LEADERSHIP
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1st May 2019
Word Count: 1575
LEADERSHIP
Introduction
Proper adoption of the leadership plan is established as a necessary requirement to achieve different short-term and long-term objectives. The phenomenon of leadership is defined as the systematic procedure through which a leader direct, guide, and impact the working behaviour of the followers ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"RchZg9G8","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Lunenburg, 2011)","plainCitation":"(Lunenburg, 2011)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":912,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/X42T3X2R"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/X42T3X2R"],"itemData":{"id":912,"type":"article-journal","title":"Leadership versus management: A key distinction—at least in theory","container-title":"International Journal of Management, Business, and Administration","page":"1-4","volume":"14","issue":"1","author":[{"family":"Lunenburg","given":"Fred C."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2011"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Lunenburg, 2011, p. 3). The approach of leadership is adopted by in many different forms according to the needs of the particular organisational situations. It is worthy to mention that the broad idea of leadership involves proper consideration and implication of relevant leadership theory or specific leadership style ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"HOB7cyPo","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Sharma and Jain, 2013)","plainCitation":"(Sharma and Jain, 2013)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":913,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/H9ZUUJSD"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/H9ZUUJSD"],"itemData":{"id":913,"type":"article-journal","title":"Leadership management: Principles, models and theories","container-title":"Global Journal of Management and Business Studies","page":"309-318","volume":"3","issue":"3","author":[{"family":"Sharma","given":"Manoj Kumar"},{"family":"Jain","given":"Shilpa"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2013"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Sharma and Jain, 2013, p. 310). Here the particular focus is to comprehensively discuss the leadership approach of Warren Buffett, the one inspirational global business leader.
Discussion
It is vital to explore the idea of leadership through the example of a real-life business leader to evaluate the prospects of success. This form of consideration will be helpful to determine how particular leadership approaches or strategies help to achieve business targets in a certain business environment ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"Gy968i3U","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Nienaber, 2010)","plainCitation":"(Nienaber, 2010)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":914,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/JLGVWBTG"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/JLGVWBTG"],"itemData":{"id":914,"type":"article-journal","title":"Conceptualisation of management and leadership","container-title":"Management Decision","page":"661-675","volume":"48","issue":"5","author":[{"family":"Nienaber","given":"Hester"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2010"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Nienaber, 2010, p. 4). Assessment of the leadership role of Warren Buffett will also help to determine his leadership capabilities that assist to create an effective working environment for the employees.
Brief Background of Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett established himself as the successful chairman and CEO of the organisation of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. It is important to indicate that Warren Buffett is known as the great investor and one of the richest men in the world that have great potential of leading workers to the success of the business. He successfully utilises his leadership approach to grown the company of Berkshire Hathaway as the profitable business company. The success of this business organisation involves a great deal of leadership style adopted by Warren Buffett as a successful and influential leader. It is vital to get a brief overview of the background of Warren Buffett to determine the particular leadership paradigm that eventually leads him towards success. Warren Buffett born on August 30, 1930, and established himself as the great investor and philanthropist to achieve better domains of business and social aspects. The family background of Warren Buffett revealed that he started working at the grocery store owned by his grandpa. He started working from a very age that eventually helps him to learn different business techniques and approaches from an early age. Consideration of the educational background of this leader is also essential to assess the impact of educational foundations on the personality of Warren Buffett as the great business leader. Buffett adopted the approach of early education at Woodrow Wilson High School. His enrollment at Columbia Business School also plays a critical role for Warren Buffett to establish himself as the great future investor. He learned basic themes of investment from the educational institute that further applied by him in case of his company to attain better corporate outcomes.
It is also important to critically evaluate the industrial involvement of Warren Buffett to figure out his influential role as the leader. The perspectives of financial planning and buying stocks are successfully utilised by Warren Buffett as the great investor. The company of Berkshire Hathaway started as the flailing textile that eventually turned as the multi-industry corporation. The success of Warren Buffett’s business can determine through the consideration of the net worth of Buffett established as $71 billion ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"H5sKoaze","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Grogan, 2018)","plainCitation":"(Grogan, 2018)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":924,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/S4FELS8W"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/S4FELS8W"],"itemData":{"id":924,"type":"webpage","title":"Warren Buffett reveals his secret to great leadership success","container-title":"CNBC","author":[{"family":"Grogan","given":"David A."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2018"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Grogan, 2018, para. 2). The particular domains of strategic investments, acquisitions, and proactive business analysis are successfully used by Warren Buffett to achieve a strong position in the industry level of investment.
