Archie Norman

In his analysis of companies that are able to achieve greatness, James Collins identifies the role of a “Level 5” leader as instrumental in the transformation. Collins identifies this type of leader as an individual “who blends extreme personal humility with intense professional will” (21). While they are willful and fearless, these leaders are also modest and humble. The leader is less interested in personal glorification and is more interested in the performance of the company. They are intensely driven towards building a successful company that is capable of continuing its success in their absence. In his analysis of companies, he identified that all good companies that became great had Level 5 leaders at the help when they transformed. The leaders are interested in building up their successors such that the company continues on a successful path. This is in contrast with leaders who are interested in the short-term success of a company during their tenure. Level 5 leaders are not concerned “with their own reputation for personal greatness” (Collins 26). Rather, they are willing to share credit for their success with colleagues and successors. Under egocentric leaders, Collins noted that companies would achieve particularly strong growth but they would fall apart immediately after the leader’s exit. However, Level 5 leaders seek to obtain consistent results by finding the best people and creating a

Eric Reis, a successful entrepreneur, stated that successful companies in the future is need to fast adapt by practicing continuous deployment of idea, planning and more experimentation, ie creating organizations that have the ability to cultivate, test and materialize new ideas (Heskett, 2013). So, in terms of the large scale innovations like what Apple went through, transformational leadership was necessary.

The application of effective adaptive leadership principles seeks to examine the larger internal corporate solutions or outcomes and not personal or individual dynamics. Looking

A change in leadership allowed Advia Credit Union to create a strategic plan to position itself to remain a viable financial institution for the future. The analysis revealed that this level of change was not easy on the organization, especially in terms of the impact it had on the employees. During the research for this paper, I had the opportunity to ask the CEO, Cheryl DeBoer, her thoughts on what makes a leader effective. It was rewarding to hear, that her primary thought was on the people. Ms. DeBoer felt like her most important responsibility was to be accountable to the membership, develop new leaders to support the credit union vision, and to position Advia Credit Union for future sustainability (C. DeBoer, personal communication, October 17, 2016). Ms. DeBoer’s focus has always been on the

Transformational leadership needs to be fostered at all levels in the firm. In order to succeed, the firm needs to have the flexibility to forecast and meet new demands and changes as they occur —and only transformational leadership can enable the firm to do so (Bass, 1990, p. 31).

The book The Heart of Change shows the practical side of the theories that are taught in the course textbook. It presents stories of successes and failures based in the application of concepts discussed in Organizational Behavior and Management and in class. Although we talked about several different concepts the ones that are evident in the examples in The Heart Of Change are the more progressive and individual centered approaches. The leadership characteristics that are important to successful change in an organization are those that are espoused in the transformational theory of management. It makes sense that ideals in line with the transformational management theory

(2009) building an adaptive culture will require organizations to institutionalize the five previously mentioned adaptive capacity characteristics. Here are some suggestions to improve SDHS’ lack of teamwork: First, elephants in the room must be named, and it will need to start at the executive level. Heifetz et, al. (2009) suggest “modeling the behavior,” which can have a powerful impact because leaders are expected to set the tone. Current issues need to be openly addressed by seeking and encouraging advice from all members of the organization. This can be done by assigning new middle managers to link the workers and volunteers with the executives. Fixing “elephants in the room” issue will also help “shared responsibility” and “independent judgment” by allowing input from all levels. The “developing leadership capacity” should be done by going back to the basics. According to Crowley (2013) the basics include; getting people in the right job, setting clear expectations, giving people the tools to do their job, and giving high praises. Therefore, it is suggested that competent middle managers and executives should conduct daily training, coaching, and mentoring. Constant training behavior should be institutionalized across the organization. Additionally, previously successful aspects from the newly merged organizations should be incorporated. Finally, promoting teamwork will require the organization to set up informal group activities such as pot lucks and small birthday celebrations for its

However, here it shares the art of building an adaptive culture in an organization. Building blocks such as being proactive and not reactive, learning to listen without having an answer prepared for delivery, nurture shared responsibilities, and encourage /empower independent thought and judgment. As a leader it is wise to work toward making yourself dispensable (A. G. Ronald Heifetz 2009) . Everything shouldn’t hinge on the leader. If the leader happens to leave and takes all their knowledge, then

As Thompson (2015) has discussed, the world is changing fast and organizations must be flexible in handling changes to be able to thrive well or they may experience dilemmas. In 1997, Apple Company, which almost reached bankruptcy ousted its that time CEO, Gil Amelio, where Steve Jobs replaced him and declared himself interim CEO. Apple that time is experiencing a disruptive change, a change that is radical and immediately happening, in other words unexpected. However, they were able to response to it quickly and prevented the company to hit the very bottom by bringing back Steve Jobs. Jobs had so much idea with him, which the company needed most at that time (Time, 2016).

