Answer to Question #158976 in Management for awais

Question

Question No: 4       Marks: 10

How significant are admirable leaders to organizations? If you were to ask the recently-retired CEO of 3M corporation, Mr. Rehman, he would say extremely important. But he’d also say that excellent leaders don’t just pop up out of nowhere. A company has to cultivate leaders who have the skills and abilities to help it survive and thrive. And like a successful baseball team with strong performance statistics that has a player development plan in place, 3M has its own farm system. Except its farm system is designed to develop company leaders.

3M’s leadership development program is so effective that it has been one of the “Top 20 Companies for Leadership” in three of the last four years and ranks as one of the top 25 companies for grooming leadership talent according to Hay Consulting Group and Fortune magazine. What is 3M’s leadership program all about? About 10 years ago, the company’s former CEO and his top team spent 18 months developing a new leadership model for the company. After numerous brainstorming sessions and much heated debate, the group finally agreed on six “leadership attributes” they believed were essential for the company to become skilled at executing strategy and being accountable. Those six attributes included the ability to “chart the course; energize and inspire others; demonstrate ethics, integrity, and compliance; deliver results; raise the bar; and innovate resourcefully.” And under Mr. Rehman’s guidance and continued under the leadership of newly appointed CEO Indra Kumar, the company is continuing and reinforcing its pursuit of leadership excellence with these six attributes.

 When asked about his views on leadership, Mr. Rehman said he believes leaders differ from managers. He believes the key to developing leaders is to focus on those things that can be developed—like strategic thinking. Mr. Rehmanalso believes leaders should not be promoted up and through the organization too quickly. They need time to experience failures and what it takes to rebuild.

Finally, when asked about his own leadership style, Mr. Rehman said he believed the best way for him to succeed as a leader was to surround himself with people who were better than him. But doing that takes a great deal of emotional self-confidence, an attribute that is vital to being a great leader. When you have people working for you who are excellent at what they do, you respect them. When you respect them, you build trust. That type of leadership approach worked well for Mr. Rehman, as illustrated by 3M’s number 18 ranking on Fortune’s most admired global companies list for 2012.

Answer the following questions briefly in bullet points:

Questions:  (Word limit: 700 words maximum)

i. According to Mr. Rehman, When a leader has people with excellence and knowledge, and when they (leader and follower) respect and trust each other, then this type of relationship work well for the organization. Do you agree or disagree explain with examples?

ii. If you ever become a leader in an organization would you surround yourself with people who are better than you? Explain your point of view with examples.

 

Answer 1

i. According to Mr. Rehman, when a leader has people with excellence and knowledge, and when they (leader and follower) respect and trust each other, then this type of relationship works well for the organization. Do you agree or disagree explain with examples? 

When a leader has people with excellence and knowledge, and when they (leader and follower) respect and trust each other, then this type of relationship works well for the organization. Leaders need people who can get the job done. They charter he strategic path for an organisation and inspire followers towards the realisation of the set-out goals. To do that, they need people who have the right skills and expertise to implement the strategy. Leadership is a challenging task which needs constant innovation and problem solving. The leaders understand that they need the knowledge and experts of people working under them and these people recognise the place of their leader in charting the organization forward. This implies some kind of trust and respect relationship. For instance, Mr Rehman who recently retired as the CEO of 3M believes that surrounding yourself with people that are better than themselves is key for the success of any leader. Such a relationship is good and beneficial for an organisation as it enhances co-operation and commitment towards the goals of the organization from all people. Without the help of people who are good and knowledgeable in their respective fields, the leaders would not be able to implement their vision and their leadership would not bear any fruits. 

ii. If you ever become a leader in an organization would you surround yourself with people who are better than you? Explain your point of view with examples. 

For leaders, the most important responsibility is to focus on strategy and setting a vision for organisations. Therefore, as a leader be happy to surround myself with people that are better than myself. I would That means that leaders do not have the time perform day-to-day technical duties. That means that leaders have to work with people with excellent knowledge and skills on these day-to-day operations. These are people who do not need constant micromanaging because they believe they have what it takes to get the job done. Additionally, organisations have multiple departments which require certain expertise to be functional. It is impossible for any one person to have all the expertise in these different departments. That means that leaders have to trust them in such occasions in order to move forward as one united front.