Write 3 paragraphs in length by selecting one of the leadership theories below that best describes your own leadership style.
Write 3 paragraphs in length by selecting one of the leadership theories below that best describes your own leadership style.
- In what ways does your own leadership style align with your selected leadership theory?
- How do you know? Thoroughly explain. After doing so, use real-life examples to support your assertion.
Please be sure to validate your opinions and ideas with intext citations and references in APA format.
Responsible Leadership
Discuss the roles of leaders in creating ethical organizations. Although theories have increased our understanding of effective leadership, they do not explicitly deal with the roles of ethics and trust, which some argue are essential to complete the picture. Here, we consider contemporary concepts that explicitly address the role of leaders in creating ethical organizations. These and the theories we discussed earlier are not mutually exclusive ideas (a transformational leader may also be a responsible one), but we could argue that leaders generally appear to be stronger in one category than another. Authentic Leadership SAP’s Co-CEO Bill McDermott’s motto is “Stay Hungry, Stay Humble,” and he appears to practice what he preaches. Campbell Soup’s CEO Denise Morrison decided to lower sodium in the company’s soup products simply because it was the right thing to do. McDermott and Morrison appear to be good exemplars of authentic leadership.70 Authentic leadership focuses on the moral aspects of being a leader. Authentic leaders know who they are, know what they believe in, and act on those values and beliefs openly and candidly. Their followers consider them ethical people. The primary quality produced by authentic leadership is trust. Authentic leaders share information, encourage open communication, and stick to their ideals. The result: People come to have faith in them. Related to this behavior is the concept of humbleness, another characteristic of being authentic. Research indicates that leaders who model humility help followers to understand the growth process for their own development.71 Authentic leadership, especially when shared among top management team members, creates a positive energizing effect that heightens firm performance.72 Transformational or charismatic leaders can have a vision and communicate it persuasively, but sometimes the vision is wrong (as in the case of Hitler), or the leader is more concerned with his or her own needs or pleasures, as were Dennis Kozlowski (ex-CEO of Tyco), Jeff Skilling (ex-CEO of Enron), and Raj Rajaratnam (founder of the Galleon Group).73 Authentic leaders do not exhibit these behaviors. They may also be more likely to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR).