PROFITEL INC.
MBA 530-D2B0 Organizational Behavior
Week 06
Instructor Kevin G. Bell, PhD
December 05, 2010
Abstract
Profitel Inc. a publicly traded enterprise in telecommunications, known for monopolizing the industry in telephone copper wiring. For decades Profitel Inc. had very little competition; however the competition has increased in cellular (mobile) telephone business and other technologies such as voice-over-internet. (McShane & Von Gilnow, 2010, p. 379) Since the company’s dominance was threatened by emerging technology, the Board of Directors decided to hire Lars Peeters as the new CEO of Profitel Inc. Mr. Peeters was well known in the business industry for his extensive telecommunication knowledge and global
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(McShane & Von Gilnow, 2010, p. 380) Lars Peeters demonstrated the leadership competencies; he had extensive industry knowledge and global experience (knowledge of business), a high octane energy level (personality characteristics), self-confidence (self-concept), and a congenial yet strongly persuasive interpersonal style (leadership motivation). (McShane & Von Gilnow, 2010, p. 380) Peeters lived up to his reputation as a decisive executive (practical intelligence), he also had a unique “presence” which caused people to pay attention and respect his leadership (emotional intelligence). (McShane & Von Gilnow, 2010, p. 380) Under the leadership of Lars Peeters, Profitel Inc. experienced a decline in share prices by 20% and a decline in employee morale due to layoffs. The company lost the bid on a billion dollar government contract, most likely because of Peeter’s aggressive approach with the government around regulations. He also upgraded the company’s broadband network with a high price technology and he did not evaluate an alternative solution. The strategic plan Peeter’s implemented did not achieve the stated profit margins due to limited corporate investments; he relied on an assumption that Profitel Inc. would acquire the government contract and when that did not happen Peeter should have had a contingency plan. There is no one size fits all approach, Peeters did not adapt to the surroundings of the new company; he used the same strategy from his
Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal. The article “Leadership That Gets Results” by Daniel Goleman is an article that helps readers understand that there is not only one way of becoming a successful leader. Research indicates that leaders with best results do not rely on only one leadership style. Goleman, describes leaderships styles as array of clubs in a golf pro’s bag. Over the course of the game, the pro picks clubs based on the demands of the shot. Thinking is involved during the selection, but usually it is automatic. The pro is aware of the challenge ahead, quickly utilizes the right tool, and puts it to work. It has also been found that emotional intelligence
19). Still a part of the Great Man Leadership era, these trait theories just went a step further in attempting to pinpoint exactly which traits of these “great men” were consistently associated with the leaders, in an effort to more clearly define what a great leader was. This was again a further attempt to be able to identify a leader early on and predict which individuals were born to become leaders. It is thought that a major flaw with these theories was the failure to account for external factors, such as the environment in which the individuals were brought up in, as well as the situations they experienced (Horner, 2007, p. 270). Still today we do continue to study the characteristics of leaders in order to better define and understand what makes someone a good leader.
For centuries leaders have been analyzed in order to determine what the traits and characteristics of a successful leader are. Leadership, as defined by Koontz and Weihrich (2008) is “the art or a process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically toward the achievement of group goals” (p. 311). Leadership plays an important role in employee’s participation, creativity, recruitment to an organization, their commitment to the organization, and productivity levels. Over the years, there have been a number of theories surrounding leadership such as the “Great Man” theory, which, according to Riaz and Haider (2010), “assumes that leaders are born and have innate qualities, therefore, leaders
This approach emphasize that having a leader with a certain set of traits is crucial to having effective leadership. It’s the leader and the leader’s personality that are central to the leadership process.
This inquiry is set out to define the components that make up an effective leader, whilst taking
Effective leaders opt to implement a specific type of leadership style as a result of their personalities and job experiences, and apply it to their organizational structure. However, that particular type of leadership style a leader utilizes may not apply to every job situation (Peak et al., 2010). In order to be an effective leader, an individual must acquire the three basic leadership skills and they are as follows: (1) human relations; (2) conceptual skills; and (3) technical skills (Haberfeld, 2013). Additionally, a skillful leader must also be proficient in motivating, communicating, and problem solving (Hess & Orthmann, 2012).