We have grown to become elite leaders in a niche market. Unlike many of our competitors we don't carry huge shelves of inventory. We are truly a "custom" shop that intimately understands the needs of our customers and caters to specific tastes and requirements (Jerry 2009). However, I think we can agree that the need to implement change is almost inevitable in today's business environment if an organization is to survive and grow. Your twenty-year tenure and expertise here at Karsten is not being overlooked. Your knowledge of your division's processes and team dynamics is both highly valued and appreciated. However, there are larger factors at work external competition, economic challenges, and advances in technology that have created a necessity for Karsten to rethink our strategies, apply greater creativity and cut operating costs. Bottom line: the time has come for additional support.

In order to move forward and keep ahead, I believe an organization need change leaders who have capabilities to have their workforce go from change avoidance to change acceptance. “One of the most significant strengths of an effective leader is the ability to create a positive work climate where people are energized to do their best work, free of unnecessary distractions” (Cronkite, n.d.). During this part of the change process I feel the change leader would have better success if he would be tactful and harness the skills of others by working in a collaborative rather than hierarchical way. Leadership in an organization involves instilling motivation and enthusiasm in the employees. An effective leader knows how to manage and tackle difficult situations and people. Many reasons can cause a force of change in organizations but I feel it’s up to change leaders to manage these planned and unexpected changes. (Word count: 548)

As organizations change, leadership must find ways to adapt and adjust to those changes. Many times it’s the inability of being open-minded to new ideas, beliefs, thoughts and cultures that prevent individuals from moving forward. Saner (2004) states, “Increased globalization and integration of information technology have brought about a fundamental rethinking of how to conduct business and how to lead a complex organization for continuous improvement and reinventing of the organization” (p.654). In any organization, change brings resistance, but with positive managerial and leadership skills, accepting the challenges that come with diversity such as ambiguity, complexity, resistance and confusion, will give managers the foresight to effectively and efficiently implement processes that will benefit the organization as a whole.

No organization can survive over an extended period of time without the proper focus on people as its most important resource.” – Charlie Eitel. Effective change leaders have dreams. They are aware of their current state, and where they want to go (Banutu, and Shandra, 2007). Simmons Company, founded in the early 1900s, was a trade-mark leader in bed mattresses. With booming sales, the company faced a fundamental issue of whether or not it should go ahead with the new CEO - Charlie Eitel proposal. His suggestion for changing the current program which could cost $7.2 million dollars, especially at the time when the company was having financial problems in the heat of the economic crisis of 9/11. Eitel’s strategy was to transform the

This paper will discuss the rationale and issues that occurs when managers read a popular book by a management guru and hastily tries to implement its idea and one-size-fits-all recommendations without proper regards for the organization’s unique problems and needs. The quick-fix mentality that fosters this problem can be avoided by remaining current with management literature from the field, ensure that the concepts are applied based on science rather than advocacy. “The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter” by Michael D. Watkins is a remarkable book that covers all the issues listed above with real scenario. Mr. Watkins was asked by Johnson & Johnson’s Corporate Management Development Group (J & J) to develop workshops and coaching processes to accelerate the company’s leaders in transition, and his work soon evolved into an engaging partnership with J&J as the testing bed for his new development and deployment of his ideas. I really enjoyed reading this book, because it made me think of all the times when I faced these problems and did not understand why or what went wrong in many situations by reading the book it changed the way I think about many things.

I have learned many lessons from Jack Welch on leadership. Jack Welch has been with the General Electric Company (GE) since 1960. Having taken over GE with a market capitalization of about $12 billion, Jack Welch turned it into one of the largest and most admired companies in the world by the time he stepped down as its CEO 20 years later, in 2000. Jack Welch used his uncanny instincts and unique leadership strategies to run GE, the most complex organization in the world and increased its market value by more than $400 billion over two decades. He remains a highly regarded figure in business circles due to his innovative leadership style. Jack Welch demonstrated Kouzes and Posner’s five practices of modeling the way, inspiring a shared