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Leadership Style at Facebook

Leadership Style at Facebook: A Focus on Mark Zuckerberg

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Introduction

Facebook is a company that focuses on building technologies that offer power for people to connect with their peers, families and friends, find existing or create communities, and grow their businesses using the networks available. Founded in 2004 by current CEO Mark Zuckerberg, its mission is to bring the world a little bit closer by building communities through the power to connect (Moran, 2020). Today, Facebook is among the world’s most popular social media platform that is used to keep people connected to family and friends, to have grasp of global trends, and to express ideas and share issues of interest with others. Since its inception, the company has grown to become of the best in the world, not just in the tech industry, but also through the way it supports other industries including travel and tourism sector, hospitality, small businesses, and so on. It competes with Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft in the technology companies industry and uses its large network as leverage to sell advertising Hoffmann, Proferes, & Zimmer, 2018). Through the leadership of Mark Zuckerberg, the company has grown to include nine additional companies. The leadership style used by the CEO has enabled creativity, innovation, and a focus on creating a new culture, not just in management and leadership but also in the way it relates to its customers.

Part 1

Leadership Style of Facebook’s CEO

The leadership style that Mark Zuckerberg uses is a transformational leadership style that effectively moves Facebook towards meeting its goal of giving people more power through creating and finding connections. Moran (2020) describes Zuckerberg as an aggressive and encouraging leader. Others have described his leadership style as transformational on the basis of how he demands consistency in innovative energy, creativity, and growth (Hoffmann, Proferes, & Zimmer, 2018). Zuckerberg is known to invite debates, challenges, and questions within different Facebook teams and departments. In his transformational style, he applies laissez-faire, autocratic, and democratic styles to manage employees (Chen, Lee, & Wang, 2020). Zuckerberg demands efficiency from employees but also requires and works on feedback, treating them fairly and equally for purposes of motivating them and creating a culture of tolerance, diversity, and growth. As a transformational leader, Zuckerberg combines several elements such as hard work, clear values, emotional intelligence, passion, work-life-balance, quest for learning, strong communication, and the ability to inspire. As an all-rounded leader, it is clear that Zuckerberg is a transformational leader focusing on changing how Facebook presents itself to external parties including its partners and customers, while ensuring an internal strategy that is transformative in nature.

The leadership style used by Facebook’s CEO has been instrumental in meeting the organizational goals of the company and propelling it to become one of the best in the world. Before delving into the leadership and management strategies, it is important to consider the organizational structure that has enabled Facebook to be unique even as other companies use a rigid or traditional format. Makris, Ferrante, and Mody (2018) define the organizational structure at Facebook as a variation of the recent democratic and free structures with a traditional setup and definition of labor and roles. The structure that is used at Facebook is adapted to the operational needs involving the core business of the organization: the Internet and information technology. This organizational structure has defined its composition and definition of roles, giving the CEO an opportunity to oversee operations in a structure that is more strategic. It uses a matrix corporate structure, defined by Auchter et al. (2018) as a firm with more than one line and area of reporting management. The employees have a number of managers and bosses. This information is important in defining the style that Zuckerberg uses because it means that more managers take the pressure off the traditional setup, through the creation of better coordination as well as shared technologies all through the organization. Therefore, function-based teams, product-based divisions, and geographic divisions have created a flexible corporate structure suitable for the CEO’s style of leadership that intends to create an innovative culture.

The Role of Mark Zuckerberg in Attaining Organizational Objectives

Zuckerberg provides leadership, an essential element of management that aids in maximizing efficiency and helping to attain organizational goals. Zuckerberg displays remarkable leadership behavior, one that emphasizes upon creating an environment that each employee excels and develops while ensuring efficiency and creativity as critical components of the process. Yamin (2020) opines that Zuckerberg’s transformational style creates an environment to drive and influence all group efforts towards the attainment of a certain goal in a manner that is coordinated and focused. One of the most important traits of a leader, one exemplified by Zuckerberg, is to sell a dream to the employees and make it understandable in a way that they understand their role and position in a larger perspective. As a leader, Zuckerberg clarifies and communicates the mission and vision of the organization of his groups and teams. The mission and vision effectively offer employees an understanding of the direction of the company and enables them to better understand their responsibilities and roles.

Zuckerberg, as a leader, has a role to offer a structured approach and to communicate plans and policies to the organization. A structured approach, according to Misra and Srivastava (2018), generates a plan of action that effectively aims to meet the organizational objectives. A critical part of this structure is ensuring that the organizational culture and structure of Facebook adheres to sustainability models, ensures a healthy and equal rights for various diverse groups, covers the large gender pay gap evident in the tech industry, and providing direction on corporate social responsibility (CSR). In his transformative leadership approach, Zuckerberg uses an inclusive planning process to offer the chance for individuals in the organization to contribute and identify, achieve, and understand clearly defined goals. Another major role of the CEO at Facebook is to imbibe values and a culture at the corporate level that has a vital role in ensuring the attainment of organizational goals. The leader’s enthusiasm and commitment towards various plans and programs shape the common organizational objectives and offers motivation and inspiration for people to perform better at a higher level (Zaman, Nawaz, & Nadeem, 2020). Therefore, Zuckerberg’s main role is to provide direction and encouragement to the entire organization enabling people to openly discuss and contribute new ideas that are creative and innovative with an aim to push the organization forward and create an environment that is positive for the betterment of the overall culture. It can be said that Zuckerberg uses the diversity and experiences of his team to improve on the organization on a daily basis.

Part 2

Analysis Leadership Styles and Skills of Mark Zuckerberg

The role of Mark Zuckerberg has been previously mentioned as that of being a communicator of plans and policies in a way that offers a structured approach, motivation, inspiration, and creates a benchmark for the rest of the stakeholders to follow in creating a culture of diversity and winning. His main role is to help the entire organization and its partners to remain focused even when there is crisis, and building a culture that requires every individual to grow individually in a close alignment with the organizational and personal goals. It is clear that the role of Mark Zuckerberg is to offer direction, to inspire and encourage, to motivate his team and to ensure that all members understand their role in the attainment of organizational success. This is a transformational leadership example. His style inspires positive changes to all members of the organization. Zuckerberg carries this role effortlessly with an energetic spirit, passionate character, and deep enthusiasm. He is a transformational leader because of how he is able to sell the ideas and dreams of the organization to the people and then motivate them towards attainment of these goals in a manner that is concerned and involved.

