Comparison of different leadership strategies

Comparison of different leaders strategiesAnita Roddick is the creator of embody disc everywhere whose controversial leaders mien was contrasted with diddley Welch the acknowledged leader in bodied heed. The comparison shows that whilst some traits such as petulance for achiever are common to two leaders there is significant difference in new(prenominal) areas such as the leadership style applied. In some instances though the final outcome is the same, the two leaders were actuate by different ideals. Whilst Anita bring ins her personal ideas of environmental activism into her duty, fathead Welch approves the green glide slope where it makes sense from a net reservation angle. However, taking into account the challenges get d possess and the leaving behind of a legacy, this study concludes that the horseshit Welch approach demonstrates a stronger leadership model that is as well replicable rather than the activist approach of Anita. aditThe following is a compar ison of the leadership strategies of two leaders two victoryful in their own way, though with markedly different leadership approaches. Both are stemma leaders and are opposed and contrasted by reviewing traits, note values, doings and leadership styles.Anita RoddickBorn in 1942, Anita Roddick was the founder of Body storage cosmetics. Her runner shop was opened when she was 34 with the sole object of survival for the family. However, in to the highly competitive globe of cosmetics where promises are easily made and rugged if not impossible to be validated in marched Anita with her own comment of what beauty meant and more importantly with a mission to set the figure straight. Controversy which soon followed her became an opportunity for publicity for the pedigree as vigorous as a platform to air he views. Some call for that Anita is a model for a responsible leadership style whilst others inhabit more skeptical (Franklin Researchs Insight 1994). In he autobiography , Anita proclaimed that it is dissolute to trade on fear. It is immoral to deceive a customer by making miracle claims for a product. It is immoral to white plague a photograph of a glowing sixteen-year-old to sell a cream aimed at preventing wrinkles in a forty-year old. (Roddick, 1991 Pg. 15) Anita sums up her leadership dodge in her own direct, no-nonsense style Being unspoiled is good care. (Hospitality leading, 2009) In 2006, Body Shop was the landing field of a take over by the cosmetic giant LOreal and Anita passed out-of-door in 2007. yap WelchDr. John Francis manual laborer Welch was born in 1935. With a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, diddlyshit Welch became the General Manager of General galvanic (GE) when he was 33. Ambitious from a young age, Jack Welch started with the ambition of making $ 30,000 by the judgment of conviction he was 30 years of age. impertinent Body Shop which was established by Anita Roddick, GE had a successful, long stand up heritage. Established in 1892, the history of GE can be traced patronage to the famous inventor Thomas Edison. As Jeff Immelt, the present CEO who replaced Jack Welch, reminded Fortune magazine in 2004, Theres going to be someone after(prenominal) me, just as there was someone before me (Time Mastery 2005 Pg. 29).Jack Welch took the rains of an already successful organization in 1981 but took it from billow to triumph as the CEO till 2001. He is still a easy sought after speaker as nearly as consultant. Unlike Anitas green approach, Jack Welch is not convinced with globular warming (The majuscule Post 3 July, 2008) though one year later he sees going green as presenting an enormous opportunity, whether one believes in global warming or not (Welch, 12 May, 2009). Jack Welchs leadership approach was that Effective Leadership involves the acceptance and counselling of paradox. For cause we must hold out collectively as one lodge and individually as umteen personal credit linees at t he same time. (Crainer, 1999, p.49).Leadership TraitsA trait is a eccentric that can be observed over and over in ones personality. Leadership traits can identify a good leader and assist in emulating them. Such traits include, haleness, competency, forward looking approach, fair mindedness, broad mindedness, courage and readiness to take risks, intelligence, imagination, inspiring personality and directness of approach.Integrity has been defined as the quality of a persons character. (SEP, 2008) thence integrity may also be seen as the ability to walk the talk. Anitas leadership style has been portrayed as a model for responsible leadership acting with great satin flower and integrity, especially in the cosmetic constancy and she was in the forefront of environmental activism. This of course may also surrender made good business sense as acknowledged by Jack Welch too in the 2009 interview. Jack Welch considers integrity to be such a fundamental indispensableness that he r efuses to even list it amongst a list of virtues. If you dont catch integrity you should not be allowed on the field at all. (Welch 2007 Pg. 14)Of course twain Anita and Jack Welch display clear forward looking planning. Anita created a company that went where no other cosmetic company of that magnitude had gone before. Jack Welchs problems were even more complicated requiring him to acknowledge the illustrious history of GE and then to steer in a direction more fit to the future. In doing so Anita and Jack Welch demonstrated immense courage and belief taking risks that were perhaps make or break decisions. Of course in taking their respective companies to places where they had not been before, both leaders showed clear well developed imaginativeness and superior intelligence.Anitas primary motivational factor asunder from her charismatic personality was to make the Body Shop employees feel that they were a lot of a vast family. (Roddick, 1991 Pg. 7) Jack Welch on the other bowl over used different approaches to motivate employees including money, recognition and training. (Welch, 2007 Pg. 106)Dark side traitsDark-side personality traits are those which are counter productive to a leaders success and may lead to their failure. Whilst e trulyone has some dark side traits, they may be visible only when the leader is under stress. In the case of Anita Roddick, whilst she was at the front in requiring better corporate governance and ethical corporate response, when Body Shop was put under pressure by lit crit that it was not following its talk instead of relying on a bluff approach