Executive Leadership And Strategic Decisions

Leadership is a facet of management. It is just one of the many assets a successful manager must possess. The main aim of a manager is to maximize the output of the organization through administrative implementation. To achieve this managers must undertake the four functions of management: planning, organization, leading and controlling. In some cases leadership is just one important component of the leading function. Predpall (1994) said, "Leaders must let vision, strategies, goals, and values be the guide-post for action and behavior rather than attempting to control others". In some circumstances, leadership is not required. For example, self-motivated groups may not require a single leader and may find leaders dominating. The fact that a leader is not always required proves that leadership is just an asset and is not essential.

To me a leader needs to be responsible to be able to successfully complete their duties. The leader needs to take the initiative to get things done. They shouldn’t wait around to be told what to do. A leader needs to understand that being a leader means being responsible for your team’s actions, not just your

A leader must be able to assess situations correctly. Many leaders struggle with having the right judgment without any sense of bias.

Management has changed significantly over the past 50 years. The role of leaders in an organization is an ever changing thing. At one point, a manager was also the owner of the company, and thus used a carrot and a stick to get his employees to work, just like a parent personally invested in the raising of their child. Not anymore. Nowadays, leaders are there to “serve” their employees. The focus is on motivating the individual, achieving organizational goals by integrating each and every individual into the system. We no longer rely on a one size fits all approach, and management theory is no longer focused on having a winning philosophy, or motivating large groups.

Leadership and management are two different concepts. Management is involved with the operational oversight of employees, departments, or processes, while leadership is involved with leading the company through organizational changes that are intended to enable the company to meet its objectives. Leaders are expected to carry themselves in a positive manner to motivate and influence the rest of the organization positively, because they act as an example to the rest of the employees in the organization. Since leadership is mainly influenced by the behavior, different leaders apply different strategies to ensure that the objectives of the company have been fully met (Sheahan, 2006). This paper analyzes the leadership theories and the methods and tools given situations while selecting the appropriate behavior of different leaders in resolving some problems in the organization.

According to Frates (2014), Mr. Edwards understood that the physicians played a critical role in the organization and could possibly assist in the plan to control the hospitals cost. However, allowing the new COO to terminate the employment of Dr. Harris (hospitals radiologist) without calling on the physicians to analyze the problems and perhaps recommend any solutions that would be beneficial in cutting cost and did not show good leadership power (Frates, 2014). As evidenced within this study, the way that leaders and individuals in positions of responsibility handle themselves in turbulent times is crucial to any organization and leaders must understand how to use power judiciously when making decisions that would determine the organizations success (Frates,

Leaders decide when they have ‘enough’ information to act. One thing that leaders do not understand is that one cannot be able to assort through all options and risks that are right in front of them. One needs to try and get the right information and use some right instincts in conjunction in order to make a decision (Dearstyne,

Leaders always keep themselves in front in face of danger. The danger could be firing of bullets, depreciation of company stock or any other catastrophe. They feel very deeply for their people. Not everyone can act and feel that way. It is very difficult to find people with

The topic of leadership evokes curiosity about our leaders and their approaches in decision making, leadership styles and the effectiveness of their leadership. At time leaders are critiqued for their actions or views on different business affairs. In today’s working environment leaders set the tone, vision, and goals of any organization. Leadership has a huge impact on the culture of an organization and how people communicate within the organization (Northouse, 2009). The actions of leaders should inspire and positively impact their followers. The approach of leaders in handling adversities highlights many features of their character.

Leadership is not an easy task. This is mainly because in every situation, the leader is expected to make some decisions that determine the direction that his company takes. As such, if he makes a mistake, there is a very great possibility that the whole organization will be misled (Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes 2). As such, the leaders need to be very effective in their decision making skills. This is mainly because if they. An indecisive leader is an ineffective leader there is no way that he can lead the organization to success. A leader needs to be very decisive so as to rally support from his staff (ubalt.edu

In corporate America the term used to describe a person in a position of power is “Manager”. A leader can be a manager, but a manager is not necessarily a leader. Leaders motivate, challenge, and influence others to achieve goals. Great leaders have the necessary skills and attributes which allow them to connect with the team and organization. Being a leader is not the same as managing an organization. Leader’s posses the interpersonal skills needed to influence others to achieve a goal willingly. Leading is a major part of a manager’s job. Leaders do not need to be a manager to lead people, but managers must know how to lead as well as manage.

Leadership is defined “as the skills necessary to integrate local rules,regulations and policies enable an organization not only to exist, but also to thrive and flourish in a given milieu” (Fallon & Zgodzinsk, 2012, p. 18). The members within an organization authorized to command decisions and the control over such areas as scheduling, purchasing, assigning tasks, providing public information and able to administer disciplinary action are viewed in leadership positions. Not all leaders are the same with some using fear and intimidation while others prefer to lead compassion and guidance as they strive for their organization 's success. A leader is required to be confidence in their skill and ability to influence others around them through achieving results desired. Abraham Lincoln stated “that nearly all men can stand adversity,but if you want to test a man’s

Executive leaders have to make decisions concerning their organizations in an attempt to lead the organization in the right direction. Knowing that there are varying personalities within these organizations the leaders have to understand this paradigm which causes decision making to be both objective and subjective within organizations. Attribution theory, gender and crisis calls for executive leaders to make varying decisions. Empirical data shows that these three features can have a major effect on leaders’ decisions in organizations.

Leader’s choices and actions are the result of the leader’s experiences (Bennis & Goldsmith, 1997). Leadership in organizations is driven by uncertainty. How leaders make decisions based on that uncertainty determines the performance of an organization (Hatch, 1997). Decisions are made on the basis of information available about various environmental variables. However, the variables are many and complex in nature. They may be related to political, economic, social, or other unknown variables. It is not possible to study all such variables in depth because of inadequate information or data. This leads to inaccuracy in decision-making.

Before coming to USAWC I think that my experience and knowledge gained during the twenty-five years of service is an important quality to possess. At one point I thought: “A few years until retirement, and probably no special secrets for me to discover during academic year. I can only confirm what I know, gained some new knowledge and meet a bunch of interesting people before returning home". Much to my surprise, already after the first reading and discussion at the seminar, made me realize that this will be more interesting than I had hoped.