Good Aspects

Facebook CEO displays transformational leadership via intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation, and idealized influence (Shafi et al., 2020). Zuckerberg offers intellectual stimulation through challenging the status quo and the position of his company in the tech world. He is also very keen on ensuring that creativity and innovation are used as key competitive advantages amongst his followers. He has been successful in encouraging workers to explore newer and better ways of handling things and provides opportunities for them to learn and gain experience. Zuckerberg also provides evidence of individualized consideration by providing encouragement and support to individuals at the organizational level. To foster a supportive relationship, Zuckerberg maintains open communication so that every employee is free to challenge, discuss, or share ideas for the leadership to provide direct recognition of contributions made. Inspirational motivation is a clear vision articulated to the employees (Bonsu & Twum-Danso, 2018). Zuckerberg offers help and direction in terms of every individual understanding their role versus what the organization expects in terms of output and outcomes. Through inspirational motivation, Zuckerberg helps employees at Facebook to experience equal levels of motivation and passion to fulfil company-related objectives. Finally, idealized influence is a role model function that a leader holds in creating respect and trust from the followers (Alqatawenh 2018). Zuckerberg easily gets employees at Facebook to emulate his example in the way he takes on his role and helps to fulfil the ideals of the company.

The leadership style chosen by Zuckerberg is advantageous to his organization because it encourages positive development, exemplifies cultural standards in the organization, fosters an ethical environment with clear standards, values and priorities, and creates a culture that encourages employees to move to a culture of working together for their own interests and those held by the company. The main skills that Zuckerberg evidences including the ability to think differently as a leader, the conversion of his own ideas into policies and plans, critical thinking, choosing the right people for the organization, training equanimity, seeing mistakes as opportunities to grow, and encouraging others to contribute towards making the company the best it can be one step at a time. Zuckerberg has shown that adapting to the rapidly changing tech industry requires strong leadership and innovation as a way of gaining an edge over the competition. Overall, Zuckerberg has been consistent in his role as a leader and in displaying a skill set unique to his company and his followers.

Bad Aspects

The transformational approach that Zuckerberg takes in running Facebook has been known to have some disadvantages that, if left unchecked, could propel the company towards increasing costs related to high employee turnover, miscommunication, and poor management. First, Nielsen et al. (2008) found that a transformation leader is one that constantly challenges and throws away traditional concepts that are no longer beneficial to an organization. Zuckerberg is known to be an individual and a leader who is not very keen on maintaining the status quo. The bad aspect with this style is that there is a need for consistent and constant feedback. Without it, Facebook processes would most likely fail. Another problem with the style used by the Facebook CEO is that the employees must be aware of what the management wants and how to achieve it. Without such communication, business processes would come to a halt. The way that the Facebook CEO challenges conventional ideas and hierarchies whenever they do not fit in to his system can cause a disruptive cycle leading to negative outcomes. For example, rather than slotting people in roles on the basis of experience and age, he values the ideas of people in obvious and clear ways regardless of the age, gender, position, or age. While this thinking is important in creating diversity, it could mean that experienced people are overlooked by the system. He has been constantly removing barriers in the organizational culture of Facebook to enable more open communication, innovation, and creativity. The negative aspect is that it could lead to employee burnout and isolation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the leadership style that Mark Zuckerberg uses is a transformational leadership style that effectively moves Facebook towards meeting its goal of giving people more power through creating and finding connections. Zuckerberg stands out in his ability to analyze the current situation of his company and create a vision towards growth and improvement. The main strengths of his approach include uniting employees towards a common cause, reducing turnover costs, creation and management of change, keeping the organization ethical and open, and promotes morale and motivation through improved communication and a breakdown of traditional hierarchies. The discussion above has shown that the leadership style used by Mark Zuckerberg has enabled creativity, innovation, and a focus on creating a new culture, not just in management and leadership but also in the way it relates to its customers. It has been instrumental in meeting the organizational goals of the company and propelling it to become one of the best in the world.

References

Alqatawenh, A. S. (2018). Transformational leadership style and its relationship with change management. Verslas: teorija ir praktika, 19(1), 17-24.

Auchter, A. M., Mejia, M. H., Heyser, C. J., Shilling, P. D., Jernigan, T. L., Brown, S. A., … & Dowling, G. J. (2018). A description of the ABCD organizational structure and communication framework. Developmental cognitive neuroscience, 32, 8-15.

Bonsu, S., & Twum-Danso, E. (2018). Leadership style in the global economy: A focus on cross-cultural and transformational leadership. Journal of Marketing and Management, 9(2), 37-52.

Chen, R., Lee, Y. D., & Wang, C. H. (2020). Total quality management and sustainable competitive advantage: serial mediation of transformational leadership and executive ability. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 31(5-6), 451-468.

Hoffmann, A. L., Proferes, N., & Zimmer, M. (2018). “Making the world more open and connected”: Mark Zuckerberg and the discursive construction of Facebook and its users. New Media & Society, 20(1), 199-218.

Makris, U. E., Ferrante, L. E., & Mody, L. (2018). Leadership Lessons: Building and Leading a High-Performing Clinical Research Team. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 66(7), 1258.

Misra, S., & Srivastava, K. B. (2018). Team-building competencies, personal effectiveness and job satisfaction: The mediating effect of transformational leadership and technology. Management and Labour Studies, 43(1-2), 109-122.

Moran, R. E. (2020). Examining switching power: Mark Zuckerberg as a novel networked media mogul. Information, Communication & Society, 23(4), 491-506.

Nielsen, K., Yarker, J., Brenner, S. O., Randall, R., & Borg, V. (2008). The importance of transformational leadership style for the well‐being of employees working with older people. Journal of advanced nursing, 63(5), 465-475.

Shafi, M., Lei, Z., Song, X., & Sarker, M. N. I. (2020). The effects of transformational leadership on employee creativity: Moderating role of intrinsic motivation. Asia Pacific Management Review, 25(3), 166-176.

Yamin, M. (2020). Examining the role of transformational leadership and entrepreneurial orientation on employee retention with moderating role of competitive advantage. Management Science Letters, 10(2), 313-326.

Zaman, U., Nawaz, S., & Nadeem, R. D. (2020). Navigating Innovation Success through Projects. Role of CEO Transformational Leadership, Project Management Best Practices, and Project Management Technology Quotient. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 6(4), 168.

Leadership is all about taking on unexpected challenges and meeting the moment. One particular moment stands out for me when

Leadership is all about taking on unexpected challenges and meeting the moment. One particular moment stands out for me when I think of a moment I was unexpectedly called upon to be a leader. I had been working at a new company for roughly one month and felt that I still had much to learn. I had enjoyed my time there as all of my supervisors and coworkers were nothing but supportive. Everyone was ready to help me with anything I needed, and within a month, I had settled into the rhythm of my job. I was confident that I was doing well at my job, but not enough to lead a new project. When my immediate boss informed me that I would be taking charge of a new project during our weekly meetings, I was quite surprised.