Warren Buffett’s Approach of Leadership
Undoubtedly, it is important to explore the specific leadership approach adopted by Warren Buffett to determine the practical implications of vital leadership approaches. This form of consideration eventually assists to determine the effectiveness of the leadership strategy adopted by Warren Buffett as an influential leader in the industry. It is critical to establish that the idea of leadership approach or style can determine in many different forms ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"eJCyMVz3","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(De Vries et al., 2010)","plainCitation":"(De Vries et al., 2010)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":915,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/DBMNI9NB"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/DBMNI9NB"],"itemData":{"id":915,"type":"article-journal","title":"Leadership= communication? The relations of leaders’ communication styles with leadership styles, knowledge sharing and leadership outcomes","container-title":"Journal of business and psychology","page":"367-380","volume":"25","issue":"3","author":[{"family":"De Vries","given":"Reinout E."},{"family":"Bakker-Pieper","given":"Angelique"},{"family":"Oostenveld","given":"Wyneke"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2010"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (De Vries et al., 2010, p. 370). When it comes to leadership style adopted by Warren Buffett than it is established as the successful combination of democratic leadership, servant leadership, and self-empowered leadership. He successfully influences his employees through the adoption of different leadership styles according to the requirements of the business situation. He characterised as a democratic leader because he actively involves his workers in the process of discussing business projects and relevant business strategies. He also adopted the domains of servant leadership as he shows a great form of empathy for his employees and established himself as the emerging leader who accepts the idea of two-way communication. Self-empowered leadership is another prominent approach of leadership adopted by Warren Buffett as the great leader. This particular form of leadership style is linked with the personality of Buffett because he is committed and greatly motivated to achieve his business goals effectively and efficiently.
Identification of particular leadership approaches of Warren Buffett also helps to determine its successful connection with the appropriate leadership theory. The theoretical foundations of leadership help to assess the effectiveness of leadership style according to the need of a specific business situation ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"cIJm9qNz","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Cummings et al., 2010)","plainCitation":"(Cummings et al., 2010)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":916,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/A32HHIA3"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/A32HHIA3"],"itemData":{"id":916,"type":"article-journal","title":"Leadership styles and outcome patterns for the nursing workforce and work environment: a systematic review","container-title":"International journal of nursing studies","page":"363-385","volume":"47","issue":"3","author":[{"family":"Cummings","given":"Greta G."},{"family":"MacGregor","given":"Tara"},{"family":"Davey","given":"Mandy"},{"family":"Lee","given":"How"},{"family":"Wong","given":"Carol A."},{"family":"Lo","given":"Eliza"},{"family":"Muise","given":"Melanie"},{"family":"Stafford","given":"Erin"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2010"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Cummings et al., 2010, p. 3). This form of consideration also helps to determine why Warren Buffett is one influential leader who has the capacity to avail different business opportunities. Situational leadership theory is the best representation of the leadership approach adopted by Warren Buffett as a great business leader. He utilised different forms of leadership styles in different situations to get successful outcomes and desired targets in the end. Situational leadership theory is considered as the significant form in case of business to apply different leadership strategies according to particular requirements ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"8HYjKTqj","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(McCleskey, 2014)","plainCitation":"(McCleskey, 2014)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":918,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/MXSDZ6XS"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/MXSDZ6XS"],"itemData":{"id":918,"type":"article-journal","title":"Situational, transformational, and transactional leadership and leadership development","container-title":"Journal of Business Studies Quarterly","page":"117","volume":"5","issue":"4","author":[{"family":"McCleskey","given":"Jim Allen"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2014"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (McCleskey, 2014, p. 118).
Key Challenges Faced by Warren Buffett
Leaders have to face different challenges to establish themselves as great leaders who have the capacity to influence the working domain of followers ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ONaA5e1f","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Jogulu, 2010)","plainCitation":"(Jogulu, 2010)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":917,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/Q4FINTN7"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/Q4FINTN7"],"itemData":{"id":917,"type":"article-journal","title":"Culturally-linked leadership styles","container-title":"Leadership & Organization Development Journal","page":"705-719","volume":"31","issue":"8","author":[{"family":"Jogulu","given":"Uma D."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2010"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Jogulu, 2010. p. 4). Consideration of challenges also exists in the case of Warren Buffett who faced different forms of failures to eventually achieve business targets. He faced different forms of failures in the form of a wrong decision about the approach of business investment. He faced leadership challenges in the form of proper decision making. Business acquisition is a major business approach adopted by Warren Buffett to expand his business. Detailed consideration of the role of Warren Buffett as the leader indicates that he faced some form of acquisition failures ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"GG2pMkSy","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(O\\uc0\\u8217{}Loughlin, 2011)","plainCitation":"(O’Loughlin, 2011)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":922,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/ZAIGW8SG"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/ZAIGW8SG"],"itemData":{"id":922,"type":"book","title":"The real Warren Buffett: Managing capital, leading people","publisher":"Nicholas Brealey","ISBN":"1-4736-4508-5","author":[{"family":"O'Loughlin","given":"James"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2011"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (O’Loughlin, 2011, p. 2). This specific perspective is characterised as a major challenge for him that eventually question his approach of decision making.
