Leadership Alan Keith

Abstract Exemplary leadership in organizations is an important ingredient if success is to be realized. In this regard, it is crucial to note that different leadership styles influence the manner in which organizations are run on a daily basis. In other words, success level of any organisation or company is gauged by the leadership structure in place.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Leadership: Alan Keith specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More From the style of leadership, the top management of companies and other organizations can affect how ethics and ethical dilemmas are handled especially when making decisions. Nonetheless, the various sources of power such as legitimate and expert power are equally strong determinants in exemplary leadership. Additionally, character trait as described by the theory of the Big Five has also been found to be very instrumental in influencing leadership. Introduction Leadership is a v ery momentous practice that is required in day-to-day running of organizations and small groups. Effective leadership is paramount if significant success is to be realized. The ability to pioneer has been known to be one of the most important attributes of exemplary leadership. Thus, leaders should be people who are willing and able to venture into the ‘white spaces’ or the unknown. The need to expedite growth and innovation is usually the desire of leaders to boost the performance of organizations. Nonetheless, new products and services are not created by leaders per se. Indeed, other staff members of an organization are instrumental in initiating the process of change and the much needed innovation (Brown Mitchell, 2010). The potential to innovation largely emanates from the listening part rather than giving orders on what is supposed to be done. For this reason, clients, various departmental team members as well as vendors inputs are invaluable in the process of ste ering leadership within a small or large group of people working as a unit. In a more related but different perspective, exemplary leadership heavily relies on the character or the intrinsic traits of the leader in question. For instance, the Big Five is used to describe the major classifications of personality types evident in people. Each person has a unique and inherent behavioral pattern that conspicuously stands out and can be used to identify the person. Firstly, extraversion personality type is often characterized with being assertive, of high energy and tendency to talk a lot. Agreeableness is the second type of the Big Five (Colquitt et al., 2010). Those who belong into this category are associated with affection, sympathy and tendency to be benevolent or compassionate. Conscientious characters are shrewd, well organized and strategic.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Emotional Intelligence is the fourth trait and is mostly associated with individuals who tend to be tense, emotional, considerate or anxious. Finally, Openness personality is characterized with the ability to be thoughtful, insightful or the ability of being intellectual. This paper offers an opportunity to analyze, reflect upon, research, and write about the kind of leader I would want to be with respect to an exemplary leader who influenced me positively. Context This paper discuses and explores the exemplary leadership styles of Alan Keith, the Chief Executive Officer of Lucas Digital and how he managed to steer the organisation around. Although there were myriad of challenges faced by the CEO, his leadership and character traits were more than sufficient as far as the success of the organization is concerned. Alan Keith happens to be my exemplary leader for various reasons. To begin with, he is a pioneering character in the organisation in the sense that he often has the guts to explore the untapped opportunities. There are some instances when the CEO has to face several dramatic external pressures such as cut-throat competition and decline in demand for products made by Luca Digital. However, he has an interesting and baffling way of not only confronting the predicament but also seeking other newer opportunities for the company over and above the existing ones. Discussion and analysis Perhaps, one of his strongest points in leadership is the tendency to acknowledge the contribution of other members within the company. He recognizes the good and invaluable ideas both from the senior and subordinate staff and equally supports the very ideas. As a result, Keith has initiated myriad of changes. In this regard, he has not just relied on his leadership abilities; he has greatly depended on the input of those below him. In simple terms, Keith has acted more as an adopter of innovation and change but not a sole creator of the same. In spite of his overwhelming success in leadership, Keith clearly understands that the entire process of conducting business revolves around profitability, loss, undertaking risk, as well as anticipating failure whenever circumstances are overboard (Browne Keeley, 2007). However, Keith has never been cowed by the high risk business environment.