Leadership Aspects in the DVDs - Assignment Example

Critical review of leadership aspects in the DVDs 1. "Alive - the 1972 story of the plane crash in the Andes", From the horrible experience by Nando and his friends at Andes, there are great lessons that are applicable in the business world’s leadership. Some of the lessons include: Lesson 1 To be an effective leader, it is crucial to have a virtue of making decisions rapidly, just like Nando did at Andes. This is because in case of any mistake, there is enough time to fix it. As a leader, it is imperative to make a decision and make mistakes rather than fail to make a decision at all as there is no time to regret. For instance, Nando and his friends had to decide to eat human meat out of the three options (eating human meat; committing suicide; or waiting to die in the fuselage). Leaders should also learn to take risks as the greatest risk is failing to take any risk completely. Nando also argues that the most risky issue is the status quo (The Andes Accident, 2014). Further, the video indicates the importance of making democratic decisions. Nevertheless, it points out the instances in which a single individual has to make a decision in order to avoid serious mistakes as it is hard for a group to make decisions fast. In that case, the person (Nando) in charge of such as decision becomes the leader of the group. Clearly, a leader does not have to be the person referred to as one, but the one who is able to make quick and appropriate decisions (The Andes Accident, 2014). Lesson 2 The experience in the video also indicates that leaders are not born, but develop leadership skills with their actions in the course of their lives. It is not just anybody who can be a leader, but those that experience, execute, and obtain the results are leaders. It is worth noting that leaders are ordinary people who possess extraordinary actions under difficult circumstances. Nando, the group leader in the movie, says that an effective leader should have charisma so that people may believe him and he has to handle things effectively. Besides, effective leaders are those who obtain good results, and attain their purposes. Additionally, effective leaders should function in a team and allow others to get involved too. They should allow each member of the team to have a say with own experiences to enable the team work as a whole. A successful team should be supportive and generous, as Nando and his team did at Andes (The Andes Accident, 2014). Lesson 3 The third lesson from the Andes experience is the important to ensure teamwork in every group. This is because good results are only attained when people work together. In fact, very few people can achieve exceptional results but many groups do. This is proven by the fact that Nando survived the plane crush at Andes. It is also evident that nobody would have survived the accident alone. Nonetheless, teamwork only succeeds if it has an objective. The objective should both be unique and shared. It is critical that every member of the group understands the objective, is completely convinced about it, and work towards its achievement (The Andes Accident, 2014). Lesson 4 The companies that achieve their goals are only those that have a clear objective, know their purpose, and work to achieve it. It is also crucial to have a balance between the short and long term objectives. Creativity is another vital lesson for any leader in order to find solutions to any problems experienced in an organization. For instance, in the video, there idea of the suitcases’ wall was very creative and helpful (The Andes Accident, 2014). 2. “The Smartest Guys in the Room - Enron Case" According to the Boswell (2012), Eron’s leadership played a great role in the fate of the firm. The company was later declared bankrupt and that its executives were liable for criminal acts that include money laundering, fraud, as well as insider trading. For example, Ben Glisan, the firm’s former treasurer was involved in a criminal offense involving fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. From the experience, it is critical to note the importance of leadership and organization culture in determining the success of any business. For Eron, the culture depicted is that of suspicious, lack of trust, infighting, manipulation, fuzzy math, and backstabbing. The leadership failed by focusing on fraud, lies, and deception instead of transparency and trust. Another leadership issue that brought down business at Enron was a great collapse in governance and accountability. There was also continuous exploitation of accounting rules, something that the management should have carefully monitored in the course of business (Boswell, 2012). The leadership also failed by merely employing candidates based on academic credentials, raw ambition, and innovative ideas. This emphasizes the significance of considering other factors in the hiring process, such as, ethical conduct of the eligible persons. Although Enron had many honest and smart leaders, the firm ignored them. For example, Watkins could have been a great asset to the organization if he was acknowledged. Failing to root out the bad leaders in advance contributed to its failure (Boswell, 2012). In terms of character, the firm’s hiring managers should have evaluated