Running Head: Leadership Performance 1

Leadership Performance
Veronica Lopez
South Texas College
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Leadership Performance

As a leader/manager, we are required to know our own values as well as our

organization’s ethical code to always make the best decisions out of any situation. As CEOs

sometimes, we can act selfish since we are rich, and we might even think we are always correct.

However, we need to sometimes be openminded and not judge a book by its cover rather learn

what someone can bring to the table. A CEO should not only want to become a better leader but

also follower for the company, future employees and of course for one itself since there is always

room for improvement. According to the book “Management A Focus On Leaders by Annie

Mckee “A leader is a person who influences and inspires people to follow and a manager is an

individual who makes plans; organizes and controls people, production, and services; and who

regulates or deploys resources”. Even though the definitions are quite different, they should go

together since employees look up to leaders for guidance. It is better to be the leader and

manager however; it is good to learn how to be a follower. Great leaders always have great

followers. To become a great follower, they need to know how to follow instructions and have

respect for everyone. No one is born a leader everyone starts as a follower and with hard work

you can climb up and be a leader. As a leader they need to make positive and ethical decisions

that should not only make the company better but also themselves. As a leader/ manager, we are

required to know our own values as well as our organization’s ethical code to always make the

best decisions out of any situation by engaging in analytical thinking and relying on our intuition.

As a follower we also need to have common sense, since sometimes we do forget about it. Good

leadership skills can be applied on our daily lives even if we are not at work. However, it is very

important to use our skills to our best knowledge at work and always take the most appropriate

actions. As human beings, we should always try to work on ourselves since we need personal
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growth to have professional growth. Anyone can be a great leader no matter what position is

held. This world is faced with great opportunities and even greater challenges. We all need to act

and not wait for someone else to tell us what to do. We all need to know how to motivate each

other and set goals for one another. Leaders are not born they are made. It takes a lot of

experience, learning and reflection.

As a CEO it is important to be openminded about employees. As I mentioned earlier, we

need to hire employees based on what they can bring to the table rather than the way they look.

Just because someone is older does not necessarily mean they have more experienced. Possibly

someone younger might have less experience however might have more knowledge regarding

the topic. Someone younger might be up to date on what is trending on social media and might

be able to help promote the business. As a leader I would hire people that want to work and help

me make my company successful. I would not hire anyone based on their looks. I want

employees that want to succeed; someone hardworking.

As CEO we need to have a special relationship with employees. A leader can create a

great relationship with employees with emotional intelligence and effective communication.

Being a leader will come with power that needs to be used wisely. However, sharing power with

the employees will benefit everyone. By empowering employees, it helps the employees with

ownership and taking more responsibility. As a leader we must know our values and our ethics.

There is no theory or model that can describe what a great leader should be. Therefore, a great

leader is inspired by a great number of qualities that can be learned from several sources. Self-

awareness is a big key component to becoming a great leader, because it allows to understand the

place we have and gives us courage to use our core values without compromise. It also inspires

trust in the followers while showing integrity and courage when dealing with ethical situations.
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Leaders need to know how building an efficient relationship with their employees will also help

them become better leaders.

Being the CEO of a marketing research company; technology is essential it is important

to know and understand trends. Technology is always changing and making our world a little bit

easier to understand. Someone under thirty will most likely be attached to social media since that

is how we can keep in contact with family and friends and of course on what is trending. We all

like to know what is new. However, since in this case technology is involved with the business

the CEO should even encourage his employees to try out the products and give their honest

unbiased opinion. It is important for the CEO to understand modern technology and know if the

technology used will be relevant. Being the CEO on the technology field having young

employees can make a difference because they will have more on an idea if the product is even

useful. Technology has always been around but it always adapting to our needs. The CEO needs

to understand that his market is also based on consumers under thirty. Hiring employees under

thirty can benefit the company because they know what customers want based on what they

would also like if they were customers. Technology is fundamental for an organization to

function properly. Technology can be used to promote the organization and let the world know

about it. As a leader, I would use technology to promote my business and be up to date on what

the people need. In my business I would like to be creating and giving the people what they need.

I need to give people something functional with a purpose to make their life easier.

“Culture is everything that people in a society have learned and shared through

traditions, pass on to children, and teach new members; this includes religion, beliefs, political

ideologies, values, customs, foods, language, gender roles, sexuality, and many other aspects of

everyday life.” (Mckee, 2013) Culture is a powerful driver of people’s behavior and
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organizational behavior. It is important to understand and respect employees culture and beliefs.

