¶ … Leadership
Donald Rumsfeld's tenure as Secretary of Defense from 2001-2006 during the George W. Bush Administration provides a striking example of the exercise of leadership during a time of change in a highly charged political atmosphere. Rumsfeld was attempting to change the internal and external profile of an enormous organization that is under constant scrutiny from many stakeholders and outside interests, some supportive and others hostile. He wanted to change the way the department fights wars by leveraging the American military's technological advantage while other leaders in other areas of federal and international governance sought to influence the country's approach to foreign policy in more diplomacy-focused ways. Perhaps it was due to so much scrutiny and powerful opposition that the secretary exercised his leadership in such an enigmatic fashion, not in the sense of Sun Tzu's invisible hand kind leadership but in a smoke and mirrors manner better suited to an intelligence agency chief (Sun Tzu, 1988). Nonetheless, this paper will examine the provocative style and mixed results of Donald Rumsfeld's leadership of the Department of Defense (DOD) during the Bush presidency.
Organizational leadership was nothing new to Donald Rumsfeld when he accepted the appointment to run the Department of Defense for the 43th American president. He had held the reins of a handful of corporations and had served in the federal government in several capacities, including as Secretary of Defense during the Ford Administration (Almanac of Famous People, 2007). George W. Bush won the presidency in the controversial 2000 election that left the country deeply divided and even more distrustful of the federal government. Less than a year later, however, the tragic events of September 11, 2001, united the American people and the national government behind the pursuit of Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda terrorist network. The use of military force in Afghanistan had strong support among politicians and citizens alike, and it scored a quick success with the toppling of the Taliban regime in Kabul during the winter of 2001. Achieving this objective so rapidly and with very few military personnel on the ground encourage Rumsfeld to pursue this plan to change the U.S....
Leadership, according to La Monica (1938), is when a person has authority that is recognized by others, and the person has followers/subordinates under them, who believe that the person will assist them in attaining certain goals (carrying out specific objectives for the followers). Furthermore, anyone that is willing to assist and help others could be referred to as a leader (p.8) Leaders see what others do not Most leaders have
The participating leadership style is facilitative, and the nurse will receive the supervision that she needs to feel completely comfortable with the work that she is doing. The delegating leader provides less specific directions and engages in two-way communication with his or her subordinates. The unit manager decreases both the amount of task or directing behavior and the amount of relationship or supportive behavior. The unit manager develops trust in
Use of stakeholders of all kinds to achieve goals -- One is never a leader in isolation. Even the greatest musical conductor cannot make music without an expert orchestra that is inspired; without a team to ensure the production is put on; and an audience to attend and fund the venture. There are a number of stakeholders within any organization -- employees, stockholders, customers, vendors, professionals (legal, accounting, banking) that
Indeed, this seems a direct response to the prevailing understanding of how one must ultimately achieve organizational effectiveness by seizing on common ground. As our research denotes, "humans are primordial team players. Our uniquely complex social relationships have been a crucial survival advantage. Our extraordinarily sophisticated talent for cooperation culminated in the modern organization." (Goleman, 199) Indeed, this is the very premise by which the judicial system is allowed
Toyota's way of doing things (kata), or strategies, are presented in easy-to-understand language, without hype or excess verbiage. Key points in this book include how leaders lead and teach, how change is instrumental to success, and how Toyota organized improvement workshops specifically designed to deal with flaws and out-dated approaches to workplace dynamics. The messages from this book are useful and practical. Being able to adapt to new work structures
Organizational Leadership Change Competition in the modern day business community has become cutting edge and the economic agents have to seek new means of creating competitive advantages. This situation has been brought about by the emergence of numerous important changes, all which generated important impacts upon organizational operations. For instance, the customers are now no longer the people buying what the company is offering, but they have become so powerful that
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