Discussion

Contrasting Leadership Styles

Star Student

Westcliff University

BUS 500: Organizational Leadership

Professor Fantastic

Month Date, Year

Contrasting Leadership Styles

DQ (C) - Discussion Question 1

Amernic, J., Craig, R., & Tourish, D. (2007). The transformational leader as pedagogue, physician, architect, commander, and saint: Five root metaphors in Jack Welch's letters to stockholders of General Electric. Human Relations, 60(12), 1839-1872.

The authors give a comprehensive evaluation of Welch’s tenure at GE. The article is used to support his leadership style and successes. It supports arguments that paint him as an efficient leader in managing employees.

Chow, C. (2017). Family legacy and board dynamics: Lessons from TATA. Governance Directions, 69(7), 439.

The article covers the important leadership lessons that can be learnt from Ratan’s leadership approach. It will be applied in the essay to explain his role in Tata Group and outline the lessons that can be learnt from him.

Gupta, M. (2018). Developing Strategic Leadership in the Indian Context: Leadership. In Management Techniques for a Diverse and Cross-Cultural Workforce (pp. 224-235). IGI Global.

The article analyses Tata’s management style and analyzes how it can be applied to lead followers in the right direction. Lessons learnt from him can be applied by leaders in varying contexts.

Melsom, B. (2020). How to Become an Effective Leader. ITNOW, 62(4), 24-25.

The article paints Welch as a successful leader that adopted strategy to manage his followers effectively. It will be used to support the human resource management style that was applied by Welch.

Mishra, A., & Mahapatra, M. (2019). Servant Leadership in India: A Journey from Past to Present. Review of Professional Management, 16(2), 79-87.

The article outlines the servant leadership method advocated by Ratan during his tenure at the Tata Group. It will be used to support information concerning his leadership style (servant leadership).

Ossama, M. (2020). A tribute to Jack Welch: Manager of the century. International Journal of Engineering and Management Research (IJEMR), 10(5), 17-18.

The journal focusses on the leadership style adopted by Jack Welch. It mainly looks into his contribution to growing GE’s profits and discusses his leadership style. The goal of the article is to focus on Welch’s achievements. It will be used in the article to explain his leadership style and achievements.

CLA 1 Comprehensive Learning Assessment

Summary

Leadership is one of the most invaluable aspects for modern-day organizations as it determines the stand and direction that the followers take. Jack Welch and Ratan Tata are outstanding leader whose approaches can be replicated by leaders in contemporary organizations. They both applied unique leadership styles that were appropriate for the companies that they were in charge of. To start with, Tata served as Tata Group’s CEO for two decades and introduced various changes that resulted in an improvement in the company’s performance. He was a firm believer in innovation and globalization that were imperative for the company’s success and profitability. jack Welch on the other hand was competitive and strict leader that required outstanding performance from his followers.

Welch and Tata were successful leaders based on their character traits. They were both charismatic and inspired their followers to act in their footsteps. While Tata championed the servant leadership method, Welch used an authoritative approach. Both leaders inspired others specifically in the adoption of effective leadership techniques. Welch and Tata paved the way for the businesses that they led to achieve profitability and global recognition. They were also visionary as they were focused on driving the organizations to the international market. Leaders in the present times should consider applying the lessons learnt from Tata and Welch.

Background

The study will focus on two popular leaders in the business world who are Ratan Tata and Jack Welch. It is evident that both served as successful leaders for over two decades and there are clear disparities and similarities in their leadership approaches. They both adopted unique leadership approaches that were found to be appropriate and beneficial to the organizations that they worked in as well as their followers. While leadership is defined in different ways, the widely accepted definition is the process that is used by individuals to influence on their followers to attain the set goals and objectives. In the corporate world, leadership refers to the ability of an organizations to inspire individuals and make proper decisions.

The first leader that will be studied in the essay is Ratan Tata who was found to be a pivotal play is the success of the Tata Group (Gupta, 2018). He took over the business when its performance was dismally and introduced professionalism to take the business to a higher level. His two principles are globalization and innovation. On the other hand, Jack Welch lead into becoming one of the most competitive players in the world. He adopted a model of constant hunger and adaptability.

What Made them Effective Leaders

Leader 1

It has been found that successful leaders have different traits in common that inspire others to follow their mantras and beliefs. To start with, Ratan Tata was a visionary leader who was focused on making Tata big (Mishra & Mahapatra, 2019). He set goals that were to be achieved to take Tata to the level that he envisioned it to be. Secondly, Tata was effective as he was a strategist and a critical thinker that wanted the business to go global and this increased the company’s profitability and success (Chow, 2017). Tata was a believer in change which is a trait of a successful leaders and a risk taker who was committed to see the company explore new markets and products.