For an appropriate culture to develop in a work place respect must be mutual and employees

must understand their differences. As a leader we must learn the culture of the employees to

better understand them and push them to their full potential. Culture can help a manager make

wise decisions to their employee based on their culture.

As, a future manager it is important to trust my employees that they will be telling me the

truth. As a manager trusting in your employees/team it is crucial. Employees feel important when

they are depended on. I believe that if employees are trusted they will also believe on themselves

to make better decisions and therefore also grow personally while still in the company. It is

better to enhance the trust of the employees rather than get them all defensive by pointing

fingers. Asking them for help rather than telling what to do reassures the employees that even if

you are higher than them you do not believe you are better than them. I need to learn to run the

organization by trusting my employees and trusting them that they want to see this company

succeed. By trusting my employees, I am demonstrating to them that I know they can do ethical

decisions.

Respect and communication are the fundamentals to a good relationship. As

culture/society we are taught that we are supposed to respect people a certain way especially

someone with a higher position than ours, or someone elderly. However, I believe we should all

respect everyone equally; even if the person is just a janitor. Respect is something learned from

our culture. For example, in the book “Humble Inquiry” by Edgar H. Schein The African gold

miners would not look at the white supervisors in the eye. It took time for the white supervisors

to learn that the only reason they were not looked at the eyes was out of respect. Respect reflects

our culture and how we portray it. Communication is also essential since it can depend what type
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of relationship one person will have with another one; but also, what can be said and what

cannot. For example, in another case same book by Schein a house owner has a Filipino maid.

The owner liked the maid and wanted to be more personal with her. However, she rebuffed

repeat until she finally quit. He ended up finding out that in her culture it is inappropriate to hold

any kind of personal conversation with the person employing her. Everyone should care about

communication because it is one of the few ways to get a point across people and understand

what can happen or what will happen. Relationships are essential in a human being’s life.

Relationships make a human being understand and know how to respond to other people without

losing respect or crossing boundaries. Communication is also important because it can help

someone else understand others culture and what is right from wrong. Communication can make

the work flow easier but also confirm with other employees what needs to be done and what

work is already done. It is important for employees to understand what the company believes in

and what it stands for.

To be a successful leader we need to understand how to be humble- compassionate and

fun. By having this qualities as a leader, we can inspire our employees to become a better version

of themselves. Moonshots are guidelines that encourage us to lead responsibly. Moonshots are

not designed to be specific set of instructions; since they are only a piece of advice that should be

interpreted properly by organizations and leaders. Being a leader starts now since the moment

you get a job or start a business. It does not necessarily need to be a leadership position to get

someone motivated for success. As a leader it is important to know how to embrace change for

the good and know how to empower the employees. We need to know how to make them better

and more knowledgeable from right and wrong. Showing leadership to others can be sometimes

tough. However, a small change in someone can make a difference in the world. As a manager it
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is also important to teach employees our talents and how they can become great leaders

themselves. We can shape them for a better change in the community. By becoming great

leaders, the opportunities are endless. It is important to understand that by training our properly

employees on how to be great leaders and how to handle situations we are teaching them what is

ethically correct. This can does not necessarily only need to be applied at an organization but

should be implemented in our daily lives. We need to learn how to be humble, compassionate

and more fun human beings. At the end of the day we only have one life and we need to learn to

enjoy it while still being understanding. As a leader we have a lot of influence in employees that

eventually would like to become leaders. It is important to encourage them to always try their

best in any task given and if they have any questions regarding their task to never be

embarrassed to ask. Employees to know that we as leaders are here to guide them to become

better leaders.

If this a CEO wants to become successful he needs to know how to communicate

efficiently with his employees. He needs to learn to have respect towards everyone. A leader

needs to remember to always be humble. A leader needs to treat everyone equally. A leader

should hire people based of their capabilities and not based on looks. A leader should be

interested in knowing about the employees’ culture. A leader should respect employees culture

and beliefs. A good leader should bond with the employees. Being a leader means doing what is

best for the company and always thinking ahead out of any situation. Being a leader means

taking care of the employees properly and showing them how to make ethical decisions. Being a

good leader will set an example on employees on how become a leader and how they can make a

difference in the world.

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References

Mckee, A. (2013). Management A Focus On Leaders. Pearson.

Schein, E. H. (2013). Humble Inquiry. California: Berrett-Koehler .