Forbes contributor Tanya Prive lists ten qualities that make a great leader: honesty, delegate, communication, confidence, commitment, positive attitude, creativity, intuition, inspire, and approach (Prive, 2012). The greatest leaders exemplify most or all of these attributes, and Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, is no exception, although he particularly excels at “commitment” and “inspire.” Zappos has made multiple appearances on “Best Places to Work” lists and is famous for its unique culture. Hsieh says that company culture is his primary focus as CEO, and he only hires those who fit into the culture. Hsieh is so committed to creating positive culture that Zappos offers new hires $2000 to leave after orientation if they do not feel like Zappos is for them (Reiss, 2010). Hsieh’s commitment to building culture is nearly unrivaled in the business world, as is Zappos commitment to customer service. The number one “commandment” at Zappos is “deliver WOW through service” (O’Brien, 2009). For years, Zappos, led by Hsieh, has been committed to having the best customer service in the industry, and Hsieh is a master at inspiring the people who work for him to embrace this vision. The employees at Zappos have clearly bought into his vision (as did Amazon when they bought the company for over $800 million). Hsieh has said that having a vision is the first thing an entrepreneur needs to have and employees and customers will sense that vision and enthusiasm. He wrote in his book
The next question posed to Rene inquired about essential characteristics of a leader. After giving the question some thought she responded by saying that a leader must be able to remain objective and prioritize. “Prioritizing in my job is essential,” Rene stated, “with so many issues to deal with some nights it can be difficult to determine which to tackle first. However, remaining calm and objective in your decision making can help a leader prioritize properly, which can improve patient outcomes.” Additionally, Rene emphasized that the best leaders lead by example. By displaying desired attitudes and behaviors, a nursing leader may inspire their staff to act in a similar manner. Another area Rene stressed when posed this question was a leader’s ability to support learning. She went on to state that “it is necessary to focus on learning, not chastising. Placing the blame on someone rather than stepping back and looking at the details of a problem, deters the team from achieving the overall goal. Incident reports remain vital to the process of learning.” Rene continued to emphasis that by filling out incident reports individuals can analyze a situation or process and determine where the flaws or errors remain present. Without incident reports and learning from mistakes, growth remains difficult. Diana S. Contino (2011), author of “Leadership Competencies: Knowledge, Skills, and Aptitudes Nurses Need to Lead Organizations Effectively,” believes that organizational and
What is a leader? A leader is a person who commands a group, organization, or country. Throughout my life I have encountered the chance to experience position of being a leader. I have experience democratic leaderships through playing on a high school football team, being apart of groups in college for class presentations, being a youth leader in my church, and also being apart of a family. I have gain important qualities of being a good leader through these experiences. Some of valuable leaderships traits that I obtained and strengthened are: how to be a team player, to be a better listener, to have more patience, to be not afraid of constructive criticism, to be outspoken, and to be a problem solver. Even though I have gained a lot, I
In the world today, there are leaders everywhere such as Parents, Pastors, The President, CEO of Companies, Supervisors and World leaders just to name a few, these individuals can be good or bad, for you or against you. A leader is a person that sees things through in order to make change either in the mental growing aspect of one’s life, the economics of the world, or spiritual belief. The characteristics of a good leader are the leaders’ ability to inspire others willingness to leader and integrity.
As we continue to learn about leadership, we continue to see the importance of having certain qualities. There are differing opinions on what traits hold more importance than others, but in the end, each quality plays a specific role in forming an excellent leader. Three qualities that preform a role in the equation, and that needs strengthened in my own leadership skills, are enthusiasm, persistence and charisma.
1. What traits of effective leadership does Tony Hsieh demonstrates at Zappos? What aspects of his leadership can you criticize, if any? Is his approach transferable to other leaders and other organizations, or is it person and situation specific?
It is so important for every individual to know the great characteristics of being a leader. Leadership today is such a dominant characteristic to have because it shows the capability of being able to lead others with an purpose. This role is used everywhere within a job field, sports, churches, homes, and pretty much anything you can name when you are taking authority from someone or something. Five characteristics of leadership that I will be discussing in this paper on how leadership enhances yourself as a person from culture to culture, how leadership enhances the qualifications of your progress in the workplace, and also how leadership helps you in college as well are: Visionary, Open-minded, Inspirational, Humbleness and Trustworthiness.
It is evident that integrity and competence are two crucial traits of any successful leader. In order to get to know the importance of a quality over the other, we need to find out which of the two can a leader survive without.