how employees managed their ambition, and privilege. They should have also checked whether the recruits mentored others or not; whether they were mission-minded to work for the firm; and whether they perceive business as just an unethical affair. Additionally, charisma is essential in a firm but this feature can also lead to failures in an organization. For instance, Enron had charismatic leaders including Skilling and Lay (Boswell, 2012). What is more, Boswell (2012) asserts that charismatic leaders portray sharp sense to the environmental background of the business and the capacity to scrutinize for environment for tendencies that may need them to adjust their vision. For instance, Lay was intensely conscious of the regulatory situation of the company and supposed that energy markets must be made lenient and lobbied determinedly for revolution on Capitol Hill. Deregulation power led to new business ideas for Enron. Nonetheless, Lay was also sensitive to the politics nature and the importance of maintaining relations with politicians and happened to the major contributor to Bush’s campaign (Boswell, 2012). 3. " Hillsborough - the 1989 Hillsborough disaster" According to Scraton (2009), it is evident that the experience was worsened by lack of coordination, leadership, equipment, as well as prioritization of fatalities. Poor leadership heavily contributed to the experience as the present leaders in the control and the pitch did little to organize and harness rescue efforts. For instance, there were no orders to the security officers to get in the tunnel and help ease pressure. The fact that there were misplaced priorities also enhanced the problem at the stadium. This is because there was a lot of anxiety to safeguard the sacredness of the pitch, which in turn resulted in the inadequate attention to the safety of the spectators present. In fact, the pitch was overcrowded and that the available gates were insufficient for rescue reasons. Moreover, it is clear that leadership failure, inadequate life-saving equipment, and communication challenges aggravated the matter at the stadium (Scraton, 2009). It is also imperative that a firm leadership admits its mistakes and avoid engaging in blame game. For instance, the police at the stadium emphasized that the spectators contributed to the ordeal experience as most were late, aggressive and drunk. Further, they blamed the club for failure to monitor its pens. Therefore, this depicts failure to take responsibility of their mistakes and weaknesses rather than blame others. This is crucial in enabling the leaders to realize the mistakes fast and fix them in time (Scraton, 2009). 4. "13 Days - the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis” Upon failure of Bay of Pigs attack, Kennedy emphasized on disagreement from his advisers. In case of an inappropriate idea, Kennedy requested his advisers to open to him as he did not encourage people who would just say yes to assist him in decision making. During the invasion, some of Kennedy’s staff who opposed with his actions refused to air their negative views, as they did not want to disapprove of the larger group. Upon this failure, Kennedy changed his leadership approach by wanting to scrutinize all the available alternatives prior to making any decision (Cuban Missile Crisis, 2012). Consequently, a great leadership lesson from the experience is that it is vital for any leader to allow his staff members to participate in decision-making. This implies that whether the staff disagrees with him or not. Further, a successful leader is the one that encourages his followers to give their views regarding any matter in an organization regardless of whether they are positive or negative. This is helpful in ensuring that well-informed choices are made for the success of a firm (Cuban Missile Crisis, 2012). In order to come out of the situation successfully, Kennedy and Khrushchev displayed determination and responsible leadership so as to attain a peace solution. This implies that no matter how difficult a situation is in a business environment, a responsible and determined leadership will certainly overcome it. This is because a reckless leadership only serves to encourage crisis into a peaceful organization. It is also vital for leaders of an organization to create an environment that encourages people to reconcile and build strong positive relationships (Cuban Missile Crisis, 2012). References Boswell, S. (2012). The Smartest Guys in the Room: Management Lessons from Enron’s Leaders. Post Examiner. Accessed on 18th February, 2014. http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/the-smartest-guys-in-the-room-management-lessons- from-enrons-leaders/2012/12/22 Cuban Missile Crisis (2012). Thirteen Days Analyses. Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center. Accessed on18th February, 2014. http://www.cubanmissilecrisis.org/for- educators/media-depictions/thirteen-days-analyses/ Scraton, P. (2009). The Hillsborough Football Disaster Context & Consequences. Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice. http://downloads.hfdinfo.com/4HFDContext-n-Consequences.pdf The Andes Accident (2014). Interview with Fernando Parrado: October 2001. Accessed on 18th February, 2014. http://www.viven.com.uy/571/eng/EntParrado102001.asp Read More