It is important to establish what particular leadership paradigm is ineffectively handled by Warren Buffett that ultimately turns as the major challenge for him as the leader. Adoption of all the relevant leadership domains is established as a great task that eventually influences the practical implications of the idea of leadership ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"J8r7Zo4z","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Yukl and Mahsud, 2010)","plainCitation":"(Yukl and Mahsud, 2010)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":921,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/DZ9USZWJ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/DZ9USZWJ"],"itemData":{"id":921,"type":"article-journal","title":"Why flexible and adaptive leadership is essential.","container-title":"Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research","page":"81","volume":"62","issue":"2","author":[{"family":"Yukl","given":"Gary"},{"family":"Mahsud","given":"Rubina"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2010"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Yukl and Mahsud, 2010, p. 85). Execution of business strategies according to the targets and aspiration is one concern as leadership decision sometimes characterised as a failure in the end ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"VQK76gPG","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Meier, 2016)","plainCitation":"(Meier, 2016)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":920,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/HIXQTAFN"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/HIXQTAFN"],"itemData":{"id":920,"type":"article-journal","title":"Situational Leadership Theory as a Foundation for a Blended Learning Framework.","container-title":"Journal of Education and Practice","page":"25-30","volume":"7","issue":"10","author":[{"family":"Meier","given":"David"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2016"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Meier, 2016, p. 26). A thorough assessment of the leadership perspective of Warren Buffett helps to establish that creating a desirable balance between different business approaches is one challenging phenomenon that requires necessary attention. Attaining better results from the business opportunities is the key to established better forms of investment ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ozkTT6bo","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Thompson and Glas\\uc0\\u248{}, 2015)","plainCitation":"(Thompson and Glasø, 2015)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":919,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/Y2QWB9PZ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/Y2QWB9PZ"],"itemData":{"id":919,"type":"article-journal","title":"Situational leadership theory: a test from three perspectives","container-title":"Leadership & Organization Development Journal","page":"527-544","volume":"36","issue":"5","author":[{"family":"Thompson","given":"Geir"},{"family":"Glasø","given":"Lars"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2015"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Thompson and Glasø, 2015, p. 528). It is established that Warren Buffett faced the challenges in the form of insignificant decision-making in some particular cases of business acquisition.
Lesson Learned from Leadership Approach of Warren Buffett
It is important to figure out particular lessons that can learn from the leadership approach adopted by Warren Buffett. The practical leadership perspective of Warren Buffett helps to determine the application of particular leadership strategies according to the actual needs of the time. Warren Buffett is known as Oracle of Omaha because he applied the right things at the right time to achieve business objectives and motivate workers to work. The major lesson can learn from the leadership approach of Warren Buffett is that he always followed his values to deal with different business challenges. He invested the money in the right places to accelerate the tendency of business success.
Another major aspect of the leadership approach of Warren Buffett is that he readily accepts his failures and find the necessary ways to get better outcomes in the future. It is observed that the prospect of failure is openly discussed by the Warren Buffett with his workers to find out better solutions and the ways of high investment rate for the future. He attained a better form of success from his biggest failures in the form of business investment ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"mdND5Dgy","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Wright, 2019)","plainCitation":"(Wright, 2019)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":923,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/28VQIBJF"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/28VQIBJF"],"itemData":{"id":923,"type":"webpage","title":"7 Things Warren Buffet Can Teach You About Leadership","container-title":"Inc.","author":[{"family":"Wright","given":"Travis"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2019"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Wright, 2019, para. 3). Effective communication is another major aspect of the leadership style adopted by Warren Buffett. He assists as the leader to align the working approach of all the shareholders and bring some valuable consensus.
Conclusion
To conclude the discussion about the leadership approach of Warren Buffett as a great inspirational leader, it is important to indicate that he successfully utilise opportunities to achieve targets of business enhancement. He applied different leadership styles according to the need of time and involve workers in the entire procedure of business enhancement. He always considers the proactive business approach to motivate workers to long-term goals. Warren Buffett developed a great organisational culture to positively influence workers and engage them in the entire perspective of business enhancement.
Bibliography
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