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Leadership: Alan Keith specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More He is ever willing to proceed, no matter what; always hoping for the best but prepared for the worst. This is an exemplary leadership platform worth to be admired by all and sundry. It takes courage to approach delicate change just like does. His tactic is simple but steady and firm. He believes in achieving small wins at a time even as he makes each succeeding incremental steps. It is common knowledge that building confidence is only possible when little victories are bundled together over time. For Keith, this has been the winning edge over his market rivals. In addition, small wins is the only platform through which the long-term future and sustainability of any given organisation can be created. The CEO is often keen on tracking down the level of risk and uncertainty both in the foreseeable and distant future. The fact that long term planning requires proper coordination and involvement of all teams and individuals in an organisation, Keith has initiated a coherent process of change that take care the capacity of both the origination and the human resource base. Full commitment to change is not an instant jerk but a long term preparative process that demands clarity of vision and full engagement by the management (Lussier Achua, 2009). Keith knows quite well that it is practically difficult to exhort employees to engage in risk taking if they are uncertain of their safety. Being successful as a leader requires consistency and persistence. This implies that failure is not inevitable. As such, Keith has demonstrated his exemplary leadership by remaining focused throughout the hard times. Indeed, facing obstacles and being resilient is one of the outstanding leadership traits of the CEO. As already mentioned, a single person cannot achieve grand dreams for an organisation. In one of his leadership ideals, Keith has largely incorporated the ideas, skills and competences in the course of leadership. He clearly understands a team effort is necessary to propel growth and development in the company. For instance, in many of his speeches during small group or company meetings, the CEO has a tendency of using the word ‘we’ instead of ‘I’. This is a clear indication of the fact that he is a leader who does not just appreciate the efforts of his juniors but also integrates and involves the rest of employees. He has so far created an enabling environment where others can contribute significantly to the improvement of the company. The CEOs best leader ship experience revolves around people. Leaders who are exemplary do not act by themselves but they allow others to do so.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Modern organizations are turning out to be more ‘virtual’ and as a consequence, leaders should seek a more proactive way of creating a collaborative environment among all the employees. The CEO has done exactly that. He has made sure that all the individuals who have a stake in the mission and vision of the company are co-operating with each other in order to achieve the targets of the organisation. Keith has also made it possible for the employees to perform excellent work. He has enhanced a sense of confidence and personal power among employees. He has the understanding that the technique of controlling and commanding that were conventionally used during the era of Industrial Revolution are not applicable now. His working principle aims at strengthening people, increasing their capacity and commitment to their various levels. He does not hoard power at all but rather exercises a sense of collective responsibility. The promises made by the CEO have often been a source of inspiration for the entire working team in the organisation. Firstly, he hardly miss to deliver on his promises. It is through promises that employees are energized as they anticipate for a brighter future. Although some promises are sometimes not met by the CEO, the bulk is often delivered. Employees find themselves to be more determined to achieve the set targets and eventually, they end up generating extraordinary results. In many of his meetings within and without the company, Keith often stresses the need and urgency for teamwork. It is through collective effort that employees at workplace can gain trust and feel empowered even when the task at hand is enormous and highly demanding. Although some leaders would prefer to act on their own depending on their leadership styles, it is quite imperative for all members of an organisation to be involved or engaged in important processes like decision making. In Laissez Faire leadership, delegation of duties is common. Leaders offer very minimal or no guidance at all while followers exercise optimum freedom when making decisions. Although the necessary resources may be provided by the leadership, members of a group are expected to offer solutions to problems. For Laissez Faire leadership style to succeed, team members should be highly competent, intrinsically motivated as well as work under minimum or no supervision at all. The CEO tends to partly apply this kind of leadership but he has created a conducive environment for the employees such that they are disciplined to follow the norms and regulations of the company to the letter. In order to understand leadership, personality has been incorporated in the whole process. The main reason given behind this is that how people behave or act is basically a result of who they are. Another possible reason why personality has been linked with leadership is due to the fact that throughout adulthood, personality is part and parcel and also a function of day to day activi ties and can be assumed to have a predictive power that is longitudinal in nature (ZagorÃ… ¡ek, Dimovski Ã…  kerlavaj, 2010). In order to obtain an analytical measure of personality, the five-factor model has been employed. This model has also proved to be reliable and comprehensive in determining global personality, or better still, a wide range of personality traits. Most of the research studies conducted both in the distant and near past conclude the same way; that all the personality types largely fall into the five main categories albeit the varying degrees of functionality. The five-factor model has also shed more light when discussing personality and trait differences in people and how this can affect individual leadership styles. These five dimensions have equally proved to be highly reliable and have high level of validity and when molded together, the structure of personality is well established. Moreover, the Big Five can be applied is a very beneficial way in a variety of settings. For example, the survey carried out on both male and female students from engineering and business classes is a vivid illustration on how profitable the model is (Northouse, 2010). The male engineering students who were found to