it appears to have used combative response and the threat to use legal action to silence its critics. (Franklin Researchs Insight 1994) Anita in her autobiography besides states thatAs for Jack Welch, his approach to corporate restructuring has been criticized by persons such as O,boyle. Down sizing, lay offs and closure of plants was a key part of this strategy which focused mostly on keeping the shareholders happy (Jakubowicz, 1999). GE which had 440,000 employees world wide when Jack Welch started as CEO in 1981 was by 1997 in operation(p) with only 260,000 employees but making much greater profits. (Crainer 1999) This closing of plants and large scale dismissal of employees left many small towns which relied on GE plants for jobs in great difficulty. His pressure on the directors to keep a mending flow of profits may have led to them taking shortcuts to profit making. Requirements for successAnita though not initially a technical person, move to be in touch with the technical aspects of her business. She was always travelling around, run across indigenous mass and finding new product ideas. John Davies (2007) who was a consultant to Body Shop at one time dialogue of how Anita walked into a meeting announcing that she had invented a new lip balm. Therefore, Anita seemed to have actually enjoyed being involved in the technical and development aspects of the business too. Jack Welch was an engineer but came to be recognized as a manager and a CEO rather than an inventor.MilestonesFor Anita the first milestone in her business was to feed her kids whilst her husband was on an extended tour in due south America. Perhaps a turning point in the Body Shop image was when Anita partnered with Greenpeace in protecting whales by marketing products made with jojoba inunct as a substitute for whale spermaceti. This was a pioneering venture where business partnered with a charity. (Alcraft, 1998) Though Jack Welch encouraged financial goals to be celebrated, he had little use for milestones as such since, once achieved, they represented the bygone whilst he preferred to focus on the future. (Hartman, 2003)Leadership Values and ethical motiveIf we make an effort to understand our values, it makes it easier to keep our priorities in the right direct and our actions in line with our beliefs (Anzary, 2009). The most important qualitie s and values of a good leader are visual sensation, empathy, consistency, integrity.Anita as well as Jack Welch both had a clear vision as well as displayed passion in their approach. Anitas vision included a larger global vision which went beyond the corporate goals (Roddick, 2000) whilst Jack Welch focused on improving the shareholders value at any cost. Jack Welch on vision states that good business leaders create a vision. They articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion. (Crainer 1999 Pg. 77)Anitas manner of expressing empathy with her staff included that of making them feel that they were part of a large family. Although Jack Welch too recognized the need to range in people and put this into practice by spending time with them, devising methods to motivate people etc., (Crainer 1999 Pg. 23) it is clear that his approach was to come own hefty on people and he had no regrets about(predicate) dismissing employees when required.Ho wever, his understanding of the followers reality is demonstrated by his approach to budgeting for example where he recognized the reason for the divide between the upper management and field staff and suggests strategies for remedying same. (Welch Welch 2005 Pg. 189).From the point of corporate integrity Anitas propaganda spoke of this as a key factor pushing the idea that the customer ineluctably to be told the truth about what can and cannot be achieved with the products. She was also oppose to animal testing and promoted the green approach and a more socially responsible approach with concepts such as Trade not fear for the developing world.GE under Jack Welch on the other pass by appears to have used an approach that focused on maximizing profits. In this regard, is appears that GE had even pleaded guilty to charges on criminal fraud relating to matters associate to defense. (New York Times 23 July, 1992).Leadership GridModel is taken from stewart associates website Onlin e, lendable http//www.stewart-associates.co.uk/leadership-models.aspxThe Leadership Grid shows the emphasis a leader places on people as opposed to production. Anitas approach appears to be more towards Middle-of-the-Road equilibrate the two concerns. In this she may be seen as being enveloping(prenominal) to the ideal of Team Management. Jack Welchs approach has been criticized for being Authority-Compliance Management oriented. He is known to have fired low producing managers and to pressurize the employees to achieve. This approach did bring him greater profits at a human cost.ConclusionIn this study we looked at two leaders with interesting and successful leadership styles. They are both leaders in the corporate sector and have adopted radical approaches to leadership. Anita Roddick is a strong entrepreneur who started her own business brought it to a very important position in the cosmetic industry but finally sold it to LOreal. Therefore, all though she created an ethically intended brand which not only brought commercial success but also succeeded in associating itself with eco friendly concepts, her final transferring of the business to LOreal means that she did not pass around behind a vehicle by which her vision could be carried though. Thus it remains to be seen whether her vision has died with her.On the other hand Jack Welchs approach is one that can be captured within modern management thinking and provides better tools for replication. Also from a leadership point of view, although Jack Welchs approach has been criticized as profit at any cost and the heavy emphasis on the Authority-Compliance-Management style, his task was perhaps more difficult than that of Anita Roddick. The very fact that he became the CEO of a company that was almost c years old and had a huge infrastructure meant that he would have had to face greater challenges to bring about change. Therefore, although it may be more difficult to love Jack Welch as a person when co mpare to Anita as a leader and also he may be further from the ideal of Team-Management style leadership, looking at the challenges that have been over come Jack Welch comes though as a stronger leader. Anita on the other hand may demonstrate greater entrepreneurial skills.