Leadership
Part 1
Steve Jobs had an innate sense of self confidence that allowed him to respond to circumstances in an immediate manner (Forsyth, 2009). His desire to have the best products so as to satisfy the deficiencies and opportunities in the market made him one of the best CEOs in the world. However, this desire to immediately respond to gaps made him somewhat indisposed to planning and organization. His view of events was always broad which meant that he brought out the best in his employees. He could articulate what he wanted and effectively communicate it to his team. As such, he was regarded as a perfectionist who always believed that there was a better version of a product hence challenged others to continually improve (Beamish, 2005). The success that Apple enjoyed in the years under Steve Jobs made it hard to replace him once he passed on. The company was a market leader in the production of iPods, iPhones and iPads which revolutionized a number of industries.
On the other hand, Lance Armstrong took the world by storm after making the Tour de France his event. However, he publicly acknowledged that he did this through the use of performance enhancers. As a leading figure in cycling, those that were under him and in the same team were repeatedly betrayed by these acts (Dannhauser, 2007). While many considered him to be a world leader, he turned out to be a fraud.
Part 2
According to my DiSC profile, my internal profile indicated that I have 95% dominance, 73% influence, 14% steadiness and 46% compliance. My external profile reflected a 61% dominance, 90% influence, 30% steadiness and 22% compliance. On average therefore, I have a dominance of 66%, 88% influence, 19% steadiness and 37% compliance. These figures were weighed with a -34% shift in dominance, +17% shift in influence, +16% shift in steadiness and a -24% shift in compliance.
The figures above show that I am an energetic and active individual, meaning that I do not wait for any decisions to be presented to me but I rather prefer assessing situations myself and then work out the decisions pertinent to them (Blignaut, 2008). This has made me have high levels of personal confidence such that I am at ease with making decisions using limited information. I am sometimes tempted to disregard details where available in order to come up with my own conclusions based on my instincts. I am persuasive and outgoing which means that I can convince people that my decisions are the right ones.
I am assertive, driving and openly communicative. I like acting independently according to my analysis of a situation without having the feeling that something is bogging me down. One of my main strengths is that I can easily motivate myself and those around me.
My management style derives from my open and sociable approach. I like enjoying positive personal as well as professional relationships with the people around me but still like to have receptive authority. This makes me somewhat impulsive thus making me appear unpredictable in some instances. I prefer persuading those around me to chart a certain course of action rather than impose on them.
My unpredictability stems from my rather low concentration threshold as well as my social focus (Duck, 2006). I am usually interested in new opportunities and challenges which make me unable to apply myself to a project for the long haul. This weakness however adds a degree of resilience to my style of behavior. I feel a need to interact with others on a more friendly and personal way which means that I need to be more thoughtful and considerate as I approach others in order to invest a greater interest in their feelings and views.
References
Beamish, G. (2005). How chief executives learn and what behaviour factors distinguish them from other people. Industrial and Commercial Training, 37(3): 138 – 144.
Blignaut, P., (2008). The influence of temperament style on a student’s choice of and performance in a computer programming course. Computers in Human Behavior, 24(3): 1010–1020.
Dannhauser, Z., (2007). The Relationship between Servant Leadership, Follower Trust, Team Commitment and Unit Effectiveness. Doctoral Thesis, Stellenbosch University
Duck, J., (2006). Making the connection: Improving virtual team performance through behavioral assessment profiling and behavioral cues. Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, 33: 358-9
Forsyth, D. R., (2009). Group dynamics. New York: Wadsworth.
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