I had no warning of what was to come; my boss simply turned to me and told me that she would like to see how I performed on the task. There was no way I could turn this down in front of all my colleagues and other members of management. I almost panicked, but I remained calm as I knew I had to do my best. Once the meeting was over, my boss told me to meet her in her office to go over the details of the new project. It turned out that this was a form of baptism by fire that all of my coworkers had gone through. The company maintained a tradition of initiating new employees by assigning them a major task to gauge their suitability to their position and the company as a whole.

The company was taking on a new client who would bring in a lot of money if they were satisfied with our work. My boss gave me all the details, assigned a few people to work with me, and said that she trusted me to make her proud. My immediate reaction was the fear that I would fail, embarrassing myself and the company. Despite these fears, I convinced myself that I only had to do my best. Given all that I had learned in the previous month, I convinced myself that I would do well. Sure enough, all of my team members went out of their way to support me, and so did my boss. At the end of it, we did a remarkable job, and I was delighted with myself.

The experience taught me quite a few lessons about myself. The first of these is that I can perform well under pressure. The task was unexpected, but I rallied myself quickly and rose to the occasion. I had a lot of help from my colleagues, but I never faltered or lost hope in myself. Another lesson I learned is that I am a quick learner who can adapt to any situation. I had spent only a month at my new workplace, but the task showed me that I had a good grasp of the company’s traditions and its way of doing things. My boss told me that I had done an excellent job representing the company and maintained its good reputation. I was proud of myself for this achievement.

Third, I also learned that I value the support of the people who help me achieve my goals. My boss and team members all helped me get through the project, and I appreciated their efforts. I learned the value of having a strong team, and I respected their input immensely. I believe that I work well with others due to these values of respect for others and a willingness to listen and learn. The experience taught me a lot about myself and also boosted my self-confidence. It taught me that I can rise to any challenge, no matter how daunting it might seem.

Leadership Interventions in Invictus

Leadership Interventions in InvictusStudent name

Leadership Interventions in InvictusIn the movie Invictus, Nelson Mandela’s early days and his leadership in South Africa are presented as a part of a larger plan to unite a divided country. Precisely, his view on the country’s rugby national team, the Springboks, and how he saw the global event, World Cup, being hosted in the country, as an opportunity to unite the people. Leading by example is one of the major leadership interventions Nelson Mandela uses in his governance (Arora, Teeschi, & Rovenpor, 2028). Mandela recognizes that if the national team win would be an excellent opportunity to unite the blacks and white. Leading by example, a leader expects more from himself other than waiting for others to do. Nelson Mandela instills this form of leadership to the team that everyone should do his best and not to expect others to do or blame them. This is demonstrated through his commitment to lead the way, personal connection with every person he meets, and his confidence in reflection.

In South Africa, the white cheered for the national team enthusiastically, whereas the black cheered any team as they viewed the national team springboks, and the competition to represent the whites and oppression they were experiencing in the country. The springbok’s captain, in his first meeting with the president, was uncertain about the reason for the meeting, but the warm greeting and respect and appreciation treatment he receives from the president makes him realize the importance of the meeting. Through the meeting, he shares the importance of a win to South Africa with the captain. He is also leading by example by challenging his staff to have a different perspective concerning issues and perspectives. He challenges his security staff to work together with the white colleagues as they have more experience. Additionally, the president memorizes names for the team players in order to give them personalized appreciation. The occasion leads by example in trying to build a good relationship and to call everyone to appreciate the national team.

In the desire to unite the country Nelson Mandela using the team to win the competition is faced with the challenge that only the whites support the national team while the blacks do not like to be associated with the team. The nation is widely divided in terms of racial discrimination is a big challenge. Mandela communicates to different people on his goal of transforming his country to manage this challenge. Resistance from personal guards is also a challenge to his vision of leading by example to unite the nation. To overcome the challenges, Nelson Mandela had led by example to unify the racially divided nation. To ensure he is able to execute his plan, he uses different opportunities that arise to unify the country. The national team was participating in the event not because it had qualified but the fact that the competition was held in the country and takes the opportunity to achieve his goal of uniting the country. He also uses the opportunity where employees of the past government were resigning, he asks those who shared his vision to remain in their job as he had forgiven them and believed the whites could change. Motivating people by leading them by example and inspiring them helped the president in achieving his goal. Nelson Mandela uses the opportunity of being the president to exercise power as it reinforces his impacts as a leader in a positive way.

If I was in such a situation where a country is divided in terms of racial discrimination, people are struggling due to the impacts of unemployment, and the arrival of a new black government has changed the balance of political dominance. Staying silent on the issue of racial discrimination has created these deadly effects. Solving the main challenge of racial discrimination would help in attaining the goal of uniting the country. Acknowledging the challenge that injustices caused by discrimination like unemployment of the black community and land ownership discrimination and make commitments to do better on the issues. Through recognition of the challenge, the environment will make it easy for everyone to speak up on the issue’s racial discrimination. Also, this will help in leveraging the opportunities that arise. Building a better culture that is dependent on core values that are not discriminative. This will be done by ensuring all those people I work with are diverse. All races are included in my workforce and retaining past employees. Spreading awareness on the issue of racial discrimination will help in addressing the challenge. When opportunities such as the rugby event arise, the event will be fully utilized in uniting people since the majority of citizens are aware it is a challenge they face. Finally, tackling a situation where racial discrimination arises, for instance, encompassing other races in the department where they are not employed.

References

Arora, P., Tedeschi, G. A., & Rovenpor, J. L. (2018). Broadening the frame around

sustainability with holistic language: Mandela and Invictus. Humanistic Management Journal, 3(2), 233-251.

Leadership in Organizations

Leadership in Organizations

Introduction

In order for a firm to succeed, its executives must inspire its staff to put up their best effort and achieve their goals. Learn about the official and informal leadership positions that exist in an organization, as well as the kind of leadership behaviors that are most successful in promoting the success of the business. In an organization, leadership is defined as the act of leading others to achieve their goals. Employee behavior may be influenced by the actions of the leader in a number of different ways (Milenkovska, Markovska, & Nikolovski, 2017). In order for a company to succeed, its leaders must communicate a clear vision, encourage employees, guide them through the employment process, and instill a sense of pride in the company’s personnel. Employees must be able to perceive the future status of the organization in order for them to accept it. Finding out what employees want and need, giving them with it, and praising them for a job well done are all methods of motivating people in the workplace. The necessity to clearly define workers’ responsibilities and give them with the resources they will require to accomplish and engage in their jobs as they progress through the process cannot be overstated (Reunanen & Kaitonen, 2017). In order to boost morale, it is critical to bring everyone together behind a single purpose as soon as possible. The ability to provide inspiring and morale-boosting feedback is essential for being a successful boss. The ability to establish goals for their employees and hold them accountable for accomplishing those goals on time and in accordance with the company’s long-term strategic intentions are essential characteristics of effective leaders. The aim of this paper is to review McClanahan (2020) and Baesu (2019) articles on leadership. Leadership theories will be used in strengthening the arguments made with reference to best practices today. Further, the article will look at the personal leadership characteristics and match the findings with organizational behavior theories. Overall, these articles, and the personal assessment agree that a leader’s job is to motivate a group of individuals to do their best and work together toward a shared objective, communicate effectively, predict potential hurdles, and make creative decisions to get around them.

