Many employees view power, leadership and change as a negative

Many employees view power, leadership and change as a negative

Many employees view power, leadership and change as a negative, and I believe that it’s more the fear of change that give this feeling. There certainly are leaders that rule with an iron fist approach, they have more of the dictator style of managing. The rule by fear, make demands, give more punishment than praise but this is not the common leadership style seen today. Bill Gates was a leader that at times could appear unreasonable, he would expect his employees to work just as hard as he did, he would question anyone who wanted to take a day off, and would even check video surveillance of the parking lot so that he could follow their coming and going, oh, and vacations were out of the question (Holley, 2016).

Lee Iacocca was probably one of the first leaders that exemplified transformational leadership to bring about change in a large organization. He was credited with one of the most dramatic examples of transformational leadership when, as chairman, brought Chrysler Corporation, from the brink of bankruptcy to being profitable (Tichy, Ulrich, 1984). It only took Iacocca four short years to turn a near bankrupt company to one that posted record profits, and saw moral amongst employees attain high levels. Iacocca needed to change the environment at Chrysler, he turned over a large amount of control to the government, which they intern gave Chrysler a loan to keep them from having to file bankruptcy, they did this because they saw that Iacocca had a plan, part of which included getting rid of unneeded management. Iacocca was able to negotiate and receive concessions from the union, while also limiting financial rewards for the employees of Chrysler, this was all done in a effort to save the company and the jobs of its employees. Iacocca was willing to lead by example, he was often seen at Chryslers plant, then became the spokesperson for the company, he also made sure that the plan and need was communicated across the organization (Tichy, Ulrich, 1984). In the end, Iacocca was able to influence the government, union, shareholders and employees, to buy in to his plan to save Chrysler and Chrysler is still in business due to his leadership.

Reference

Holley, P. (February 2, 2016). The crazy thing Bill Gates used to do to monitor workplace productivity. On Leadership. The Washington Post.

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