Business Leadership

Business Leadership

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Business Leadership

A leader must exhibit certain characteristics to be effective. According to Kreps (2011), effective leaders must have adaptive and strategic communication competencies to deal with the different situations that might confront the organization. Furthermore, innate attributes such as intelligence and assertiveness are important for the leader to make critical and informed decisions. Good leaders should also have the courage to take calculated risks for the realization of organizational goals. Kreps (2011) acknowledges that effective leaders also strive to establish credibility and rapport with their followers. Leaders can establish this credibility through expertise, charisma and trustworthiness. Effective leaders who pursue the democratic leadership model incorporate other workers in the decision making process. Moreover, Farrell (2011) emphasizes that good leaders need to be empathetic, caring and supportive, demonstrating sincere appreciation and concern for others in the organization.

One leader who exemplifies positive leadership skills is Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz. He uses a transformational leadership style that has enabled him to take the organization to greater heights and win credibility from other employees. He is caring and supportive to all Starbucks employees. He looks into the needs of the employees by giving them modest paychecks, providing them with training opportunities and setting up recognition programs (Hedges, 2012). Schultz is also able to make bold decisions and take calculated risks to propel the organization to success. For example, in 2008 he took the decision to close US stores in order to retrain 115,000 employees, a bold move that helped the company to regain its “neighborhood feel” (Hedges, 2012). Howard Schultz is also a great communicator and over the years, he has managed to set realistic visions to help...