Louis V. Gerstner Jr - Research Paper Example

Question is: Is leadership is different from management? Since the answer is yes, was Gerstner an effective leader? In his book “ Elephants Can’t Dance “, Gerstner during his first day at IBM stated the following “ I’d like to say to all of you is that the last thing IBM needs right now is a vision…what IBM needs right now is a series of very tough-minded, market driven, highly effective strategies for each of its businesses” (Gerstner, 2002, p.68). After his speech, he began putting his hands on the dirty job which included letting go of no less than thousands of employees.

He was serious about the business of keeping IBM afloat and popularity of his decisions was the least of his concerns. IBM learned a painful lesson in management and leadership from Gertsner but it was able to go back to its feet and survive tougher circumstances like the recession today. A study published in the journal Industrial Management identified practical qualities of effective leaders. Gerstner has at least two practical qualities that made him an effective leader, namely: “lead by example and read situations and people well “( qtd.

from Enterprenuer.com). Gerstner employed these three practical qualities when he read IBM’s situation clearly because he knew what has to be done despite the surmounting odds way back then. This is not definitely pure luck as this quality was honed by years of experience at a previous company – American Express. It is possible that good instincts and lessons learned from mistakes developed Gertner’s keen observation of situations and people in a business environment. When he was hired as consultant for the fledgling Sony, Gerstner again read the situation as he said”  "The cultural issues, as I found at IBM, are the most fundamental, the most difficult.

"( Gunther, cnnmoney ,2006) In short, he mentored Stringer through