Leadership Theories: Mr. Iacocca INTRODUCTION Lido (Lee) Anthony Iacocca, born to Italian immigrants, was born on October 15, 1924, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Since childhood he received many words of wisdom from his father, which included writing down the amounts of loans and never to get involved in a capital-intensive business. In 1946, he began working at Ford as an engineering trainee and later became Ford’s president. CAREER – THE JOURNEY FROM FORD TO CHRYSLER Iacocca joined Chrysler in 1979 after getting fired from Ford. He joined as president and went on to become CEO and chairman. Before joining Chrysler Corporation had announced its worst deficit in the company’s history – a $160-million loss in the third quarter. He learnt that …show more content…
Two years later, the T115 minivan was brought back to production. Chrysler was leading the crowd. On July 13, 1983, Iacocca announced the payback of the loans at the National Press Club. A huge check was presented to bankers in New York, written for $813,487,500. LEGACY Lee Iacocca retired from Chrysler in 1992, at the age of 68, after the company’s dramatic turnaround. He was inducted into the Walter P. Chrysler Legacy Circle in 2010. He also won the American Patriot Award. He has composed several notable books on leadership qualities which have qualified as bestsellers. A GREAT LEADER Thus, this is how Mr. Lee Iacocca never accepted defeat even after beingfired from Ford. He took over the reins of Chrysler, which was considered a sinking ship in the automobile industry, and with his dedication and perseverance, revolutionised it into a market leader which served as a role model for other automobile companies. Throughout his career he motivated all his employees to give their best. He appreciated the good work of his fellow colleagues and also gave constructive
On May 26, 1927 Edsel and Henry unionized to celebrate the production of the 15,000,000th Model-T. As the journalists had finished all their interviews Edsel decreed that the Ford Motor Company would discontinue the Model-T and start a production
Henry Ford was born in Greenfield Township, Michigan on July 30, 1863. Ford’s parents William Ford and Mary Litogot Ford owned a family farm. Henry’s mother died while he was only 15 years old. At that time Henry’s father, William Ford, wanted Henry to eventually take over the family farm. But Henry admitted that wasn’t what he wanted to do.
Leadership Qualities and Styles of Leadership George Washington, one of our nation's greatest leaders is now revered as a tactical genius and a literal textbook example for qualities in leadership, has historically been severely underestimated, simply because of the many battles he lost. However, he had a talent for turning small losses into net gains. Upon closer inspecting the history, it becomes clear that Washington constantly worked to refine his strategic knowledge against his opponents, always finding ways to relevantly apply new information he gathered (especially from his losses). With "extraordinary stamina", he tirelessly pushed forward and, despite countless setbacks during the American Revolution, managed to claim victory. It was Washington's fierce ethical and moral values/qualities coupled with his natural ability to lead that makes him stand out as a maverick amongst military leaders (Harvey, 2008).
Paul Volcker began his professional career in 1952 joining the staff of the Federal Reserve Bank as a full time economist. From there he held many different positions dealing with the financial economy such as a financial economist with the Chase Manhattan Bank, director of financial analysis at the Treasury Department, deputy under-secretary for monetary affairs. He returned to Chase Manhattan Bank as vice president and director of planning in 1965. And from 1969 to 1974, Volcker served as under-secretary of the Treasury for international monetary affairs. With all of this experience had has been able to influence monumental change in the history of our economy.
The idea of invincibility is a very controversial topic. Is it the ability to have super strength. Is it simply when someone has nothing to lose. When they have no fear of what can go wrong, they only see what can be gained. The greatest moments in history have happened as a result of people being forced into a corner with nowhere else to go but forward.
What is my leadership philosophy? Over twenty years ago, I raised my right hand and took an oath of office by which I swore to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.” I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.
But by this time Ford had a bigger vision for a better affordable vehicle. Ford began working closely with selected employees and they developed the Model T, introduced on October 1, 1908. The Model T exhibited simplicity and quality. Model T was a great success.
I think they wanted him to completely change the atmosphere at the workplace and relationships between managers and subordinates. Taking in consideration
He works very hard to ensure his employees progress. For example, when he was going to be gone from the office for a while he appointed Dwight Schrute as co-manager and also gave Jim Halpert more responsibilities to give them the experience they needed for their professional growth. Michael Scott also sent Jim Halpert to a different Dunder Mifflin branch to learn more about the company and even assisted Ryan Howard in receiving a promotion at the corporate headquarters. Every time he goes out on a sales call or recruiting trip, he takes an employee with him to mentor them. Even though most of his mentorship is professional related there are instances when he mentors someone in their personal life.
Tim Cook (took over for the late Steve Jobs as Apple's CEO in August 2011.) he was born in Alabama on November 1, 1960. He graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering in 1982. He became a chief operating officer at Intelligent Electronics. In three years he was very ready for for another move like "The Compaq Computer Corporation hired Cook as vice president of corporate materials, entrusting him with procuring and managing the company's product inventory.
Leadership Thought Prior to 1900 The earliest study of leadership thought would be the “Great Man Theory. This theory conceptualized leaders as a single “Great Man” who knew everything and influenced others to follow him. In leadership discourse, the Great Man theory—an assertion that certain individuals, certain men, are gifts from God placed on earth to provide the lightening needed to uplift human existence—is associated mainly with Thomas Carlyle (Spector, 2015, p.250). The focal-point of this theory is that leaders’ skills are inherent and set that them apart from those around them and that these traits enable them to assume roles of power and authority.
Critical Review of Leadership Theories There have been a variety of theorists who have tried to understand how good leaders acquire their skills and whether the components which make up a successful leader are hereditary or learned. Many Studies have been made using twins to identify that about forty percent of differences in personality are hereditary. (Vernon et al., 1998) From this we can see that it is not only a matter of whether a person in born with these skills but one must also build on them to become a successful leader.
From my point of view , Leadership has more to it than I can possibly imagine. I define leadership as the art of enabling a group of people get to a specific destination. As a leader your main focus was to enable your followers lead theselves. As i think deeper i realise a person cannot choose to be a leader. I think a lot of the time people take on leadership positions without knowing.
Different scholars identified various kinds of leadership styles that affect the job performance, satisfaction and learning and development of subordinates. Warrick, D.D (1981) cited that there are no doubt variables other than a leader’s style that affect employee performance and development but leadership style plays a significant role and not to be underestimated. An awareness of leadership styles and their consequences are very important because it may either facilitate or inhabit skill development. The major theories on leadership are the traits, leadership styles and contingency theories.