Leadership
Leadership is about carrying the vision and providing inspiration to other people as they follow their course. As we look critically at leadership, one of the key figures in our society that has demonstrated the true spirit of leadership is Ray Anderson. Being the Chairman of Interface Inc. organization, which is a top world carpet manufacturer, he is credited for his environmentally friendly policy. Even in the wake of an outcry over global warming, the founder of Interface Inc. has seen to it that the company is environmentally friendly while at the same time making significant profits.
Anderson is credited for being the founder of Interface Inc. He founded the company in 1973 after having served in various positions at Deering-Milliken and Callaway Mills for a period of 14 years. Anderson was out to have a carpet manufacturing company that would later turn out to be the greatest in the United States and the world as a whole. Just like any other entrepreneur, Anderson had a larger picture of an economic giant with operations like other companies (Anderson, 1998). Leadership has all to do with being more of future minded than just looking at the present. The initiatives that have been put in place by Ray Anderson in Interface, Inc. have a future perspective. What has really moved many is the fact that Anderson has taken the initiative of looking for ways of reducing pollution and global warming.
‘Mission Zero’ is one such plan that has left many admiring the work done by Ray Anderson in Interface, Inc. and to the rest of the world. This is one of the things that bring out the true leadership capabilities that Anderson has. The policies he has initiated at the company are seen as definite and not abstract. The ‘Mission Zero’ for instance is a plan that will see the company not causing any damage to the environment by the year 2020 (Anderson, 1998). Anderson has steered the company to where it is through the initiation of numerous researches. This had led to positive developments that have resulted in the discovery of how to make carpets out of corn. By the year 2003, the company was making ten percent of its products from plant-derived materials. Wind power and solar energy had taken a great percentage in terms of energy used in the manufacturing of its products.
He has also made the company to participate more in social issues affecting the company through capacity building and training on how energy that is friendly to the earth can be adopted by the society and other companies (Bush, 2003). This has given the organization a facelift in terms of goodwill from customers. Anderson has been able to balance between profit and environmental sustainability. This one issue has really been difficult for many Chief Executive Officers to execute. It is also a tricky and difficult part all together, given that Interface Inc. has competitors who may not have the environment and conservation at heart. His experience at Deering-Milliken and Callaway Mills is what gave him the skills to balance between this two. He however was able to make concessions that later become the building blocks of his company.
Anderson transformed Interface through sharing of the vision he had with other persons in the company. Given all physical resources, Anderson might not have made it in bringing the company to what it is now. However, he used all means to share this vision with all the stakeholders in the company (Bush, 2003). This execution of the policies made the company development to be easier. Ray Anderson has provided leadership through examples. The fact that he is the founder and owner of the company has not made him not to participate actively in matters affecting the company; instead, it has allowed him to take the centre stage on daily activities of the company. He himself has been the initiator of change as far as environmental conservation is concerned. This is depicted by the fact that he has chosen to use a car that is fuel saving yet he is a multi-billionaire.
Anderson transformed Interface, Inc. through strategic publicity. Even where it seemed that the company was pumping in too much money, he was willing to spend there with the hope of recovering through future profits. This strategy worked well for him. Through this, the company, Interface Inc. got involved more on issues that affected the society. In one way or the other, the company was able to make good name, which saw its products’ demand rising. This is because the purchase of Interface products is seen as contributing towards the campaign in saving the planet earth from effects of global warming and pollution (Anderson, 1998). Anderson has turned around Interface through his energy policy concerning use of solar energy. He initiated plans through his vision that has seen the company reduce on the use of petro chemicals while taking up the use of solar energy. This idea has made the company unique given that other companies in the field of carpet manufacturing are not ready to use other energy sources that are environment friendly. This is because of the high costs incurred in buying stuff such as solar panels.
Leadership is all about creating the visionary picture amongst all the people working in an organization. It is all about making the stakeholders to know the ideas and goals that the company or organization stands for. Anderson is a true leader as he has been a unifying factor among the employees of the organization (Anderson, 1998). Through his consultative approach, he has seen to it that all employees of the organization own the ideas that the company stands for. Through this, employees are able to work towards the common goal, which they mostly refer to as “the peak of Mount Sustainability.” Anderson has demonstrated his divine leadership through the efficiency and effectiveness he has had both within Interface and in the outside world. He is but an example to emulate for the solutions he provided for the company. For instance, the company used to dump tons and tons of waste at Maine in terms of carpet trimmings. Through his leadership, all this trimmings were recycled and by June 1997, no waste was being dumped (Greenleaf & Spears, 2002).
Ray Anderson provided leadership through learning from others. Even at Interface, all the sound policies he was coming with were not just his, but rather they were because of listening to others. This is what made him a better industrial manager. This is demonstrated by the policies and changes he initiated at the company that are meant to protect the environment. In fact, Ray had never in his mind thought of saving the planet using energy that is friendly to environment or recycling of waste. It is only after reading the book The Ecology of Commerce, by Paul Hawken that he got the urge of saving the planet through use of energy that is friendly to the environment (Bush, 2003).
It is clear that Ray Anderson has played a great role that has seen Interface Inc. get to where it is today. His consultative-based leadership has worked well for the company, making it the leader in fighting global warming and pollution as a whole. He is the brain behind everything in the company apart from being the founder. His publicity-based expansion approach has worked well for the company because marketing is done extensively thus making the profits of the company to remain high.
References
Anderson, R.C. (1998), Mid-course correction: toward a sustainable enterprise: The Interface model. New York, NY: Peregrinzilla Press.
Bush, T. (2003). Theories of educational leadership and management. New York, NY: SAGE.
Greenleaf, R.K and Spears, L.C. (2002). Servant leadership: a journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. Chicago: Paulist Press.
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