Leader 2

Jack Welch was one of the leaders that popularized the 4 E leadership model. The first character that contributed to this effectiveness was a high energy level. It follows that he was a leader that work hard and fast. He established that pace that was followed by others in the business. Welch was keen on execution and committed to attain results. Additionally, he was a business leader that had a competitive edge (Ossama, 2020). This can be observed from the fact that he was able to thrive in difficult situations. Welch also motivated his followers to work towards the attainment of established goals. It can be found that both leaders were admired by their followers owing to their strengths and character traits.

How They Influenced the Lives of Others

Leader 1

True leaders are acknowledged for their impact on the lives of others. He inspired his followers by acting as an example to them mainly the young people. The Indian businessman is well known for his corporate expertise as well as his charismatic personality (Mishra & Mahapatra, 2019. His contribution to the institutions that he worked in could be observed from the way that his followers perceived him. He valued the welfare of others as seen from the fact that he had promised that he would make an affordable car and delivered this promise. It became clear that his interest was in alleviating the living standards of the population instead of attaining profitability.

Leader 2

John Welch is one of the most popular CEOs of GE which is an international company that is known for its competitiveness and business success. His tenure at GE showed that he was a dynamic leader who was interested in simplifying leadership. Welch came up with different initiatives that are practiced in the business world (Ossama, 2020). This can be observed from the fact that he came up with an approach of simplifying business that is practiced to date. Welch was a champion of eliminating bureaucracy and less formality. As a result, he was an approachable leader whose followers interacted with freely.

How Tata and Welch Will be Remembered in History

Leader 1

Tata will be remembered as being one of the most influential leaders in India. He put India on the global map of outstanding leadership. He transformed Tata Group and drove the business to attain global success. Owing to his outstanding contribution to the Tata Group, he was appointed to serve in diffident advisory boards. Tata was a believer in philanthropy and held leadership positions in trusts in India (Mishra & Mahapatra, 2019). His brief work engagement in Jones and Emmons gave him a foundation that helped him become as successful leader. It can be seen that other Indian leaders followed in his example and were inspired to steer their businesses to attain global standards.

Leader 2

Welch will be remembered for his unique leadership approach that is observed to have influenced most leaders in the moderns. Leaders include Bob Nardelli who served as a CEO in Home Depot applied the 4E approach that was brough forward by Welch (Amernic, Craig & Tourish, 2007). It can be seen most people consider him to be a role model and an example of how effective leadership can transform business (Ossama, 2020). He continued working as a consultant, columnist and public speaker following the completion of his term at GE. One of his notable achievements was leading GE to become one of the most valuable businesses during the twenty years when he acted as the CEO.

Tata and Welch as Servant Leaders

Leader 1

Ratan Tata is observed to be the best example of a servant leader. This is based on the contribution that he made towards Tata Group (Mishra & Mahapatra, 2019). He was focused towards the creation of a cohesive work environment where decisions were made cohesively. Tata guided his followers to reach their goals while working towards improving the organization. In other words, Tata promoted professional and personal efficiency.

Leader 2

Welch applied a different leadership approach from Tata. This is because he took over GE at a time when the business was in need of a strict leader that would steer the business in the right direction. It follows that servant leadership was not the dominant leadership approach applied by Welch due to the state of the business. This being said, he championed the application of a flexible work ethic that was not characterized by a high level of formality (Melsom, 2020). He inspired his followers to act in line with the set goals and objectives through his energetic and inspirational leadership approach.

Summary and Conclusions

The above discussion proves that leadership is an extensive topic that has varying meanings to different organizations and individuals. Jack Welch and Ratan Tata are remarkable leaders whose leadership styles taught valuable lessons to their followers and can be applied by leaders to date. Both leaders teach that situational leadership is necessary. Further, the leadership approach that is chosen should be in line with the status and needs of the organization. The leaders taught the essence of involving their followers in the decision-making process to attain organizational goals and objectives. The lessons learnt from both leaders should be implemented by leaders in modern organizations.

References

Amernic, J., Craig, R., & Tourish, D. (2007). The transformational leader as pedagogue, physician, architect, commander, and saint: Five root metaphors in Jack Welch's letters to stockholders of General Electric. Human Relations, 60(12), 1839-1872.

Chow, C. (2017). Family legacy and board dynamics: Lessons from TATA. Governance Directions, 69(7), 439.

Gupta, M. (2018). Developing Strategic Leadership in the Indian Context: Leadership. In Management Techniques for a Diverse and Cross-Cultural Workforce (pp. 224-235). IGI Global.

Melsom, B. (2020). How to Become an Effective Leader. ITNOW, 62(4), 24-25.

Mishra, A., & Mahapatra, M. (2019). Servant Leadership in India: A Journey from Past to Present. Review of Professional Management, 16(2), 79-87.

Ossama, M. (2020). A tribute to Jack Welch: Manager of the century. International Journal of Engineering and Management Research (IJEMR), 10(5), 17-18.