Leadership is an important aspect of a business. It is the steering mechanism that either makes an organization succeed or fail. A leader is a person that every other worker is looking up to because they carry the mantle of decision making in the organization. On this regard, it is essential to evaluate the characteristics of leaders of successful companies and try to emulate their good deeds or avoid their mistakes in application to our leadership styles. This paper evaluates the case of Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors.
Mary Barra is a powerful leader that shows different types of traits of leadership in one person. The CEO uses some positive and negative attributes found in leaders. To begin with, Barra shows intelligence and emotional stability. She is able to make expert decisions based on her experience in the sector and company altogether. She is open to experience and considers to include others in decisions that affect the business. This enables her to show rational persuasion influence tactics as it is possible for her to state the facts and logic to help her put her ideas forward. This is evident when Barra uses the case of the switch crisis to change the organization and make it successful. The facts from the crisis helped her persuade the entire organization that there is a need for change.
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On the negative side, Barra exhibits to some extent the attribute of using pressure on her employees and management. She is not afraid to tell the people that she is not afraid to make tough decisions. When faced with the decision of making an organizational change, she goes ahead and executes the idea even without the contribution of the employees. She exhibits strict authority over the things that are happening in the company. This also brings the aspect of exercising legitimate power on the employees. As the CEO, she is responsible for make the tough decisions and is not ready for blame games as seen before her ascent to power.
As seen above, Barra exhibits both positive and negative traits found in leaders. However, in her case, they were necessary for the success of GM. Through pressure and legitimating tactics, it was possible to have a company that adheres to the successful change, which she championed. Of importance is also the interaction that the leader carries out with the rest of the workforce. As seen in the case, the employees are confident in their leaders as they say with her, they are not afraid to air their views. This means that Barra is a listening leader who is ready to get what the others are saying. This is an important attribute that any person in a leadership position should possess. It is wrong for a manager to always feel that they are too good to listen to the other people in the company. The fact is that there can be someone who has a better idea than the one the leaders.
Leadership behavior that is evident in the case of Barra shows several traits that can be helpful in steering the organization to great heights while at the same time helping the employees have a balance in work and life. Barra is one person who makes the workforce to feel that they are in a conducive environment that can make them productive and happy at the same time. It is imperative to evaluate how she achieves this. First, she is humble and inclusive. She makes the employees feel safe to air their opinions. As stated before, a leader should not be too proud to listen to his or her workers. Barra receives all the input from the workforce and provides feedback after some time. This is important as it shows the workers that the leader actually understood their points. Giving feedback is one way to show someone that their ideas are respected. The other behavior that seems to be of importance, in this case, is that Barra gives credit to the employees instead of having all the praises for the work. This is a way of showing appreciation to the workers for their amazing job that they do for the company and making them even feel safe to carry on their job. This is a form of emotional intelligence.
The case study shows some aspects of the task- and people-oriented behaviors from the leader. The main objective of task-oriented leadership is making sure that the human, equipment, and financial resources are organized in a manner that exhibits high efficiency to carry out the mission of a company. When Barra took over as the CEO, it seems that the efficiency of the resource organization was in disarray and thus the reason why the company was making losses. The leader exhibited task-oriented behavior by rationalizing the product line and aligning it with the needs of the customer. When it comes to people-oriented behavior, Barra exhibits three key qualities which are servant leadership, ethical leadership, and consideration. She demonstrates servant leadership when she listens to the voice of her subordinates. By creating a compensation fund and visiting the families of the victims of the switch crisis, Barra demonstrates ethical leadership. By creating trust between her and the employees, Barra shows consideration.
In conclusion, the evaluation of the type of leadership that is evident in the case of Mary Barra is important in showing the leaders what forms of leadership can help the company move forward and become a success. With such pressure that came with the previous dealings in GM and all the social concerns from the ignition failure, Barra was able to turn around the fate if the company from filing for bankruptcy to being a leader in the automobile industry. This makes it important for leaders to emulate such leadership styles.