be mainly task oriented still fall under the Big Five especially if those characteristics are linked to personality traits. One dominant personality characteristic evident among the male engineering students is conscientiousness. The fact that they are task oriented implies thoroughness on their part. They are always conscious of their work and hardly dwell on people or building strong relationships (Scott Ashford, 2010). In expounding the Big Five model, it is imperative to underscore the fact that extraversion relates to the ability of a person to demonstrate more energy while performing tasks. A person with this character trait is highly enthusiastic, is capable of building strong and long lasting relationships due to the outgoing nature. In addition, the person is generally talkative. These traits can be used to predict leadership style of an individual. As the CEO of the company, Keith can derive power from different sources although he may feel that he is powerless by the very fact that he exercises democratic ideals in his leadership. At times, he may appear to be lacking managerial responsibility over the employees since their ideas and concerns are fully considered and valued in the organisation. Nonetheless, the CEO has always been accomplishing projects for the company irrespective of leadership style or source of power he uses. It is indeed exemplary leadership to see how he balances between satisfying the needs of employees and at the same time retain the performance of the organisation (Avey, Palanski Walumbwa, 2011). It is evident that Keith, the CEO of Lucas Digital, has his source of power from expertise background. His leadership style is largely based on expert knowledge owing to immense success of the organisation. In addition, his power as the CEO of the company is legitimate since he has been legally assigned to run the organisation (Greene, 2011). Moreover, members of the organisation can indeed request certain people to head an organisation purely because they bear certain characteristic and traits that are compatible with the leadership requirements needed at workplace. This may also translate to legitimate power. In terms of decision making style, the CEO is largely a decisive decision maker. He has a habit of gathering limited information to be used for decision making and then act upon the meager information quickly as he comes up with the final verdict. There are instances when he has made wrong decisions but he remains undisturbed. Instead, he keeps supporting it to the very end. However, this seems to be the only way out for making decisions that demand some urgency (Cascio, 2010). As the CEO of the organisation, Keith has had to solve several ethical dilemmas in his leadership life. Although ethics in leadership may be categorized as either right or wrong, Keith has the perspective that ethics in leadership has to do with the conflict between two rights. In many instances, Keith has downsized various ethical dilemmas he faces in the course of leadership. For instance, the process of employee appraisal is usually carried out using a common set of criteria so that fairness is maintained throughout. Besides, both the peers and the subordinates are involved in the evaluation process. The CEO of the Lucas Digital Company is more of a transactional leader than transformational. As a transactional leader, he mainly leads by following the rules, regulations and culture of the company. He does not change or introduce new ideals. He is a culture-oriented but not change-oriented. This quality has been an inspiration to what I personally desire as a leader. Exemplary leadership should go beyond the norms and culture and introduce new ideas for growth and s uccess. Conclusion In summing up, it is vital to reiterate that leadership styles in organizations are largely dependent on prior training and capacity building as well as the personality traits of the leader in question. For example, the Big Five personality traits is closely attached to leadership styles that often influence decision making, ethical dilemmas in organizations, as well as the various sources of power for project managers and Chief Executive Officers. Furthermore, exemplary leadership stems from the ability of a leader to accommodate the input of other employees in an organisation by acknowledging and appreciating their various efforts in attaining the goals of the organisation. References Avey, J.B., Palanski, M.E. Walumbwa, F.O. (2011). When Leadership Goes Unnoticed: The Moderating Role of Follower Self-Esteem on the Relationship Between Ethical Leadership and Follower Behavior, Journal of Business Ethics, 98:573–582. Browne, M. N. Keeley, S. M. (2007). A sking the right questions: A guide to critical thinking (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Brown, E.M. Mitchell, S.M. (2010). Ethical and Unethical Leadership:Exploring New Avenues for Euture Research, Business Ethics Quarterly, 20(4): 583-616. Cascio, F.W. (2010). Managing Human Resources: productivity, quality of work life, profits, Indiana: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Colquitt et al. (2010). Organizational Behavior: Improving Performance and Commitment in the Workplace, NJ: McGraw-Hill. Greene, J.R. (2011). Rewarding Performance: Guiding Principles; Custom Strategies, New York: Routledge. Lussier, N.R. Achua, F.C. (2009). Leadership: Theory, Application, Skill Development, Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Northouse, G.P. (2010). Leadership: Theory and Practice, New Delhi: Sage Publications Inc. Scott, D.D. Ashford, J.S. (2010).Who will lead and who will follow? A social process of leadership identity construction in organizations, Academy of Management Review, 35(4) : 627–647. ZagorÃ… ¡ek, H., Dimovski, V. Ã…  kerlavaj, M. (2010). Transactional and transformational leadership impacts on organizational learning, Business Ethics Quarterly 20(4): 144-165. This essay on Leadership: Alan Keith was written and submitted by user Adonis Barr to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.