Font size 11 Answer must be 8 to 10 pages, in your own words and do provide refe
ID: 393538 • Letter: F
Question
Font size 11
Answer must be 8 to 10 pages, in your own words and do provide references.
Using relevant theories and models critically evaluate and analyse the leadership of a leader working in an (business, government or not-for-profit) organisation. If you were in the position of the leader, what could you do to be a better leader and make a stronger impact on the followers and on the situation?
For this assignment you can select a leader from a large or a small organisation. You can select a leader from your own organisation or one that you are familiar with. It could be a CEO of an international organisation whom you have read about in the newspapers/biographies, or a family member who runs a small business with a few staff members. The choice of leader and organisation is yours.
Write a report in which you cover the following:
A clear description of the leader, the organisation/industry, and situation/context.
An evaluation of the leader by referring to concepts and theories covered in the subject (e.g. style, behaviour, traits, attitudes, power) and by referring to relevant examples.
A discussion of how you would lead differently if you were put in the same situation/s as the leader and how you could make a stronger impact on the followers and on the situation/s.
It is important to demonstrate your knowledge about Leadership and to clearly reference your sources. (you can use the Leadership- Theory and Practice 7th edition by Peter G. Northouse as reference).
Explanation / Answer
A clear description of the leader, the organisation/industry, and situation/context.
I would like to discuss about Jeffrey Preston Bezos a.k.a. Jeff Bezos, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Amazon. Born in January 1964, he is arguably the most well known technology entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. With a net worth of more than USD 150 billion, he is also the richest person on earth. (Source: Forbes). He graduated from Princeton University in 1986 with degrees in electrical engineering and computer science. Before founding amazon in 1994, Jeff worked in a Wall Street firm in a senior position. Apart from Amazon, his owns The Washington Post, Blue Origin, a space technology company, Bezos Expeditions, his venture capital arm and is an early stage investor in companies like Twitter, Uber and Airbnb.
In 1994, he set up Amazon, an online book store then. Over the years, Amazon has grown through a number of mergers and acquisitions. While Amazon.com famously started as an online bookseller, today it is a technology giant whose business comprises e-commerce, consumer electronics, web services, cloud computing and many more. It is by far the leader in each of the businesses that it operates in. In terms of market capitalization, it is the 2nd most valuable public company and the largest internet company in the world in terms of revenue.
Jeff started Amazon in 1994, when internet was little was known about the potential of internet. It’s mission statement is “"Our vision is to use this platform to build Earth's most customer-centric company, a place where customers can come to find and discover anything and everything they might want to buy online." Even today, they have remained true to it.
An evaluation of the leader by referring to concepts and theories covered in the subject (e.g. style, behaviour, traits, attitudes, power) and by referring to relevant examples.
Some of Jeff’s qualities which make him so successful are:
Having a vision and sticking to it
In the initial days of Amazon, Jeff made it clear to his employees and investors he will always take a long-term perspective of the business. The vision still holds true as Amazon is famously customer obsessed. For them, everything revolves around the customer.
Keeping it simple
Jeff is able to describe even the most complex businesses of his in simple terms. The reason for that is that he is very clear about it in his mind and has thought through it in detail. He believes that if you cannot explain something in simple language, you haven’t prepared enough.
Committment
Inspite of facing numerous difficulties, Amazon stayed committed to it’s long term vision and mission. Jeff always has a solid plan and a thick sin to deal with the uncertainties.
Jeff Bezos, the leader: An evaluation
Jeff started Amazon with a grand idea of creating a store that sells everything from A to Z. He has been relentless in this grand idea . He has persevered through incredible amounts of adversity, however, his convictions proved greater than the challenges he faced. He lost Amazon billions of dollars in projects that failed, but still persevered. Lie every great leader, he had a very high expectation of himself and his team. These high expectations often resulted in people struggling to work for him. There are stories that some who worked for Bezos required counseling and suffered from post traumatic stress disorder.
Jeff Bezos’s secret of success lies in his passion towards “Customers and Customer Service”. He mainly focuses on how he can improve the experience for his customers visiting his website. He never focusses on the competition. His techniques are always long term. His leadership style is unconventional and unique. It is autocratic leadership at it's best. he is also a strategic leader as he comes up with special and unique strategies that mae his organization so successful. To put it simply:
To conclude, he will always be remembered for his innovative and visionary leadership style
A discussion of how you would lead differently if you were put in the same situation/s as the leader and how you could make a stronger impact on the followers and on the situation/s.
Jeff Bezos is a great leader and there is precious little that can be improved upon, as far his leadership skills are concerned. At the same time, he is famous for his short temper and sarcasm. At times, he does come across as a tyrant and a dominating figure. Keeping everything the same, I would definitely be more empathetic towards my employees and understand their part of the story. My leadership style would be more democratic where everyone can voice their opinions. Ultimately, it's the leader who decides what's best for his / her organization, however, it's very important to inculcate a feeling of ownership in the employees as well.