Leadership Articles Analysis: The Uncompromising Leader by Eisenstat - Essay Example

The Uncompromising Leader The article “The Uncompromising Leader” by Eisenstat et al talks about the right things that aleader in an institution or organization must choose to follow. The article clearly emphasizes that a leader should not compromise both performance and people, and must be able to do something about them at the optimum level. The article strongly reveals the point that both performance and people should be among the most important components of the heart of every leader’s job. The article strongly suggests that the good leader should therefore not compromise what is vital for the business to grow and so as to ensure its stability in the future. One of the basic arguments of the article includes the idea that focusing on the profit alone will only eliminate the potential inspiration of the workforce. In other words, there is a great chance that the manpower will stop to desire for strategic change if there is too much consideration on the making of profit, but the fundamental attention for the workforce is lacking. Based on the contents in the article, it is implied that the strategic change is necessary in an organization that is willing to level up or reach its competitive advantage in the future. Based on the article, an exceptional leader should not choose either between profits and people. However, an effective leader must be able to satisfy the following essential tasks (Eisenstat, Beer, Foote, Fredberg and Norrgren 1). A leader must be able to gain the trust of the investors and the human resource together, at the same time. A leader should be able to engage directly with employees. A leader should also be able to maintain focus and consistency of the set purpose. Finally, a leader should build collective leadership power and foster the shared purpose. The article essentially addresses the vital question as to how the leaders should be able to create a balance between their set performance and the desire to achieve a more sustainable institution or organization. Furthermore, another question is in line with finding the reason that allows leaders to promote change that is necessary for an organization, but at the same time will capture the heart of the people to allow them to accept and commit the direction that is required for change. It is for this reason that the article of Eisenstat et al reveals the fundamental point of views that are major considerations for desiring the major strategic and cultural change, which are the elemental requirements of the achievement of change in an organization that is straight from the very core foundation. Eisenstat et al argued that earning trust is one of the fundamental goals that a leader should take into account. As already stated, trust should be generated from the stakeholders and the human resource. This will only happen if there is willingness on the part of the organization to be open for sharing information and receiving feedbacks. Other fundamental views for a successful change according to Eisenstat et al involve the engagement with employees, the ability to maintain focus and consistency of purpose, the capacity to build collective leadership power and the development of the shared purpose. All of these, without question, are elemental components of the capacity to efficiently and effectively manage an organization. They are all integral requirements of a successful leadership output in an organization. The contents of the article “The Uncompromising Leader” are elemental parts of the concept of management. The learners of management should be able to know them, because they can provide vital insights for leadership, which, as based on the implication of the thoughts presented in the article are necessary requirements for effective and efficient direction of an organization prior to achieving its competitive advantage, especially in the prevailing situation by which there is a tough competition and strong considerations for profit and the human resource. This substantial point can be remarkably achieved if there is a good foundational skill for leadership. The contents of the articles remarkably present this essential view, and so the learners of management will be able to understand the importance of establishing the right ideas for leadership in order to create an organization or institution that will be willing enough to embrace change. As learned in the contents of the articles, change will only take place if there is a remarkable venue for major strategic and cultural change. This venue will only be created if there is an existence of leadership that is geared towards change. The contents of the article are therefore important instruments that will educate the learners of management and provide them the essential foundation or at least a background in ensuring effective leadership to take place in an organization that is quite dynamic in establishing goals to be fulfilled. As implied in the contents of the articles, change is necessary to take the achievement of goals into account, so effective leadership is a must. Work Cited Eisenstat, Russell A., Michael Beer, Nathaniel Foote, Tobias Fredberg, and Flemming Norrgren. “The Uncompromising Leader.” Harvard Business Review 2008: 1-9. Print. Name: Tutor: Course: Date: Seven Surprises for New CEOs The article “Seven Surprises for New CEOs written by Porter, Lorsch and Nohria showcases the fundamental role of the CEO in an organization. The job of a CEO is presented as something different or complex and must therefore require substantial learning especially in cases where there are complicated situations that at some point there is also an existing knowledge limitation of the subject. It is therefore of no question that surprises from time to time are inevitable especially for the New CEOs. There are seven surprises for New CEOs that the article presented. The first surprise concerns about running the company. Most CEOs discovered that running a company is definitely a difficult task, which led them to the idea that they cannot probably run it (Porter, Lorsch and Nohria 4). This must be a big surprise for them, because prior to becoming CEOs, they are already executives and have enough experiences that have exposed them to the vital ideas on how the entire world of business runs. This presents the point of view that becoming a CEO is not an easy task, but a challenging one. Another surprise for a CEO is in line with giving orders. As the powerful person in an organization, the CEO when it comes to giving orders may make or break some essential things linked to organizational objectives, which makes giving orders costly (Porter, Lorsch and Nohria 6). The reason it is costly is because there might be someone else out there who might have resentment on the given decision. The CEO therefore cannot probably please everyone and along the way must have to always consider the cost of his actual orders. The third surprise includes the point that it is hard for a CEO to know what is really going on (Porter, Lorsch and Nohria 8). This happens due to fact that a CEO is flooded with information. It is therefore a challenge on the part of the CEO to sort things out and understand or choose the ones that are vital for the achievement of the organizational goals. The fourth surprise is in line with the level of exposure of the CEO. Due to this exposure, it is important to understand that a CEO will always send a message, because every move that he will create will be subject to various interpretations (Porter, Lorsch and Nohria 9). The fifth surprise for the New CEO is the fact that he is not the boss, because he has to report directly to the board of directors (Porter, Lorsch and Nohria 10). Even if a CEO assumes a higher position in an organization, his entire performance will still be evaluated by the board of directors. The sixth surprise for the New CEO is in line with the consideration of the competitive position of the company, so this means that pleasing the shareholders must not be the ultimate goal to be taken into account (Porter, Lorsch and Nohria 11). Finally, the last surprise is linked to the idea that a CEO is only human, so in no way that he can be an infallible superhero in a company or organization (Porter, Lorsch and Nohria 12). He may be able to commit mistakes and somehow, at some point, will learn the best thing from it. The above seven surprises for a new CEO are intuitive and they all make sense. Therefore the contents of the article are just providing the essential idea, especially for the learners of management to consider that achieving the higher rank in an organization would mean one major thing, responsibility. The higher position in an organization is equivalent to a higher or major responsibility. For this reason, the seven surprises for the new CEOs are important lessons for the learners of management to be taken into account, especially as a preparation for them to be equipped when they finally will inch their way up to the corporate ladder of success. The article “Seven Surprises for New CEOs” is a reminder on what to expect in the corporate world, especially in the higher position. Complexities and difficulties are definitely to look forward to, which means that the contents of the articles have provided the essential foundation of the basic ideas on what to expect in the higher rank in the organization. With this, the learners of management will be able to grasp the most essential thoughts about managing an organization, and that is to expect complexities or difficulties prior to the achievement of the organizational goals. Work Cited Porter, Michael E., Jay W. Lorsch, and Nitin Nohria. “Seven Surprises for New CEOs.” Harvard Business Review 2004: 4-13. Print. Read More