Different Leadership Styles in the Same Person Essay

Leadership Style

The author of this report has been asked to select from among a list of ten leaders and assess their leadership style including whether it is effective or not whilst using four to five sources. From the list, the author of this report has chosen Mary Barra, the current CEO of General Motors in the United States. The primary article that shall be used from a reference standpoint is Darling and Leffel, authored in 2010. However, other sources will be looped in as well. While Barra's style may be critiqued and criticized by some, her inclusive style is no less than a good start for other leaders to mimic and follow.

Of course, leadership is the act and process of leading a group of people. In the context of this report, a leader would be a person who guides a corporation in a given direction as a means to help sell a product, service or idea. In the case of General Motors, they sell cars and the parts and service associated with those cars. According to many, Mary Barra utilizes an "inclusive" leadership style. Further, she has been with General Motors for more than thirty years. She makes heavy use of collaboration. Just one example of this are town hall meetings. However, she is not afraid of tension. If complete unanimity is not present, she is more than willing to make a hard choice. Even so, he is open to a wide range of input and is not afraid or disinclined to listen to the voices of her employees. She also has a strong preference and disposition to innovation and this would include when it comes to renewable/alternative energy that helps raise fuel economy and/or lowers emissions (Englemeier, 2014).

When it comes to the first figure in the Darling article, Barra is more responsive yet also more assertive. As such, she would be in the lower right quadrant of the matrix, at least most of the time. This would make her a creator. The strengths of this style include the fact that she is outgoing, imaginative, friendly, enthusiastic, excitable, persuasive and spontaneous. However, she might also be a bit of a director. As made clear earlier, she is more than willing to make a choice if a clear consensus is not reached. This would indeed give her the facets of a director, which include independent, candid, decisive, pragmatic, determined, efficient and objective. When she is actively engaging in feedback sessions, town halls and so forth, she is more of a connector. This is because she is being cooperative, supportive, diplomatic, patient, easygoing and respectful. Finally, one could suggest that she is also an analyzer at times. This would mean she is logical, thorough, serious, systematic, critical, precise and prudent. When she does have to step back and make a hard choice that others cannot or will not make,…