Question

Directions: Current events are important events happening in the world concerning people, places, things, and ideas. Watch or read the news this week to select a story that portrays leadership or a leader – either famous or not. It may be a local, national, or international story that makes you think about leadership theories, concepts, skills, or traits. Then, including the items below, summarize the article: What was the headline of the story? Discuss the effectiveness of the headline in summarizing the story and/or in grabbing your attention as an article related to leadership. Briefly describe the factual content of the story related to the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How – and, overall, how it relates to leadership theories, concepts, skills, or traits. Describe the connection between the article you selected and what you have learned or know about leadership. Discerning fake news. Discuss the accuracy of the facts used in the story. How do you know that the sources used were reliable and accurate? Provide examples and/or supporting resources.

Answer 1

The dismantling of GE continues: It is selling yet another business

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/06/business/general-electric-current-sale-lighting/index.html

The headlines of the story refers to to the extensive makeover of General Electric which has been facilitated by Larry Culp after taking over as CEO of an organisation requiring extensive repair of its financial statements which represent the large mass created over decades threatening to sink the giant into deeper debt and oblivion. The article provides latest information upon the actions undertaken by buy the new CEO Larry for returning the company to profitability by cutting away all the loss making activities the companies involved in including its association with the lighting industry which it pioneered initially. this is aimed at reducing debt and cutting costs which are not providing value to the company in returns on investment. The new CEO narikel is working extremely hard how to control the debt figures and increase the earnings to balance out the balance sheet, by making it more presentable. He has hit the ground running and has immediately identified all the loss making activities of the company Andaz proceeded to to dispose of them at the earliest with the best possible deals to facilitate a quick turnaround by concurrently making investments designed to bring in good returns for the company leading to a turnaround. The article is about the importance of effective leadership being capable of efficiently bringing about a turnaround in the fortunes of a company through optimal implementation of strategic management. This is the first time in the 126 years history of General Electric pattern outside has been invited to manage a company which has always prided itself on management excellence but has in the last 15 years been played by bad decisions relating to Mammoth takeovers and acquisitions with effective management and an organisational structure which has not been dynamic and flexible to adapt to to Rapid changes in the external environment. The option was exercised as the only possibility in a last attempt to Salvage the wreckage of the company. Larry Kalpa selected for his incredible track record and exceptional leadership skills which would bring about the required translation for the company and revive it to its past Glory, albeit in a different segment. The transformational leadership skills of lyrical a well suited to the 21st century Global organisations for being dynamic excelling in strategy and lightning quick responsiveness with action talking louder than words.

A good leader requires vision, power to enthuse and mostly ability to lead from the front. Every organization requires adequate push of responsibility downwards as no large organization can survive without delegation, this has to be however tempered by retaining power at the top during crisis management. It is these crisis situations that are the true test of a leader, when he/she is expected to jump into the arena to face and manage the crisis effectively, at the same time setting a befitting example for all the employees, as well as a standard. It also restores employee faith in the leadership and the organization and induces unity rather than fear of the outcome amongst all cadres.

We are in a very competitive economic environment today largely due to the massive impact of communication technology putting the world at our fingertips. In this scenario most of the successful brands and large organizations worldwide are creating fresh milestones in leadershipexcellence and over the top management, a no bars no boundaries mindset and out of the box thinking has taken business management to an altogether different sphere. Hence, 21st century leaders need to be aware of the need to carry the team along with the organization to achieve its core goals of maximization of profits and global growth. They do not want to handle crises within the organization when they have so many to handle externally. Therefore, a leader should have the ability to promote harmony and avert or manage crises effectively internally and externally.

