State Farm Ethics

Leadership is, and always has been, a vital aspect of social and economic constructs. It is essential to the survival of societies, industries, organizations, and virtually any group of individuals that come together for a common purpose. However, leadership is difficult to define in a single, definitive sense. As such, theories of leadership, what constitutes a great leader, and how leaders are made have evolved constantly throughout history, and still continue to change today in hopes of improving upon our understanding of leadership, its importance, and how it can be most effective in modern organizational cultures.

Abstract: There are numerous definitions of leadership, all of which contain elements related to people (the leader and the follower(s)), communicating in person or by the written word, actions (organizing, directing, coaching, and/or motivating), and for a purpose (meeting a goal(s) or accomplishing a task(s)) (ADP 6-22) (Fisher 2015) (Bolden 2013) (Hogan 2005). Additionally, everything done occurs within a given context. Effective leaders are poised, proficient, pertinent, and practical in the application of the art of leadership. This means leaders are ready to engage the group with effective methods and

Anita Satterlee makes an obvious, but profound observation stating, “A leader cannot lead without followers (Satterlee, pg. 6, 2013).” Essentially, a leader without subordinates who are engaged can not lead properly. While this concept is easy to comprehend, what is most intriguing is Satterlee’s claim that “by mastering the role of followership, a subordinate prepares for the role of leadership (Satterlee, pg. 7, 2013).” Instead of viewing leaders as being static, it is important to view the process of leadership as more

Businesses also have a variety of different leaders controlling the organization. Some executives attain a high-level position, placing them in a leadership role. However, there are many leadership positions that do not actually “lead” a team. A leader does not decide to be a leader overnight. A leader possesses a particular set of qualities and

In modern day business, leadership has become an issue that is given far more attention and investment than ever before. Leadership involves establishing a clear vision, sharing that vision with others so that they will follow willingly, providing the information, knowledge and methods to realise that vision, and coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members and stakeholder. This essay will discuss whether leaders are born not made, with varies of theories being compared and contrasted and the strengths and limitations of leaders itself. Further this essay will analyse the future aspects of theories which would establish whether a leader was born with leadership qualities or made into a successful leader.

The role of leadership is an important position within an organization or group, since this position may influence an environment, both, the individual, and the climate. In the event of concentrating on how influential leadership may be, some leaders have transformed the views or perspectives of individuals within a society. Therefore, it’s possible for leadership traits to motivate, persuade, or stimulate visions, rather they are appropriate or unethical.

When it comes to the topic of leadership, most of us are curious about our leaders as well as critical of them and their actions. Leaders set the tone, vision, and goals of any organization. Hence, a leader’s behavior and leadership style are constantly scrutinized. Northouse (2009) has suggested that leadership has a huge impact on the culture of an organization and how people communicate within the organization. Therefore, the action of leaders should inspire also positively impact followers. After all, a leader’s approach and handling of adversities highlights many features of his/her character.

Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. The texts that I read in courses throughout the program influenced me greatly. One of my favorite texts was Covey’s, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective people. Ever since, I have been working on those habits and have found them to be very effective in my leadership role. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Covey, 2004), the author discussed how effective leaders habits lead to grow from dependence to independence, and ultimately interdependence. Effective leaders are proactive, and they began with the end in their mind, by putting first thing first, by thinking of “win-win,” seeking first to understand and then to be understood, synergize, and to sharpen the saw. Research has shown that people who developed these skills were highly effective (Covey, 2004). Private victory was achieved when leaders developed from a dependent to independent stage, and public victory occurred when leaders had mastered inter-dependence.

The contents and assignment in this course has helped me understand the various theories of leadership and how different leadership styles can have a negative or positive effect on followers and organizations. The leadership theories helped me understand the concept of leadership better because it educates me on the different leadership options that are available. Leadership and followership is not based on specific characteristics. Leaders must draw from things and approaches to find the right style. A follower’s attitude determines the way a leader leads. According to Johnson (2011) “Being a good follower means ensuring your boss is supported, but only if he is making optimum decisions”.

Leadership, eluded to by Daft (2011) as one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth, is an evolving discipline that is an influence relationship among subordinates and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purpose (pp. 4-5). But with the study of leadership comes along the different aspects and theories as to which is more appropriate for an organization. Initial traditional theories recognized that leaders are born with

Leadership is often viewed through a lens of positivity where leaders motivate, influence, and persuade followers to work together toward commonly held objectives benefiting organizations. Followership is often considered through a negative lens where followers’ dependence on leaders to provide motivation and inspiration is assumed. Viewing leadership primarily through a positivity lens and followership primarily through a negativity lens does not always correspond with the reality of many leader/follower paradigms in modern organizations. Many organizational followers are intrinsically motivated to engage actively in their work exercising their own mental fortitude to solve organizational problems. Some organizational leaders use detrimental behaviors, have defective personas, and inject toxicity into the organizational system.

Ethical behavior is crucial to preserving not only the trust on which insurance transactions are based, but also the public’s trust in the insurance industry as a whole. Sometimes the push to act unethically comes from the consumer. How many consumers expect their insurance agents to falsify their applications or claims? You like your agent, he or she likes you, they really want to help you out, that’s just another conflicting loyalty. Over the years many have experienced unethical behavior by insurance agents. I have had them give their sales pitch to me and my family just to find out later that the product they sold us was completely wrong for

The Managing Human Resources class has been a great experience for me. My perception of HR has changed since we started the class. In the beginning of class, I thought all HR departments were the same as the only one I’ve ever experienced throughout my career; which happens to be with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). I now understand HR can be much more and TWRA’s HR is not providing many of the services it could be. Unfortunately, TWRA’s HR is only delivering functional expertise, rather than strategic performance. I now understand there is a problem when HR departments are only providing functional expertise (Becker and Huselid 2009).

Leadership in today’s society plays a very pivotal role in the outcome of a company or organization. In addition, leaders and managers have to adhere to a strategic style of leadership that the managers and associates have experienced over the years. With this being said, future leaders may experience complex challenges such as natural disasters and terrorists, change in uncertainty in the business political, and social environment. (Alexander, cited in Hasselbein and Goldsmith, 2006). One could pose a statement, it’s not if the challenge will come, it’s how the leader will handle the challenge. Many leaders have come from different approaches as to what leadership means to them. For example, John Maxwell stated that leadership is a process marked by constant growth (Maxwell, 2013). In addition, Greenleaf stated that true leadership emerges from those whose primary motivation is a deep desire to help other, (Spears, 2004). Furthermore, according to Ken Blanchard, who is a world announce leader, stated that Leadership style is, how you behave when you are trying to influence the performance of some else, and that leadership is a combination of supportive and directive behaviors. (Blanchard, Zigarmi 1985). An illustration of directive behavior would be a cook preparing an entrée for a customer in a restaurant, who is being monitored by the chef. Also an illustration of supportive behavior would be, a process of team building in the company

Maxwell’s (2011) book reveals the art of leadership as a 5 level process that presents apparent and outlined steps. The author’s (Maxwell, 2011) concept was initiated 5 years prior to the publishing of this book. The author believes that leadership influences, thus, leaders can improve their craft effectively if they increase their influential impact on others. Leaderships’ role in the process is to efficiently establish change and promote growth internally and externally. The five levels provided and explained helps as it supplements steps that enable effective growth in the process. Maxwell (2011) notes that “the concept is tested and proven” (Maxwell, 2011, p. 3).