Exploration of Leadership in the Organization

Leadership, in its broadest sense, is a social action that includes exerting influence over other people. Although it is widely acknowledged that systematic leadership development is critical for long-term organizational performance, many companies ignore the concept or approach leadership development in an ad hoc manner. According to Balcerzyk (2020) definition of leadership, it is the process through which an individual chooses a route, influences a group, and steers the group toward a specified goal or purpose. In some respects, leadership is defined by the actions of leaders. Leadership is a way of life rather than a title that is connected to a job. When it comes to leadership, it is about motivating others to carry out the vision, purpose, and values of the organization (Al Khajeh, 2018). Leaders don’t merely instruct their subordinates what to do; they also model behavior.

Great leaders inspire their followers to make decisions that promote the goals and vision of the community, resulting in more wise solutions. Great leaders model this behavior, for example Barack Obama is a leader who transformed the thinking of a majority of Americans in a period where the economy was in turmoil, creating hope for a better tomorrow and inspiring people to act positively. Such transformational leaders are in charge of encouraging and mentoring individuals in their organization (Colbert et al., 2012). Leaders have the role of coaching, teaching, and inspiring in order to establish a community that is completely involved, accountable, and responsible. Leaders encourage buy-in at all levels of the organization and ensure that their community understands the significance of the job they do. The ideal leader is adaptive, proactive, analytical, strategic, culturally sensitive, and skilled at placing the organization in a competitive market.

In order to keep up with the times, leaders must influence their followers’ essential principles and beliefs as well as their attitudes. Examples of the increasingly rapid changes that threaten leadership today include new technology, globalization, and political challenges such as climate change and violence. This will allow the company to be more responsive and versatile in the future. SHRM studies indicate that leadership development is a top concern for HR professionals and executives in the business world (Gandolfi & Stone, 2018). There are several possible benefits to leadership development, but there are also numerous disadvantages. In facilitation of leadership, human resources professionals are typically engaged in the conception, execution, and administration of a leadership development plan, particularly in the process of presenting the business case to senior executives and assessing return on investment (Sethuraman & Suresh, 2014). Naturally, the organization and structure of a company’s leadership development function are influenced by the size of the company in question. The role of human resource managers in a wide range of leadership development activities is becoming increasingly important as firms recognize the importance of building long-term strategies to deal with current and future leadership difficulties.

Evaluation of Articles

Baesu’s (2019) Leadership based on emotional intelligence in modern organizations

According to Baesu (2019), leadership is primarily an expression and display of a management style as well as the personality of those who are in positions of authority. While many different forms of learnable and adjustable behavior are being investigated, it is more difficult to describe and modify the psychological qualities of each individual being studied. Motivation for the study of leadership style stems from the assumption that it has a significant influence on how people collaborate and perform. A major contributing factor, according to Baesu (2019), is the fact that it spreads quickly and is incredibly contagious across the company. The method in which leaders cooperate, the tasks that must be completed, the manner in which they do them, and the manner in which they communicate with both subordinates and superiors are all instances of the connection between leadership style and the direction that must be followed.

To be successful in today’s business climate, Baesu (2019) notes that extraordinary leaders and savvy managers are required, as is visionary leadership and high-quality management, among other qualities. Leaders have crucial emotional responsibilities in today’s firms, and they have the greatest influence over the emotions of their employees. When it comes to highly effective businesses, Baesu (2019) calls for a strong emotional bond to exist between the leadership representatives and their employees. Whether a firm succeeds or fails, the capacity of its leaders to channel emotions in a positive or negative way is critical. Future predictions are something that only the best leaders are capable of doing. Overall, Baesu (2019) extends the argument that a strong personality, being emotionally stable, empathizing with all employees involved in labor operations, being able to bear criticism, being able to help people in advancing their careers, and being trustworthy and steady character traits are all characteristics of successful labor managers.

McClanahan’s (2020) Viva la evolution: Using dual-strategies theory to explain leadership in modern organizations

A wide range of perspectives exist on the characteristics of leaders, social ranking, and power and status. According to dual-strategies theory, social rank is defined by the position a person occupies in a hierarchy, with hierarchy referring to the order in which persons or groups are considered socially in a given situation or circumstance (McClanahan, 2020). First, McClanahan (2020) expresses that it’s crucial to understand that social ranking is determined by a person’s local social group. It is common for people to function as both managers and subordinates in formal organizational hierarchies. For example, in an organization, a manager may have a high social rank with her subordinates but an average or even low social rank with other managers in the company (McClanahan, 2020). Hierarchies can be classified into two types: formal and informal. Formal hierarchies are characterized by a job title, but informal hierarchies are defined by informal deference, which gives a higher prestige on those who hold the same job title than those who do not. This is true even in groupings that do not have a defined structure (McClanahan, 2020). Theories and empirical research have demonstrated that the concepts of power and status are intertwined yet distinct.

When it comes to power in social interactions, asymmetric control of valued resources is a typical approach to describe it (McClanahan, 2020). For example, people’s regard, commitment, and voluntary veneration of a person are more important than their power over that someone’s standing. The definition of leadership is difficult to articulate, but one constant is that it is a complicated, multi-layered process in which an individual guides a group toward a common goal. In social psychology and anthropology studies of hierarchy, it is usual to refer to a person of high social rank as a leader, which may or may not necessarily circle back to leadership.

The dual-strategy theory of social rank investigates the psychological and behavioral strategies used by individuals to obtain and maintain high social status, as well as the repercussions of these strategies at the group level (McClanahan, 2020). Other types of leadership are not valued in this paradigm, despite the fact that hierarchical approaches are. As a result, dominance and prestige are no longer seen to be leadership styles, but rather means of attaining and maintaining power in society (McClanahan, 2020). However, despite the widespread use of the term “strategy,” it is not necessarily the case that these behaviors are deliberate, planned, and Machiavellian in nature. Individuals may employ one of these strategies regardless of their position in the organization’s structure.

Organizational Behavior and Leadership Theories

Leadership theories have been proposed to explain how and why certain individuals get to the top in their respective fields. These suggestions are based on personality qualities and activities that enhance one’s capacity to take the initiative. According to pioneering research in leadership psychology (Nawaz & Khan, 2016), people are born with the ability to take on leadership responsibilities. However, despite the fact that leadership has been studied since the dawn of time, formal leadership theories have only lately been developed. These pioneering positions are now challenged in newer organizational behavior and leadership theories. Some are discussed below.

