company maximize its potentials. Blanchard et al (2005) believe that every organization has its peak development level and in order to sustain this performance level, the company needs to know where the energy of the company is coming from and then harness this energy in order to grow. To stay dynamic, the company and its people needs to evolve and reach new levels. As part of the evolution process of the company, Blanchard et al (2005) suggest that management should learn to delegate more to its subordinates. The people inside the company need to align with the recent developments of the company and stay proactive in their outlook. A good example of this situation is in the case of Bill Gates. As the competition heats up, Bill Gates did not hesitate to step-down as CEO of the company and took on the position of Chief Software Architect of the company (see Lesinski, Jeanne M. 2006) and http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5085630.stm ). He knows that he is better suited to do technical things than to manage the company so he hired a CEO to replace him. This way, he gets to concentrate on developing new technology and keep his company at the top of the competition. III. Conclusion Developing company leaders and building teams can quite a challenge especially for start up companies. Good leaders are difficult to find and since there are lot of opportunities for good leaders, these people are even harder to keep. Knowing the desirable traits of leader and the important factors that keep a team together is therefore vital. Learning from the experiences of top notch companies is also important. Bibliography 1. Bailey. 1997. In T. 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