Strategic means related to strategy in other words it is the identification of overall aims and the means to be adopted for achieving them. It consists of devising a plan for achievement of specific goals and following through with perfect implementation of the plan together with adequate control measures to ensure the goal is achieved. Actually, what finally matters is always the goal. Strategic leadership and management both emulate these basic features of strategizing within their jobs. So, a strategic leader whether at top, middle or department level needs to absolutely understand and be attuned to the objectives to be achieved, the plan for the same and how they will manage the people and processes to derive optimal results and what control measures they will implement to ensure success. A leader has to motivate his entire team through performance and maintain a human element through inclusion and encouragement for each individual to explore their talents and excel. I have absolute belief that strategy is the most important management tool at the disposal of leaders for successful achievement of goals, and also to exceed expectations. Lack of a well formulated strategy to lead and motivate others towards achievement of goals as a unified team, is sure to lead to failure or average results at best. It is like going on a treasure hunt without a map.

Transformational and dynamic leadership is a the need of the 21st century as adaptability is essential due to an extremely competent global environment, in the sense that, leadership should be confident in the initiating change, it is highly proactive and focuses on achievement of goals through motivation of the employees and Organization as a whole. This is a dynamic form of leadership and proposed to implement constant changes within the organization, through introduction of new ideas, as well as, dynamic analysis of the goals and the plans set to achieve them, with implementation of changes within them whenever and wherever required. This dynamic approach believes in motivating every individual and group to achieve personal goals through excellence in performance. This is the form of leadership embodies change and encourages individual growth is everything in developing future leaders. The goal of the organization is projected as the goal of every individual as inclusive management is a hallmark of this leadership style. As a result entire organization operates as one and becomes motivated to achieve organizational goals as part of personal goals because an individual grows along with the organization and relationship between the organization and the workers is cooperative and the growth of one simultaneously benefits the other. Such leaders always lead both from the front and from within, meaning they represent all the required leadership qualities, they exemplify leadership by themselves being super achievers and motivate the rest to follow by example. Thus, it promotes an environment of growth and learning within the organization which mimics growth for the organization externally.

Leadership is an important element of Total Quality Management and it successful implementation, as is the case with every area of an organization. Without effective leadership total quality management cannot be successful. Total quality management provides all the principles required to be implemented within the framework of an organization to ensure optimal output from every department concerned. However for these principles to be put into action a dynamic and exemplary leadership is mandatory. For effectiveness of quality management a leaderrequires to create a very positive environment within the organization which facilities and welcomes positive changes. It also requires a leader to understand that inclusive management is a major requirement for achieving quality goals. Any leader to be effective, has to lead by example, by being a proactive rather than a reactive leader and also exhibit his skills and capabilities by ensuring his every action is backed by due diligence and analysis of the market and the sector. It is also required that a leader managing total quality management and its implementation have a perfect strategy in place, in order to ensure, that the aim of the implementation of TQM is clear, as also the means of achieving it. All organizational leaders need to understand requirement for mastering every aspect of the total quality management puzzle to stay on top of the game. Kotter's dimensions are a comprehensive amalgamation of the qualities and methodologies which contribute to the success of leaders, enabling them to guide organizations through change along with successful execution of their strategies, ensuring exceptional results for the organization.

The values and principles of leaders resonate throughout the organization internally and become the image of the organization externally, making the building of the right tone at the top an important business strategy which cannot be stressed upon enough. Even with an adhocratic structure the impact of a strong leader exemplifies the ethics and principles exhibited, resulting in emulation throughout whereas, in a hierarchical structure the leadership values and principles become even more significant as it is the dominant influence. This tone is meant to guide the organization not only towards achievement of goals, but also create the perfect ethical climate with focus on the values to be imbibed and projected by the organization. Given the fact that business reputation risk is being viewed as a major challenge due to vulnerability of a business to lightning spread of negative publicity through social media and mobile technologies, it has become essential that the top management identifies the values and ethics to be followed by an organization and ensure its implementation within the actions and environment of the organization. It is especially an important part of a leader’s portfolio to exhibit the required vision and commitment for establishment of core ethical values and principles within every process and system operating in an organization through effective and clear communication. It is important that the entire organization understand the intention of the top management of considering ethics as a Priority which cannot be sidelined.

The accuracy of the facts used in the story can easily be we are verified as a same story is published in every major business news website. The facts are extremely accurate along with figures and can be verified from other sites such as Fox business.com nuclear.gepower.com, the company website, mediapost.com and Hartfordbusiness.com.