The Trait Theory of Leadership

In accordance with trait theory, all effective leaders have a certain set of features in common. It was initially proposed that certain people are born with the potential to lead, which led to the establishment of the concept of leadership. Through the course of history, this theory has been developed to demonstrate that many of these leadership characteristics may be learnt by persons who were not born with them. Researchers investigating the characteristic hypothesis are attempting to determine what characteristics constitute a strong leader from a range of perspectives. For example, they include physical characteristics such as weight and height, sociodemographic characteristics such as age and education level along with familial history, and cognition (Colbert et al., 2012), which includes a person’s capacity to make sound judgments. To mention a few of the countless characteristics that make a leader effective include their ability to empathize with others, their honesty, their likeability, their critical thinking, their decision-making, and their assertiveness.

All of these characteristics may be learned and put to good use in the service of others in various situations (Nawaz & Khan, 2016). The interests, abilities, and personality of a person are all important factors in determining their level of success in leadership. According to research, successful leaders have a set of characteristics that may be traced back to the latter half of the twentieth century. Although these characteristics do not indicate a person’s leadership capacity in and of themselves, they are seen as qualifications that give them the ability to lead others. The amount of self-assurance possessed by an individual, as well as his or her intelligence and business acumen, are all regarded crucial attributes.

However, based on the findings by McClanahan (2020), this theory has a number of limitations. First, from the social ranking and dual-strategies explanation that McClanahan (2020) offers, subjective judgment is involved in the determination of who is termed as a strong and successful leader versus the worst ranking. From a social ranking perspective, McClanahan (2020) mentions that there is no consensus on the traits to prioritize in determining an effective leader. Baesu (2019) notes that extraordinary leaders and savvy managers are required, as is visionary leadership and high-quality management, among other qualities. In that perspective, the trait theory is faulted on the way it tries to connect physical traits of an individual to being an effective leader. For example, there should be no relation between attributes such as height or weight and being a good leader. Yet, Baesu (2019) acknowledges the role of emotions in effective leadership, an element that the trait theory focuses on.

The Transactional (Management) Theory

According to transactional leadership theory, leaders are both rewarded and penalized for their actions. When it comes to successful leadership styles, results-oriented and hierarchical are believed to be the most effective. For a transactional leader, the most important things are order and structure. Motivating and leading followers via transactional leadership requires appealing to their self-interest in order to achieve success (McCleskey, 2014). Transactional leaders have official authority and responsibilities within the organization, which gives them the ability to wield considerable power. The primary responsibility of a follower is to adhere to the orders of the leader (Nawaz & Khan, 2016). If employees are rewarded and reprimanded, according to the CEO, this will increase their motivation. In the case of a subordinate who fulfills expectations, the leader will reward him; in the case of a subordinate who fails to follow the leader’s instructions, the leader will punish him. The interaction between the leader and the follower takes place in this situation in order to reach regular performance objectives.

The interactions involve four key dimensions of contingent rewards, active management, passive management, and laissez-faire. Leaders who are transactional link objectives to incentives, develop mutually agreed-upon goals, and offer a variety of incentives for successful performance. Subordinates are given SMART objectives (specifiable measurable, achievable, reasonable, and timely) by their bosses (Sanders, Hopkins, & Geroy, 2003). To avoid mistakes, transactional leaders keep an eye on their subordinates’ work and address any violations from established norms and standards. Only when certain criteria have not been satisfied or performance has fallen short of expectations do transactional leaders step in. As a kind of retaliation for bad performance, punishment can be utilized. Subordinates are given a wide range of options to choose from by the leader. Because the leader abdicates responsibility and avoids making decisions, the group lacks direction.

The transactional leadership approach is in line with Baesu (2019) who advocates for use of emotions to create effective solutions. A fraction of research studies Nawaz & Khan (2016) feel that transactional leadership is insufficient for a leader to reach their greatest potential. Leaders may use it as a starting point for establishing more mature relationships with their followers. They must, however, exercise caution in order not to abuse it. A situation in which status, power, rewards, and political factors take precedence over all other considerations may result as a result of this (McClanahan, 2020). An inordinate emphasis on detail and short-term goals is placed on transactional leadership as well as on conventional processes and norms. Such leaders make little effort to encourage their followers to think outside the box. When the organizational difficulties are simple and well-defined, this leadership style may be useful (Odumeru & Ogbonna, 2013). As a result, these leaders are able to accept or reject ideas that disagree with their long-term plans and goals.

Evaluation of Personal Leadership Characteristics

I scored 178 in the survey from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/survlead.html. While this is a good score on my personal leadership abilities, a few issues were highlighted. The first area of development tis the need to delegate tasks. I will need to improve this to enable me to focus o other areas without having to perform everything. I also found out that I need to be more political to weave around the expectations of organizational politics. I will need to improve these areas in order to be a more all-rounded leader. Despite these weaknesses, I found out that I am good at taking responsibility of actions, listening, I have integrity and can be trusted, and I am well versed with my organization. I will continue to work on my skills and capabilities in order to improve as a leader. I also intend to incorporate the recommendations made by Baesu (2019) on the need for a leader to base their strategy on emotional intelligence so as to fit well and to respond to the issues of the modern organizations.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, a leader’s job is to motivate a group of individuals to do their best and work together toward a shared objective, communicate effectively, predict potential hurdles, and make creative decisions to get around them. These issues have been highlighted by the discussion on organizational behavior and leadership theories as well as the ideas presented by the two articles under review. Baesu (2019) focus on incorporation of emotional intelligence in leadership for the modern organizations is also echoed by McClanahan (2020) dual-strategies theory that looks at power, status, and the distribution of authority. Examples of the increasingly rapid changes that threaten leadership today include new technology, globalization, and political challenges such as climate change and violence. This will allow the company to be more responsive and versatile in the future. Overall, leadership is evolving and so should the theories that leaders use to inform their practice.

References

Al Khajeh, E. H. (2018). Impact of leadership styles on organizational performance. Journal of Human Resources Management Research, 2018, 1-10.

Baesu, C. (2019). Leadership based on emotional intelligence in modern organizations. The USV Annals of Economics and Public Administration, 18(2 (28)), 73-78.

Balcerzyk, D. (2020). Trust as a Leadership Determinant. European Research Studies, 23, 486-497.

Colbert, A. E., Judge, T. A., Choi, D., & Wang, G. (2012). Assessing the trait theory of leadership using self and observer ratings of personality: The mediating role of contributions to group success. The Leadership Quarterly, 23(4), 670-685.

Gandolfi, F., & Stone, S. (2018). Leadership, leadership styles, and servant leadership. Journal of Management Research, 18(4), 261-269.

