FORM

LEBRON JAMES

Shenhao Sun

California State University

San Bernardino

5/10/2019

Personal History

On 30th December in the year 1984, LeBron James was born in Akron, Ohio. His father is Anthony McClelland and the mother is Gloria Marie James. His father was not involved in LeBron’s life that much as he had an extensive criminal record. Life was often a struggle for his family as he was growing up whereby they moved from apartment to apartment in Akron’s seedier neighborhoods while his mother had the struggle of finding work which was steady. After his mother came into the realization that LeBron would be better off in a family environment which was most stable, she allowed LeBron to move in with Frank Walker’s family who was a coach of a local youth football. Frank Walker introduced LeBron to basketball at the age of nine years.

In the fifth grade, LeBron started playing organized basketball. He later played the Amateur Athletic Union basket basketball which was for the Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars. With his friends, LeBron led the team to winning various titles on a national and local level. This group of friends dubbed themselves as the “Fab Four” where they promised to attend high school together a move which stirred local controversy as the chose St. Vincent-St. Mary High School which was a private Catholic School with most of the students attending being white students. At high school football team, he played wide receiver. He also got recruited by some programs one of them being Notre Dame.

Employment Background

LeBron’s impressive record made him get picked first in the NBA draft in 2003. The Cleveland Cavaliers signed James who was a powerful young forward where he proved to be of value to the then-struggling franchise as it had ended in eighth place in the Eastern conference the previous season. It was during the 2003-04 season that he made history of becoming the first Cavalier franchise member to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He was also the youngest player to receive such an honor at the age of 20 years. In addition, James at this time was averaging each game 20 points which put him the company of the likes of Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan.

LeBron James helped his team beat the Washington Wizards in 2006 the first round of playoff action. Even when his team was not ranked at the top, he received continuous recognition because of his abilities. In June 2nd, 2007, he led the Cleveland to the finals of NBA but swept by Spurs in four games. In May 6th, 2009, he won his first ever NBA MVP Award after averaging 7.9 rebounds, 30.0 points, and 7.2 assists per game and the next year he announced of him joining the Miami Heat which was after he became a free agent.

LeBron’s fans in Cleveland were not pleased by his decision whereby many considered it as a betrayal to his hometown. The 2011-12 season saw major success for the Miami Heat and James also. He had finally earned himself a first title after Miami Heat defeated Oklahoma City Thunder in the finals of NBA. In 2014, he announced to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers in free agency. He led the Cavaliers to the finals of NBA thus becoming the first player in nearly over 50 years to reach the championship round in 5 consecutive seasons. In 2018, he announced to be moving to his next chapter of his career through signing with the Los Angeles Lakers, which was a storied franchise counting Bryant, Magic Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar among its all-time greats.

Leadership style

Leadership style is the approach and manner of implementing plans, providing directions, and motivating people (Burr. 2016). Leadership styles include the total pattern of implicit and explicit actions performed by leaders (Yahaya. 2016). Leadership is not something of one going alone that’s why great teams prevail and succeed when they evolve and grow together. The leadership style practiced by James was a participative leadership also referred to as democratic leadership.

He actually willed his leadership a group, or team, of different-minded teammates that equally aspired to will their ways towards championship winning. The style of leadership thus became participative one as it involves the leader including others in the decision making process which involves the determination of what to do and how to do it (Anderson. 2017). Using participative style of leadership does not show signs of weakness but signs of strength that others will respect.

LeBron James taught transformation things about leadership and teamwork which include; spacing and alignment, self-trust and situational awareness, and lastly patience and reinvention. Spacing and alignment allows leaders and also teams in the exploration of endless possibilities centered on their own personal capabilities and strengths (Cashman. 2017). Self-trust and situational awareness is the most powerful force which is capable of strengthening one’s situational awareness as a leader giving on clarity and understanding to know one’s teammates and the team’s capability, what to expect and what not to expect (Iqbal. 2015). Patience and reinvention was ones of the LeBron’s skills of being able to be patient and also taught on never stopping to refine one’s methods (Shih. 2016).

References

Anderson, M. H., & Sun, P. Y. (2017). Reviewing leadership styles: Overlaps and the need for a new ‘full‐range’theory. International Journal of Management Reviews, 19(1), 76-96.

Burr, M. W. (2016). Organizational conflict management systems in small business.

Cashman, K. (2017). Leadership from the inside out: Becoming a leader for life. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Iqbal, N., Anwar, S., & Haider, N. (2015). Effect of leadership style on employee performance. Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 5(5), 1-6.

Shih, W., & Pierce, J. E. (2016). Learning from Adversity: Advice from Library Leaders.

Yahaya, R., & Ebrahim, F. (2016). Leadership styles and organizational commitment: literature review. Journal of Management Development, 35(2), 190-216.