Hey guys, here is a piece I wrote for examples of leadership. I thought that some of you might enjoy it.
Military and Civilian Leadership
Excellence
General Marshall and Mr. Marchionne,
were both excellent leaders who displayed extremely innovative ideas for reform
of their particular areas of responsibility. General Marshall’s postings as a
professional and dedicated leader of various staff positions throughout his
carrier, coupled with his overwhelming desire for efficiency, established
within him solid experience as a leader. He continually took this experience
with him to all his postings. Mr. Marchionne, developed a similar experience as
an efficient leader with various civilian companies and brought this experience
with him to Chrysler Group’s table.
Both, Marchionne and General Marshall,
had a similar approach to leadership. General Marshall became known as a leader
who did not shy away from difficult positions. When most other active duty
officers would not have taken on the challenge of transforming the highly
political National Guard, then Colonel Marshall highlighted his exceptional
abilities by re-energizing it and making it more proficient. This assignment as
the senior instructor for the Illinois National Guard and his leadership philosophy
could have caused a tremendous political fall-out; however, his focus,
determination, and vision for a more efficient organization led to a successful
assignment for General Marshall and the National Guard as a whole. Marchionne
took on the similar challenge and risk with Chrysler Group. He has demonstrated
his exceptional leadership and ability to transform an organization, making it
more efficient.
They both also had a philosophy of
leadership that was considered radical. GEN Marshall was noted for employing
his staff by demanding them to develop ways to accomplish missions and
operations. He pursued this philosophy, which got his staffers to take
ownership and responsibility of the missions, operations, and organizations. Mr.
Marchionne had the similar approach to involving teams to take action. He
revamped the traditional upper crust think tank by “flattening” it. This means
that he sawed from the normal tradition of only making decisions based on the
idea of the upper most echelon and began to employ sound ideas from other
levels. Not only did this establish ideas from a new vantage point, but it also
brought a re-energized feeling to the lower echelons, which got them to
“buy-in” on the ideas and therefore, creating a fully dedicated workforce.
Mr. Marchionne and General Marshal are
both exceptional examples of leaders at the highest level. They both had
extraordinary visions of how to transform an organization that was considered
radical by others. They easily got other
leaders at all levels within their organization to “buy-in” on their vision by
employing them to develop ideas and strategies, which led those various leaders
to put their best foot forward, because they now had a personal connection and
investment to the organization and/or operation.
Work Cited:
Laver, Harry S.,
and Jeffrey J. Matthews. The Art Of
Command, Military Leadership From George Washington To Colin Powell. Univ
Pr of Kentucky, 2010. 60-91. Print.
Saporito, Bill,
and Auburn Hills. Power Steering How
Chrysler’s Italin Boss drives an American auto revival. Time, 2011. 36-41.
Print