Leadership styles play an important role in defining a leader’s overall effectiveness. Analyzing different examples of effective and ineffective leaders can provide valuable insight into the characteristics that determine the leader’s effectiveness. Thus, exploring the differences and similarities in the transformational leadership style of former president Barack Obama and Uber’s former CEO Travis Kalanick’s authoritative leadership style can define which characteristics make leaders more or less effective.
Firstly, there are many differences between effective and ineffective leaders that predominantly focus on their skills and abilities. However, the most notable difference is the effective leader’s ability to create a compelling vision of the future and successfully communicate that vision to followers (Bharwani et al., 2019). In Obama’s case, the president was the primary visionary of the country’s political life and, in many ways, changed the population’s attitude towards ecology, health care, and the economy. Furthermore, the population’s support testified that, as a leader, Obama effectively communicated his vision to the nation. Similarly, while developing Uber, Kalanick also effectively communicated his point to the public, which drove the company to success. However, the leader’s lack of vision for the future ultimately led the company to decline.
Furthermore, ethics and morality in leadership are highly valued in the realities of the modern world. According to Newstead et al. (2021), leaders’ ethics contribute to their effectiveness, and the world currently experiences a shortage of morally good and effective leaders. President Obama’s activities focused on improving the quality of life for the American people by creating jobs and promoting collaboration between the government and the population. On the contrary, Kalanick’s authoritative leadership style caused Uber employees’ moral decline and resulted in unethical business practices.
In conclusion, comparing the two leaders with different leadership styles defined the prominent differences between effective and ineffective leaders. Thus, while both effective and ineffective leaders can create their vision and successfully communicate it to their followers, only effective leaders have the ability to execute it and develop it in the future. Lastly, the comparison showed that the leader’s ethics and moral views significantly contribute to their effectiveness.
References
Bharwani, A., Kline, T., & Patterson, M. (2019). Perceptions of effective leadership in a medical school context. Canadian Medical Education Journal, 10(3), 1-6. Web.
Newstead, T., Dawkins, S., Macklin, R., & Martin, A. (2021). We don’t need more leaders – We need more good leaders. Advancing a virtues-based approach to leader(ship) development. The Leadership Quarterly, 32(5), 1-11. Web.