McClanahan, K. J. (2020). Viva la evolution: Using dual-strategies theory to explain leadership in modern organizations. The Leadership Quarterly, 31(1), 101315.

McCleskey, J. A. (2014). Situational, transformational, and transactional leadership and leadership development. Journal of business studies quarterly, 5(4), 117.

Milenkovska, V., Markovska, M., & Nikolovski, L. (2017). Promotion: Woman leadership and alternative methods for resolving business conflicts and changes in the organization. UTMS Journal of Economics, 8(2), 183-194.

Nawaz, Z. A. K. D. A., & Khan_ PhD, I. (2016). Leadership theories and styles: A literature review. Leadership, 16(1), 1-7.

Odumeru, J. A., & Ogbonna, I. G. (2013). Transformational vs. transactional leadership theories: Evidence in literature. International review of management and business research, 2(2), 355.

Reunanen, T., & Kaitonen, J. (2017). Different roles in leadership styles in modern organization. In Advances in human factors, business management, training and education (pp. 251-262). Springer, Cham.

Sanders, J. E., Hopkins, W. E., & Geroy, G. D. (2003). From transactional to transcendental: Toward an integrated theory of leadership. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 9(4), 21-31.

Sethuraman, K., & Suresh, J. (2014). Effective leadership styles. International Business Research, 7(9), 165.

Leadership experience

Leadership experience

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Leadership circumstance is simply the situation where a person is leading, or is in charge of a group of people. It can be the situation of someone who has been appointed to lead something, or the situation that that person is working for an authority figure. What I led was a or rather group with whom I was entrusted to lead. I became the leader of this group through the circumstances of being a higher class than the other group members (Suryani, 2021). For that reason, I had a new born mentality of leading something towards a certain direction, as in either way, it was for the better or for the worse.

I motivated or encouraged them to do their very best in many ways. Among these things were instilling a sense of responsibility and duty to one’s self and others on fulfilling goals within my group. As an example: If my group was supposed to be responsible for taking care of the school grounds then we were supposed to take care of it well with little effort on our part, but at the same time we would have to work hard on maintaining it well. How I felt about being a leader was I really did not know. I just knew that I was supposed to do it. It was an undisputed fact that I had to lead the group, this being so because it simply came down to the fact that I was a higher class than the other members and therefore had control over them.

I can say for sure that our leaders were oriented towards making sure we were all doing well in school, because our school work became easier under those conditions. In doing so, we were successful in our studies at school. It came down to the fact that we worked together as one united group in a much more effective way than if any of us did their own thing alone.

The task/ goals that were to be accomplished were to: Build the team for survival, organize supplies and equipment for efficiency and, create a workable schedule that matches up with the needs of the group. Along with this, I would have to tell each member their role and their timeframes for completing it. The procedure that we used was to read and discuss the individual roles. Because every member of the team would have two different roles, they had to take in order for their jobs to be completed.

The process that I employed was to: First, have a meeting of what I called “Announcement Meeting” in which everyone would get an idea of what they were going to do and how long it was going to take them. Secondly, set up job descriptions on Mondays so everyone knew what they were doing on Tuesday. And finally, we would meet every Friday to go over each week’s schedule.

I observed people I led became more open to me and did not hesitate to share their thoughts with me. It was a good change in the people’s responses, until one day I noticed the change. I was confused about the sudden change of my relationship with my subordinates. They were treating me differently and seemed to be avoiding eye contact until they had to, when they know that something needed to be done immediately.

I carefully observed them through their behaviors and found that once I became their leader, I no longer had control over what they did or said. They didn’t seem like they wanted anything from me anymore which was sad because it saddened me as well.

The primary ways I used to communicate with my subordinates were emails and meetings. I would say, on average, I communicated with my subordinates on a weekly basis. The communication channel I used was written channel.

In terms of effectiveness, I believe that the communication channel I used was effective. It was effective for a number of reasons. One, my subordinates and I knew how to communicate effectively in the written form. We were able to understand each other’s ideas and write an equally good reply. Second, the written channel allowed us to achieve something through interaction. I received feedback from my subordinates in a way that made me think differently about things as opposed to solely relying on my own thoughts and reflection. To improve the effectiveness of the communication channel, I could have implemented a forum which allows for better discussion and brainstorming since not everyone is comfortable with writing or speaking (Suryani, 2021).

The outcome from my leadership was positive and success. My team developed critical thinking skills. We achieved the objectives we had set for ourselves and enabled team members to reach their full potential. With the right intention and leadership, I helped my team grow. The team’s success has allowed me to surpass my personal expectations in the workplace. The reason for this success is because my team and I set out a goal and broke it down into achievable tasks. We used constant communication and individualized coaching to help reach our objective.

What I have learnt about myself being a leader basically is that being a leader is hard work and rewarding. It’s also hard to know what your leadership style should be or which type of leader you should be. But as I’ve gone through my journey in leadership and have learnt more about myself, I can now better understand why I am the type of leader that I am and know how to improve my leadership skills both at home and at school.

Leadership is an important attribute that makes up a person. I have learnt being a leader isn’t easy and shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s also looked down on if you aren’t willing to take the extra step in making sure others are aware of your capabilities in leadership which sometimes it can get annoying because people assume that when someone younger than them doesn’t want to be a leader then they’re not capable of it. I’ve also learnt you should never judge people by their appearance or if they are older or younger than you that doesn’t mean they can’t do the same thing as what you can (Soria,Werner, & Nath, 2019).

It was a good experience for certain, and to me it was amazing. I learned many valuable lessons that I will take with me through this life. One of the most crucial lessons I learned was how to deal with people in power and how to work with them. Personally, leadership is being able to inspire people towards a better future or in my case, towards a better outcome than they would have had if you were not their leader (Deng, Li, Wu, & Xu, 2020). There are two types of leaders there are; leaders who lead by fear and leaders who lead by example. Fear is a significant factor in the success of the person fact that they become successful in what they do because they want to avoid punishment or harm from whatever might be involved within the situation at hand.

In conclusion, the most important thing I have come to realize is that a leader must be able to involve his/her team, listen to them and try to improve from there. I think it’s also very important that a leader should be able to communicate his thoughts and ideas clearly and that this communication should be done in an organized way as well as chart out clear objectives of the team which is only achievable if leaders are honest with themselves in terms of their ability to do so. It is important that leaders’ focus on those who are truly willing to contribute and not just rattle off the job titles of their more senior members.

As for this leadership experience, I learned about myself and about aspects of leadership. As a leader, I was in control of everyone in the group, but only as long as they were willing to follow my orders and ideas. It is important that you remember that your group members are their own people (Deng, Li, Wu, & Xu, 2020). Leaders are only responsible for making sure their group members do what they plan to do by giving them goals and instructions on how to accomplish those goals because if you don’t give your team members clear instructions then it will be hard for them to perform well.

