The paper aims to analyze and discuss the leadership style used by Bill Ford Jr. in leading one of the biggest and most successful automobile manufacturers in the world. There are two approaches to leadership that will be discussed in analyzing the Bill Ford Jr’s leadership – Leadership Trait approach and Contingency Model of Leadership. I would like to commence my discussion by defining leadership.
Leadership, according to Chemers (1997), is a process of social influence in which one person is able to enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. Quirk and Fandt (2000) view leadership as fundamentally a social influence process that culminates in reaching mutual goals with the leader’s constituents. It involves making sense of a situation, determining the team’s objectives, motivating people to work together to accomplish these objectives, and influencing team culture. Leadership is not linear because there are no leaders without followers, and a leader will not be successful unless there is substantial collaboration and coordination with team members (p. 15). Organizational leadership involves processes and proximal outcomes that contribute to the development and achievement of organizational purpose. Organizational purpose is operationalized as a direction for collective action. Leadership processes are directed at defining, establishing, identifying, or translating this direction for the followers and facilitating or enabling the organizational processes that should result in the achievement of this purpose. Organizational purpose may be defined through mission, vision, strategy, goals, plans, and tasks (Zaccaro and Klimoski 2001). Yukl (1997) has defined leadership broadly in terms of mobilizing human resources toward the attainment of organizational goals. More specifically leadership is an influence processes affecting the interpretation of events for followers, the choice of objectives for the group or organization the organization of work activities to accomplish the objectives, the motivation of followers to achieve the objectives, the maintenance of cooperative relationships and teamwork, and the enlistment of support and cooperation from people outside the group or organization.
Leadership Trait (Trait Leadership)
Trait leadership was grounded in the assumption that some people are natural leaders because they have certain characteristics not possessed by others (Owen 2000). Leadership trait theory refers to the distinguishing characteristics, be they personality, social and physical, that differentiate the leaders from the followers. The basic idea of this is that leaders are born to lead and they possess certain unique traits (Latemore and Callan 1998). This leadership theory is useful in identifying strengths and weaknesses of a person, so that strengths and weaknesses can be improved through continuous learning and self development. Stogdill 1948 identified the leadership traits that effective leaders posses. These traits were found to have high correlations with leadership (Schneider and Smith 2004). These are:
1. Intelligence
2. Dominance
3. Self-Confidence
4. Energy – Activity
5. Task-Relevant Knowledge
Contingency Theory
Fred Edward Fielder is a globally recognized guru in the fields of psychology and leadership. Fiedler presented one of the most intuitive leadership models, which is known as the Contingency Theory. Fiedler propose that effective leadership is a function of a proper match between the leader’s style of interacting with followers and the degree to which the situation gives control and influence to the leader. According to Fiedler, a leader’s style could be identified based on how the leader describes an individual he or she last enjoyed working with. When a leader describes this person in favorable terms, this indicates that the leader is interested in good relationships. Accordingly, that leader’s style would tend to be more people-centered. On the other hand, describing the least-preferred individual in unfavorable terms indicates more of a task-centered style. Fiedler felt that one’s style is fixed. Using three situational factors (degree of respect for employees; structured jobs; and influence over the employment process) he identified eight situations where either the task-centered or people-centered styles would work best. The situational factors according to Fiedler dictate which leadership style would be more effective (Sims 2002).
Discussion and Conclusion
There is no doubt that Bill Ford Jr. is a picture of an effective and efficient leader. He was able to manage and lead the people of Ford through many challenges and failures and became an instrument for the success of the company. Looking through the Leadership Trait perspective, I can say that Bill Ford Jr. possess what I consider to be effective leadership traits such as intelligence, dominance, self-confidence, energy and task-relevant knowledge. Ford faced different adversities during Bill Ford Jr’s leadership. He showed a great level of intelligence specially in making decisions that have shaped the company. He was confident with his decisions and confident enough to take risks no matter what the odds were. In time of confusion, he showed dominance, he was able to lead his people by example and by his actions. He was very energetic and he took time to study the business and the roots of its problems.
Viewing Bill Ford Jr’s leadership style trough contingency theory, I ca say that Bill’s leadership style was influenced by situational factors. Bill became the CEO of Ford in the time where the company was facing challenges and problems. He believed that the company’s people are important in achieving success and he believed that empowering people is very important if he wants to make them committed to the goals and objectives of the company.
In conclusion, I will say that Bill Ford Jr’s leadership style was shaped by his traits and personal characteristics and the situational factors that he faced as a leader. I can say that his leadership style is Transformational Leadership. The focus of transformational leadership is the people and their relationships. Transformational leadership aims to transform feelings, attitudes and beliefs. Transformational leadership leads to the transformation of the leader, the followers and the social system in which they function. There are different characteristics of a transformational leader. A transformational leader is Charismatic. By being charismatic, transformational leaders encourage change, cooperation, commitment, development and loyalty among employees. A transformational leader is Inspirational and Motivational. Transformational leaders inspire and motivate. He or she is Able to Stimulate Minds. Transformational leaders stimulate the minds of their followers. They encourage innovation and creativity.
He did not only mastered the business, he also mastered his relationship with everyone in the organization. By building relationships with the people in the organization, he was able to transform his followers and make them committed to the organizational goals. In fixing the gap of the human resources and upper management, he stepped down the corporate ladder for the sake of mingling to the ordinary employees of the company. Sometimes he dropped off on the assembly line to check up and frequently buys his lunch to the cafeteria where he will casually talk to the people there. He is always in command but he listens to the employees. He possesses outstanding qualities and practices. He perfected the act of good listening. He meets with the executives who are layers below his direct reports. He also elicits feedback and opinions from all people. Ford forces debate and discussion. After he overrules an executive, he often calls the person to personally thank him or her for the job well done.
References
Adair, J. (2003) Action-Centered Leadership. London: Chartered Management Institute.
Chemers, M. M. (1997). An Integrative Theory of Leadership. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Kermally, S. (2005). Gurus on Managing People, London: Thorogood.
Latemore, G. and Callan, V. J. (1998). Odysseus for today: Ancient and Modern Lessons for Leaders. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 36(3): 76-86.
Owen, H. (2000). In Search of Leaders. New York: Wiley.
Quirk, M and Fandt, P. (2000). The 2nd Language of Leadership. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Schneider, B. and Smith, D. B. (Eds.) (2004). Personality and Organizations. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Sims, R. (2002). Managing Organizational Behavior. Westport CT: Quorum Books.
Stogdill, Ralph M. (1948). Personal Factors Associated with Leadership: A Survey of the Literature. Journal of Psychology, 25, 35–71.
Yukl G. (1997). Leadership in organizations. (4th edn.). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
Zaccaro, S. and Klimoski, R. (2001). The Nature of Organizational Leadership: An Introduction. In S. Zaccaro, R. Klimoski, and N. Schmitt (Eds.). The Nature of Organizational Leadership: Understanding the Performance Imperatives Confronting Today’s Leaders (pp. 3-41). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
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