American Red Cross Analysis

The American Red Cross

Over the past decade The American Red Cross has been overwhelmed by rapid turnover of leadership and has struggled to restore a reputation damaged by the downfalls of leadership and harsh criticism of response reactions in recent disaster situations, such as Hurricane Katrina. Prior to the current president and chief executive, Gail McGovern, taking control in April 2008 the organization was led by Mark Everson, who was forced to resign because of an inappropriate relationship with a female subordinate. According to The Washington Post, the board of The Red Cross “concluded that the situation reflected poor judgment on Mr. Everson’s part and diminished his ability to lead the organization in the future” (Rucker, 2007). Everson had only held the position for six months and was the fifth CEO of The Red Cross in six years. Ever since McGovern has taken on leadership responsibilities, she has changed the way the organization operates and communicates.

To prevent the organization from continuing on the same path of high turnover McGovern and the other members of the management team need to demonstrate a leadership style that can bring respect back to the organization. Because the organization relies heavily on volunteer time the chapters must rely on the salaried leadership to articulate a vision and communicate how this vision will be achieved. McGovern has taken steps to increase her legitimate power by motivating the organization in the direction of established goals. According to the Red Cross Website, “McGovern has initiated steps to invigorate the $3.3 billion organization, including dramatically reducing its deficit and streamlining its operations” (Red Cross, 2010).

Leadership Style

Although McGovern has demonstrated transactional leadership qualities by motivating the organization toward established goals, she is not able to reward most of her staff with the rewards given in other organizations, such as performance ratings or...