References

Deng, W., Li, X., Wu, H., & Xu, G. (2020). Student leadership and academic performance. China Economic Review, 60, 101389.

Soria, K. M., Werner, L., & Nath, C. (2019). Leadership experiences and perspective taking among college students. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 56(2), 138-152.

Suryani, A.(2021).Being Students, Being Leaders Student Leadership Experiences and Facilitation of Student Leadership Development in Higher Education. Eti Setiawati, et al. (Eds.), 11.

Leadership Essay

Leadership Essay

The Civil Rights of 1964 is a landmark legislation designed to ensure equality in all spheres of life. The Act prohibits discrimination against individuals based on race, religion, gender, sexuality, color, sexual orientation, and any other characteristic. The law protects the rights of every individual, ensuring that all people are treated equally. Despite the provisions of this Act, so many people continue to face discrimination based on various characteristics. One of my goals is to contribute to the fight against discrimination and promote a society where every person is equal. As part of this commitment, I volunteered at a local community organization designed to promote awareness on racial issues, a topic that has gained prominence over the past few years.

Racism is an ill that continues to plague or world, as evidenced by recent events, including police brutality, harassment, and other forms of violence and discrimination based on race and ethnicity. The local organization aimed to create awareness on everyday discriminatory acts that persons of color experience and how other groups of people can help put an end to this. Many people are unaware of racist biases that they might have based on stereotypes learned both consciously and subconsciously. As part of the project, volunteers recruited local community members to take part in the survey. The survey helped people recognize their individual biases that promote discrimination against people of color. Many participants realized that they often act out of ignorance, not realizing how hurtful their actions and words might be. There were also interactive sessions between people of different races involving discussions about the type of discrimination they experienced and how it affected them. After this, we provided examples of actions that help in the fight against discrimination. In the future, I plan to take part in such programs and even start one in my local community to bring awareness on discrimination.

Leadership Development

Leadership Development PlanMBA 610

This Leadership Development Plan serves as your road map for short-term training and development activities that will enhance your leadership competencies. You will review, revise, and update your plan several times during the course of your MBA degree program at UMGC.

Your name:Your current job title:

Long-Term Career Goal

Make sure your goal is SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.

-28575240030In 3 to 5 years, my main long-term career goal as a Human Resources Specialist is to be a key contributor to the executive team to ensure that the personnel turnover falls by thirty percent. I want to be able to have a meaningful impact on our corporate culture by being instrumental in the development and implementation of programs that inspire leadership and accountability. I also want to grow into an integral part of our management team, both by sharing my knowledge with leaders across the company, as well as being a mentor for new potential executive team members.

00In 3 to 5 years, my main long-term career goal as a Human Resources Specialist is to be a key contributor to the executive team to ensure that the personnel turnover falls by thirty percent. I want to be able to have a meaningful impact on our corporate culture by being instrumental in the development and implementation of programs that inspire leadership and accountability. I also want to grow into an integral part of our management team, both by sharing my knowledge with leaders across the company, as well as being a mentor for new potential executive team members.

In 3 to 5 years, my goal is to…

Short-Term Skills Development Needs

What skills will you need to acquire to achieve your long-term career goal?

-28575290195I need to learn how to speak effectively in meetings and formulate a good presentation, I also want to learn how to gain level two leadership training, and how to develop a team.

I will need to acquire these skills within the next 12 months.

00I need to learn how to speak effectively in meetings and formulate a good presentation, I also want to learn how to gain level two leadership training, and how to develop a team.

I will need to acquire these skills within the next 12 months.

My leadership skills training and development

Leadership Development Plan

Leadership Development PlanMBA 610

This Leadership Development Plan serves as your road map for short-term training and development activities that will enhance your leadership competencies. You will review, revise, and update your plan several times during the course of your MBA degree program at UMGC.

Your name:Your current job title:

Long-Term Career Goal

Make sure your goal is SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.

-2857524003000In 3 to 5 years, my goal is to…

Short-Term Skills Development Needs

What skills will you need to acquire to achieve your long-term career goal?

-2857528892500My leadership skills training and development

Leadership Consultants

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Leadership Consultants.

INTRODUCTION

“The true mark of a leader is the willingness to stick with a bold course of action — an unconventional business strategy, a unique product-development roadmap, a controversial marketing campaign — even as the rest of the world wonders why you’re not marching in step with the status quo,” Taylor (2010). Slide Click. A leader in the push that forces members towards achieving the objectives of a company.

According to Hao and Yazdanifard (2015), one of the essential elements of management in an organization is effective leadership since it helps sustain the business and handle problems experienced in the company. Slide Click. It is leaders who take charge and control the undertakings of an organization, and able leaders should be in a position to set optimistic objectives and at the same time drive the company towards those aims by executing appropriate techniques and strategies. Slide Click. For a company to be successful in all its undertakings, effective leadership is paramount and very essential. Slide Click. Today, I will be talking to you about the importance of effective leadership in an organization; problems faced due to lack of good leadership, and how our company, our company will help a company overcome leadership problems and build leadership skills. Slide Click.

Let us first look at the situation of a company facing leadership problems.

BODY

As a result of poor leadership in an organization, organizational culture becomes poor, resources are mismanaged, and there is a loss of motivation to work. Overall, this leads to a lack of achievement of the organization’s goals.

Slide Click. Let’s take an example, shall we? A company has the aim to make 10% more sales in the coming month. However, the leaders fail to motivate the employees to work wards this goal, lack transparency, absent them from their responsibilities and mismanage available resources. It would be, in such a situation, difficult for the organization to make the additional sales.

Slide Click. Causes of leadership issues include lack of trust between the leaders or between leaders and their employees, lack of enthusiasm, lack of follow up on delegated tasks, and bad attitude towards colleagues and subordinates.

Slide Click. Effects of leadership issues in an organization include money wastage on unproductive performance, time wastage in correcting wrongdoings of the leaders, and wasted potential of people who would have done better in the job. Due to leadership issues, motivation might also deteriorate in the employees.

It is clear that we have a problem, but what is the solution?

Slide Click. Our company can resolve the leadership issues we have just seen by identifying the root causes of these issues, specific to the leaders in this organization, and work to reduce or eliminate and build better leadership skills.

Slide Click. Good leadership in an organization is evidenced by several aspects. One, leaders have a good relationship with their subordinates. According to Shibu (2015), Dynatrace was the leading company in 2015 in terms of good leadership. Slide Click. Employees at Dynatrace said that “The leadership team is approachable and inclusive. They keep innovation and growth at the forefront of their agenda” Shibu (2015). Our company would determine whether the organization’s leaders are aware of the needs of their subordinates and whether they care about their growth personally and professionally.