As a growing debate, the question at hand is whether great leaders are born with specific leadership traits, or if one can be taught certain traits over time. According to (Wikipedia.com) the approach of listing leadership qualities, often termed "trait theory of leadership", assumes certain traits or characteristics will tend to lead to effective leadership. I believe that leadership traits such as honest, competent, initiative, inspiring, hardworking, intelligent, and the ability to lead the masses, are some of the leadership traits one should possess. Within this paper, I will examine the overall concept of leadership traits, while observing the traits that were, or can be associated with successful leaders.
In the research carried out by Bass (1990), they found out that trait leadership theory believes some people are born to lead because of their personal qualities, while others are not. Trait theory also suggests that leadership is only accessible to the chosen ones and not available to all. In the past researchers focused on traits that were able to measure such as physical characteristics, aspects of personality and aptitudes. The current trait research has pointed the focus to more specific traits like stress tolerance, energy level, emotional maturity, integrity and self-confidence. Reviews of the trait research have found all of the above traits to be related to managerial effectiveness Bass (1990) and Marques (2010). When looking at the results of
The trait leadership theory focuses on the individual leader’s personal characteristics as the basis of its investigations. It is one of the earliest leadership theories upon whose tenets many researches on leadership have been done. Although it is not very coherent, its heuristic nature has contributed to its significance in leadership research. Zaccaro and Klimoski (2002) define traits of reference to leadership as the stable personality characteristics, which result in a consistent leadership performance pattern, given different scenarios and groups. They include individual personalities, temperament, rationale, prowess, as well as cognitive abilities. Initially, the theory explored both physical and psychological characteristics that tell apart leaders from non-leaders.
From Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela’s charisma, to Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King’s intelligence and Steve Jobs’ analytical nature, there can be as numerous ways to lead as there are leaders (Crossman, 2010). Leadership is a hot debate both in the business world and other areas of the society. Throughout the world's, there have been as many leadership models as there have been their commentators (Burns & Peltason, 1966). Fortunately, psychologists and businesspersons have established useful frameworks that refer to the main ways of leadership.
This paper will incorporate four of the self-assessment I completed (Leadership, 2004). They are as follows; social motives in the work setting, my leadership styles, emotional intelligence, and team excellence. I will also identify and discuss my leadership characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses. We must first understand what leadership means. To lead, nonetheless, is to excite, to impact, and to inspire. Successful leaders move others to draw in incredibleness, to stretch out themselves and to go past their perform work necessities by producing innovative thoughts. It has been said that directors are individuals who do things right and leaders are individuals who make the best choice." This refinement is to some degree exaggerated since successful leaders do a considerable measure of overseeing and compelling chiefs need to lead.
The Trait Approach was the 1st systematic attempt to study leadership. In the 20th century it was known as the “great man” theory. This approach takes a look at the leaders personal attributes such as but not limited to: motivation, energy, intuition, creativity, persuasiveness and foresight. Some of the traits that are essential to this list include: intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity and sociability. Thus it focuses mainly on the leader and not on the followers or situations. The strengths of the Trait Approach includes: 1) it is intuitively appealing, 2) it has research to back it’s theory, 3) it highlights the leader, 4) it identifies what the traits of a leader should have and whether the traits we do
The article of Leadership That Gets Results provides the six leadership styles for individuals to understand how leadership styles influence on an organization’s climate. Furthermore, the six leadership styles are consisted of the emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and social skill. Therefore, these three concepts, such as the six leadership styles, the elements of emotional intelligence, and an organization’s climate, will influence each other because the research found that individuals with different emotional intelligence competencies will have distinct leadership styles. Subsequently, with the distinct leadership styles, leaders will utilize their own leadership styles to lead their group, team, division, or corporation. Thus, it will bring about a unique impact on an organization’s climate and in turn, on its financial performance (Goleman, 2000, p.79). Moreover, leaders with their own emotional
Moreover, the trait approach gives a deeper understanding of the leader element in the leadership process by emphasising exclusively on the leader, (Gore et al, 2011). The trait theory does not offer hypotheses about the role of situational variance or characteristic of the followers. Instead, this approach provide information about leaders, and about which traits cause which behaviours and that certain set of traits are central to the leadership process and play an indispensible part of effective leadership.
This theory is based on the premise that there are certain personality characteristics that are essential for a person to possess in order to be a leader. The main emphasis is on what the person is in terms of a constellation of personality traits. This theory searches for that set of universal leadership traits that will assure success. Numerous traits have been suggested: courage, integrity, loyalty, charisma, ambition, intelligence, honesty, clairvoyance, persistence, arrogance, health, political skill, confidence and vision.