Leadership traits are a very important necessity in the present corporate environment. This review would focus on certain Organizational Behavior concepts in the article by Alan Murray by analyzing and applying these concepts to illustrations in the article.
In his article, Murray illustrates the five basic traits of leadership along with additional traits as identified in the Implicit Leadership Theory. For instance, Murray gives the examples of Lincoln and Socrates as leaders who possessed all the five basic leadership traits and fit into the ‘leadership prototype’ concept. As per Joan Collins, these leaders had the masculine (personal will) and feminine oriented leadership traits (humility) in the right quantities which made them acceptable amongst the masses, unlike General Patton or Julius Caesar. Similarly, in the corporate world, the author provides examples of Darwin Smith of Kimberley Clark paper and Meckler of Gillette. Both these CEO’s exhibited a profound reliance on the team for organizational success rather than individualizing credit for achievements. While both these CEO’s may have been assertive, they both had empowerment, fairness and supportiveness as the basis of their functioning. This facet might have reflected well in their overall organizational performance. However, a strong leadership without succession planning can also spell disaster for the organization since an evacuation by the old leadership can leave a gaping void in the organization. Both Weill and Greenberg of Citigroup and AIG respectively are examples of the nature of void that these organizations faced once these CEO’s left.
On the other hand, the article also examines instances of bad leaders by highlighting the case of Carly Fiorina – the former CEO of HP or that of Joseph Galli – Head of Amazon. Fiorina’s as well as Galli’s behavior tend to demonstrate characteristics of a quintessential bad leader. Of the seven traits possessed by bad leaders, Fiorina displayed at least two or more characteristics, notably incompetence, rigidity, callousness and possible insularity, while also putting her own self interest ahead of the organizational needs. Likewise, Galli demonstrated callousness and rigidity in this approach within the organization that made him extremely unpopular and led to his eventual exit from Amazon.
However, for a good leader, Murray claims that being humble is not enough since one needs to also have the determination to achieve organizational goals, possibly even with a degree of ruthlessness. Whether, one takes the instance of Lee Raymond (ex CEO of Exxon) or A.G Lafley (ex CEO of P&G), one understands that these leaders succeeded due to a combination of humility (sometimes even reclusiveness) and determination combined with a certain degree of ruthlessness that propelled their respective organizations to the top. In theory, these leaders possessed both masculine and feminine oriented behaviors that helped them achieve these enviable milestones. However, most importantly, they put their companies and the employees ahead of their own ambitions. This mindset is, therefore, reflected clearly in the cumulative performance of the employees and consequently in the performance of the organization.
In conclusion, one can clearly say that the five basic traits (as defined by the Implicit Leadership Theory) are a definite must for a great leader. It also becomes essential that a good leader also has an ideal mix of both masculine and feminine traits that are extremely essential for organizational success. At the same time, in order for people to recognize a person as a leader, one needs to ensure that one does not have the bad traits that plague effective leadership. A good leader while possessing the above traits will also put the needs of the organization and its employees before one’s self. At the same time, a good leader will also ensure the right amount of succession planning in order to ensure that there is no void in the organization in his or her absence.
Works Cited
Murray, Alan. “What Makes a Great Leader?” The Wall Street Journal. 28 Jan 2010. Web. 02 Dec 2014.
