Academy ol Management Executive. 2005, Vol. 19, No. 4 Reprinted Irom 1999, Vol, 13. 1 Achieving and maintaining strategic competitiveness in the *...

Learning Activity # 2-1

The perspective of the leader in the 21st century is focused on inspiring people to move toward the vision of the organization.   One critical way to move people is to develop a leadership style which has room to change depending on the situation. Because “vision” works on multiple levels; the individual, department, division, and organization as a whole, the need to inspire people on all levels requires the personal development of a leadership style. Moreover, the style should fit and change with the people who connect with the leader on any given level.

Part one:

Read the material for week two and complete the following assignments.

Take the leadership style assessment in the Kent article and determine what your current style.

Evaluate your results and determine how you can change or improve your style to fit the “successful 21st leadership style”. In your evaluation explain how the reading material describes the successful leadership styles for the 21st century and how your style relates to those characteristics.

Part two:

Once you have evaluated your style in relationship to the needs of the 21st century leader take the analysis one step beyond and determine in what situations your style works best and where it does not. For those situations where your style is not a good fit suggest how you would handle the situation. For example would you get someone else to handle the situation? Adapt to a new style? 

Learning Activity # 2-2

You are the owner of a small company which is looking to expand its shipping and logistics department. You have developed a new Internet line which is taking off and you have several large orders to fill. You wish to hire a manager for the department who is experienced with international shipping. You currently have two other managers Joan and Fritz that handle order fulfillment and packaging. You have envisioned a straight line team process with all managers having equal decision making authority within the team. The shipping team must work together well.  Joan’s department is good at getting the orders together while Fritz is still struggling with getting the packing department to work with him. The new manager has to act as team leader and get things working smoothly from beginning of the order to delivery.  

Explain what characteristics your new employee should have. Describe the characteristics the new manager should possess and why. Address the role and characteristics of the 21st century manager and leader. How they work together and how they are different. 

Reading material:

• http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/leadership.htm
• http://www.fastcompany.com/3000998/5-rules-making-your-vision-stick
• Achieving Competitive Advantage in a Changing Global Marketplace
• Strategic leadership is about productivity and may be good for managers
• What Will the 21st Century Leader Need to Succeed?
• The Four Ways Managers are Effected by the Business Landscape
• Leadership and Management Relationship
• Reinventing Leadership and Management
• Leadership as Influence
• Connective Leadership
• Leading in the 21st Century: An Interview with Ford’s Alan Mulally
• Positive Leadership Styles for the 21st Century
• Types of Leadership Styles
• Strategic Leadership
• Situational leadership Styles by Blanchard
• Situational leadership - Adapting Styles
• 4 Basic Styles Used by the Situational Leader
• Effects of Transformational Leadership on Employees
• How to Figure Out What Kind of Leader You’ll Be