Slide Click. As leadership consultants, we will use different methods to identify the causes of leadership issues in the company. One way would be working with the employees and asking them questions about their relationship with the leaders. Leadership issues will be present if employees complain of lack of motivation, career development, poor pay, and harshness of leaders towards them. Slide Click. We would also question the leaders to see if they delegate duties to teams and if they follow up to see that the duties are completed in good time and the right way. We would also seek to know the methods that the leaders use in motivating the employees to work towards attaining the organization’s objectives.

Slide Click. To address the leadership issues identified, we will first get rid of non-serious leaders who waste time, resources and fail to motivate their subordinates. Secondly, we will ensure that the leaders’ objectives are specific, measurable, realistic, and time-bound. Slide Click. In addition, we will urge the leaders to ensure that they delegate more duties and, above that, ensure that they are clear about the purpose of the tasks, believe in those they are delegating the tasks to, prioritize the tasks in order of importance and assess and reward the delegates appropriately.

In conclusion, let us review our discussion.

CONCLUSION:

Slide Click. As we have seen, leadership issues are caused by a lack of trust between the leaders or between leaders and their employees, lack of enthusiasm, lack of follow up on delegated tasks, and bad attitude towards colleagues and subordinates.

Slide Click. We have seen how poor leadership in an organization leads to deterioration of the company’s work culture, mismanagement of resources, demotivation of employees, and overall failure to achieve the organization’s goals. Slide Click. As John F. Kennedy said, “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” Brazeau (2008). Awaken your leadership team by using us to help identify their weaknesses and build you a well-skilled staff.

References

Brazeau, G. A. (2008). Leadership and learning. American journal of pharmaceuticaleducation, 72(3).

Hao, M. J., & Yazdanifard, R. (2015). How effective leadership can facilitate change inorganizations through improvement and innovation. Global journal of management andbusiness research.

Taylor, B. (2010). Do You Pass the Leadership Test? Harvard Business Review.https://hbr.org/2010/08/pass-leadership-test

Leadership Communication

Leadership Communication Depictions in Game of Thrones

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Summary

Game of Thrones is an 8 season HBO television series based on George R.R. Martin’s fantasy novels of the same title. It takes place in Westeros’ Seven Kingdoms, where great Houses compete for control of the all-powerful Iron Throne. The world of Game of Thrones is similar to the workplace, except there are more dragons. The characters have varying levels of influence, influence is determined by their social standing and/or wealth. The only character who had no social standing in the episodes I watched was Cerise Lannister. The only person who comes close to having the same level of influence in Game of Thrones as they would in a normal workplace is Daenerys Targaryen, even though she doesn’t have any control over anything. In real life, they’d call it “power”. Also, Daenerys wasn’t around much during season one. She came back two seasons later and she was more powerful than ever. She helped claim the Iron Throne for her family at that point.

The characters that have the most influence are the ones who are either wealthy and/or claim ownership of a very powerful position. They use this influence to their advantage. In one scenario, Cerise Lannister tried getting out of having to marry someone she didn’t want to marry. She tried using her wealth as leverage, but it didn’t work. Anyone who tries to use their wealth as a way out of something is probably going to get outsmarted, because the other person is going to see through that and figure out some other occasion to get out of it. You’ve got to have a plan B and be prepared for anything.

Analysis

The leadership communication between Brienne of Tarth and Jaime Lannister is examined to see how they both have found their redemption through developing a mutual respect for one another. Jaime Lannister is seen as being an abusive boy who never grew up, but instead became an abusive man with power. He had no shame in his actions, believing that he was entitled to do whatever he pleased without repercussion (Yu, & Campbell, 2021). As time passed, his actions grew worse towards himself and those around him, with no redeeming qualities to speak of except for his ability to withstand torture without breaking.

Brienne had been married off as a child to the Lannister family by her father, with no idea of what she was getting into. Like Jaime, she too had no shame for what she did and how she acted. We see Brienne grow from her first impressions; when she arrives in King’s Landing, we see her determined to keep her vow to the Starks, but not necessarily the honorable man that Jaime is. She goes on a secret mission and helps capture Tyrion Lannister, whilst leaving Jaime out of it. The characters also try to manipulate each other for their own personal gain. Sometimes they cheat or steal from one another. Sometimes they help each other out when it counts. Sometimes they’re just trying to stand in the way of someone else’s success. Cerise Lannister wasn’t much of a manipulator, she just let other people manipulate her instead of doing it herself (Yu, & Campbell, 2021). In real life, we’d call that “being a patsy”. She let them use her for their own personal gain.

Many characters are defying their social status and trying to live the “high life” because the life of a commoner is extremely boring and no one cares about them. They want to be something they’re not just because they want the glory that comes with being in a higher position. The lead character of Game of Thrones, aka King of the North Jon Snow, is an orphan that was taken in by the Starks (who are an extremely wealthy family). Instead of doing his chores and waiting for Lord Stark to die so he could inherit his wealth, Jon decides to join a band of mercenaries and fight for gold. This is similar to someone who doesn’t have any power over anything. In real life, we would call this “being a sellout” (Yu, & Campbell, 2021). Unlike Daenerys, who’s trying to reclaim her rightful place as the rightful heir, Jon wants more power simply for personal gain.

Recommendation/ Application

Game of Thrones demonstrates the dangers of leadership communication mistakes like boasting about power, not taking responsibility for failure, and bullying. In real life, we can learn from Brienne’s perseverance and determination to keep her oath to the Starks, Jaime’s ability to listen and understand others, as well as Tyrion’s uncanny ability to always be in good spirits when facing adversity. Leadership communication is often misunderstood in the workplace and among peers. Rather than focus on a single communication style, great leaders develop flexible leadership styles that make them more adaptable to different situations. As communicators, they are able to identify the right tactics and strategies for a given situation.

Game of Thrones depicts leaders who are specifically skilled in one or two areas but limited in others. By studying their strengths and weaknesses, we can determine how specific traits affect leadership communication styles. Daenerys Targaryen is a great example of an ineffective leader with an inflated sense of self-importance who has difficulty listening because she is so convinced her way is best. Her inability to get along with other leaders in the Game of Thrones series causes her to lose valuable allies. Daenerys Targaryen’s lack of leadership communication skills can be attributed to a lack of understanding about good leadership communication traits (Yu, & Campbell, 2021).

Application to real-life leadership communication; do’s

leadership communication requires active listening and communication skills.

communication requires strategy planning, active listening, and empathy

strategy planning involves the ability to discern the message content of others in order to assess their needs, goals, feelings and expectations prior to presenting (or refraining from) speaking.

References

Yu, H. H., & Campbell, T. M. (2021). Teaching leadership theory with television: Useful lessons from Game of Thrones. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 27(2), 141-175.