Responses

Benjamin Discussion:

Jonathon Toews and his leadership of the Chicago Blackhawks demonstrates many qualities of exemplary leadership that could be transferred to other industries. Most notably, Toews is inspiring, caring and trustworthy. (Gimble, 2015) "His teammates share that he is constantly calling to make sure they are doing okay when going through personal struggles. Toews proves that good leaders don’t stop leading when the game is over. He’s committed to the team and cares about every facet of their lives." (Gimble, 2015) This demonstrates a quality of Servant leadership, a style of leadership that places the concerns of others above themselves. (Dubrin, 2019) "A servant leader is more concerned with helping others than with acquiring power, prestige, financial reward, and status. The servant leader seeks to do what is morally right, even if it is not financially rewarding. He or she is conscious of the needs of others and is driven by a desire to satisfy them." (Dubrin, 2019) He became the captain of the Blackhawks at 20, when many of his teammates were 10 years his senior. (Gimble, 2015) "Toews let his skills and actions speak for themselves. He earned the respect and friendship first, which in turn earned their trust." (Gimble, 2015) Trustworthiness is a critical aspect of leadership. As our module resources point out, trust allows followers to believe that you have their best interests at heart and you are loyal to them. "Being trustworthy is a foundation behavior of the servant leader. He or she is scrupulously honest with others, gives up control, and focuses on the well-being of others." (DuBrin, 2019) Finally, Toews inspires his team to be their best. (Gimble, 2015) He does this through his laser focus and a willingness to go the extra mile for the person next to him. (Gimble, 2015)

I believe that as leaders, we succeed when our team succeeds and fail when our team fails. The aspects of leadership demonstrated by Toews often instill a like response from the followers in the team. What this creates is an environment where each member of the squad is acting for their teams best interest, and I have personally seen the benefits of leading this way. I think that you could translate these qualities to nearly any industry and see benefits. Servant leadership is about the success of the team, not the individual. (DuBrin, 2019) "A study conducted in a large retail chain found that the leader’s servant behavior is mirrored through modeling the helping behavior of coworkers and high-quality customer service. A later study conducted in seventy-one restaurants of a restaurant chain found similar results. It was found that leaders created a serving culture in which the restaurant workers placed the needs of others before their own. The serving culture was positively related to the performance of the restaurants, as well as to individual job performance." (DuBrin, 2019)

References

DuBrin, A. (2019). Leadership: Research Findings, Practice, and Skills (9 ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning

Gimbel, T. (2015). 7 Leadership Qualities of a True Champion. Retrieved 19 January 2021, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/247446

Jodie Discussion

Jonathon Toews has many leadership characteristics that make him a successful hockey player and captain of the Chicago Blackhawks. As noted in the article, “7 Leadership Qualities of a True Champion” by Gimbel (2015), Jonathan exhibits passion, competency, demonstrates empathy, leads by example, and has earned the trust and respect of his teammates. He has tremendous self-awareness that allows him to recognize what he has accomplished, but also what he needs to improve on (Cardon, 2021). His honesty and integrity when faced with a loss or challenge is also admirable because it shows he is accountable for the outcome. He has positively influenced his team by motiving them to work hard, continue to improve, and value and care about each other (Gimbel, 2015).  

Jay-Z is another influential leader that has experienced great success.  He is smart, creative, and demonstrates tremendous drive and focus (Forbes, 2012). Like Toews, Jay-Z’s commitment and passion has helped him build the courage and resilience to take risks like delving into the business side of the music industry and not just focus on making music (Forbes, 2015).  He has built a reputation on being transparent as a way of relating to his audience (Bilmes et al., 2017). He is very confident and proficient in his abilities which has garnered trust and respect for his achievements and a large following of fans, collaborators and business associates.

The leadership traits that both these men exude could be applied to any other profession successfully.  Toews and Jay-Z are both passionate, smart, competent, and respected professionals. These characteristics are crucial to successfully lead whether it be in sports, music, business, education, or healthcare. Regardless of the industry leaders are tasked with helping the organization grow and develop business goals and strategies.  To be successful, leaders need to be passionate about their business to help inspire followers to work towards the organizational objectives.  Being smart and competent also builds the trust and respect needed to increase morale and confidence in leadership.

References

Bilmes, A., Burton, C., & Maoui, Z. (2017, June 28). Jay-Z on his music, politics and his violent past. British GQ. https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/jay-z-interview-music-politics-violence.

Cardon, P. W. (2021). Business communication: developing leaders for a networked world.

McGraw-Hill Education.

Forbes, S. (2012, September 10). Jay-Z: A Lesson On The Power Of Entrepreneurial Capitalism. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2012/09/05/jay-z-and-the-power-of-entrepreneurial-capitalism/?sh=22f3ba2c5c01.

Gimbel, T. (2015, June 17). 7 Leadership Qualities of a True Champion. Entrepreneur. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/247446.