Jeff Bezos is the fifty two year old Chief Executive Officer and founder Amazon, the largest United States based online retailer. A critical and innovative thinker, he created his online book sales company in his garage and has led Amazon to absolute market domination, technological innovation, and has become the third riches person in the world (BBC.com, 2016). His innovative ideas, demonstrated hard work and discipline, coupled with his ability to envision the future of online retail operations, positions his company at the forefront of the market. And behind the technology, the innovation and the drive to convert cash flows into opportunity, is the underlying commitment to the customer. Jeff Bezos demonstrates the leadership practices described by James Kouzes and Barry Posner’s as the five practices of exemplary leadership, model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart (Kouzes & Posner, 2012).
Through tough hiring decisions, Hsieh ensures that there is always a positive culture at his company. At Zappos, every single employee is put through training that includes the corporate culture and famous ten core values. The core values range from “create fun and a little weirdness” to “build a positive team and family spirit” (Hsieh 154). Hsieh believes that each one of the company’s values are important, so they are “committable core values that we are willing to hire and fire on” (157). As a result, Zappos has thrived in profits and hit its goal of $1 billion in gross merchandise in 2009, the same year the company ranked 23rd on the Fortune magazine “100 Best Companies to Work For” (210). By making culture a backbone of his company, Hsieh
What qualities make a good leader? You can ask a hundred different people, and you will get a hundred different answers. A good leader is someone who accomplishes the mission, has the respect of their subordinates, and makes the difficult decisions when needed. For me, I believe that a great leader needs to have a variety of qualities, but most importantly a sense of fairness, hard work/care, and common consideration for others. Different experiences throughout my life and time at West Point have lead me to believe that these three tenants are what are most needed for a great leader. In terms of a leader’s moral character, common consideration has the greatest influence on the success of a leader, because without common consideration, a
The organizational structure of Zappos.com is revered as one of Americas’ most innovative corporate cultures. The unique structure of this company has been so successful that they have a department for business-to-business consultations that assist other companies interested in adopting the model into their own organization. From a struggling start-up business to a $1.2 billion merger with Amazon.com, the company has remained true to its value of “delivering WOW through service” not only to its customers but also to its employees as well. Although there are hierarchical levels, there is a
Leadership is one of the most important traits to have as a human being. Without great leaders to help instill and create a sense of direction, I believe society world will be stagnant. I believe there is a variety type of the leaders such as, good leaders and bad leaders. A good leader must have several qualities. These qualities should not be taken likely and must be able to possess qualities like having good morals, such as integrity which will set the example for their subordinate. In addition to being a good leader, you must have a strong mindset and the ability to lead everywhere you go. I am going to be discussing how it is imperative to implement change when you are responsible for an
Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others – John Maxwell What would the world be without leaders? Many leaders across the world have paved the way and became advocates for issues concerning race, politics, freedom, individual rights, and equality. Being a leader is more than leading a group of people, but merely guiding them to accomplish a common goal or task. In a culture of ‘inclusive leadership’, each individual is encouraged to see themselves as a potential leader and manager. The extent to which they are given the opportunity to develop and apply these skills may vary depending on their role within the setting (Jones). When you are defining the appropriate characteristics of a great leader, there are necessary skills that a manager should portray. In this case, it is vital that a good leader be equipped with the skills to know how to adapt, empower, and motivate others. My brother Kourtney Royster is an excellent leader. Not only has he expressed it in his personal life, but in his work life as well. Interviewing my brother, I was able to gain valuable knowledge about his experience as a leader and be able to learn from his lessons, and find ways in which I could apply those skills to my own personal life and career.
Throughout childhood, Ramina only took advice seriously from her parents. They were the initial support group for Ramina. Back in the year 2000, Ramina’s parents decided to leave Syria and move to America for a brighter future for their children. They decided that the opportunities in Syria were not enough. August 2000, Ramina and
Leadership. There are many who find themselves in the position of leadership within their place of work, but that doesn’t always mean that they are effective as a leader. The success of a company can rely on whether or not those in management know how to instruct and direct others on their team. What are the true characteristics of a great leader? Great leaders have the ability to empower others, which will influence other people (Maxwell, 1997). Being a mentor is one very important quality of being a successful leader. In his book Developing the Leaders Around You (1995), John C. Maxwell states “Great leaders share themselves and what they have learned” (Maxwell, 1995, p 34). These leaders help others grow in knowledge, whether it is