Introduction
Several fields have conducted in-depth studies on the complex and varied phenomena of leadership. Today’s leaders must exhibit various skills and talents, including critical thinking, strategic planning, effective communication, and emotional intelligence, to traverse the world’s contemporary problems.
In addition, a leader’s success frequently hinges on their capacity to forge meaningful connections with their followers and motivate them to attain common goals and objectives. However, the environment, culture, and objectives of the company or group being led can affect how effective certain leadership styles and techniques are.
This paper will analyze the capacities, competencies, and prerequisites for leadership of three current leaders, including Sundar Pichai, Donald Trump, and Jacinda Ardern. Furthermore, it will examine their leadership styles and interactions with their followers.
Sundar Pichai
Background
Sundar Pichai is an American executive who was originally born in India. He is the head of Alphabet Inc. and its division, Google. He was appointed the CEO of Google in 2015 and succeeded as CEO of Alphabet in 2019 (BBC News, 2019). He has since guided the business through reorganization and adjustments in corporate strategy, among other modifications. Pichai is a good leader whose leadership style portrays the principles of various leadership theories.
Leadership Styles
Transformational Leadership
Firstly, he is a transformational leader who has displayed an idealized impact in his organization by setting a positive example and upholding the company’s ideals and guiding principles (Agarwal and Sisodia, 2021). He has a future-focused outlook, which he uses to inspire and drive his team, in addition to open and sincere communication. Pichai has helped his team members’ career growth and challenged them to think creatively and innovatively.
Situational Leadership
Secondly, Pichai has embodied a situational leadership style by modifying his management approaches to suit the demands of the circumstances and his followers. For instance, Pichai adopted flexible work schedules to meet the demands of his team members during the COVID-19 epidemic (Cole, 2022). Thirdly, Pichai is an authentic leader renowned for his modesty, openness, and morality. He is self-conscious and aware of his advantages and disadvantages.
The Leader-Member Exchange Model
Lastly, Pichai has demonstrated the leader-member exchange theory by establishing a solid rapport with his team members based on trust and respect for one another (Burleson, Greenbaum, and Thatcher, 2022). He cherishes the opinions and feedback of his team members and engages them in open and honest communication.
Areas for Improvement
Relationships with Employees
One area of Pichai’s leadership that he could improve is building a better relationship with his employees. In 2020, he fired two AI engineers who complained of discrimination in the workplace (Jin and You, 2023). Furthermore, there has been a rising case of employee activism in Google, showing a bad relationship between the workers and the management.
Communication
Another area that he can improve on is his communication style. Even though Pichai is renowned for his openness and transparency, he can sharpen his communication skills by becoming more aggressive and direct.
Summary
Pichai has a solid relationship with his employees built on mutual respect, trust, and openness. His leadership style exemplifies the LMX theory by establishing solid bonds of trust and respect with his team members (Cenkci, 2021). One of Pichai’s leadership styles that should be emulated is his capacity to adjust to the demands of the circumstances and the followers. He has proven this skill by implementing flexible work schedules during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Donald Trump
Leadership Styles
Donald Trump is a former businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States between 2017 and 2021. Trump’s leadership style has been criticized and associated with authoritarian, transactional, and narcissistic characteristics. He is well renowned for employing coercion, intimidation, and deception to further his agenda and places the highest importance on loyalty. Trump’s leadership style has drawn criticism for lacking diversity, openness, and accountability and is frequently divisive (Drezner, 2020).
Situational Leadership
According to situational leadership theory, Trump’s leadership style works best in emergencies requiring prompt choices and actions. For instance, Trump abrasively succeeded in guarding the 5G network from the Chinese Control (Frum, 2020). His aggressive tactics seldom succeed, but they did in the case of 5G. A more emollient government would not have been able to accomplish the same outcomes. Trump’s management style, nevertheless, is less effective in circumstances that call for teamwork, reaching an agreement, and long-term planning.
Transactional Leadership
On the other hand, Trump’s presidency can be summed up as transactional leadership. He used a “carrot and stick” strategy, rewarding his supporters and punishing his critics (Smith, 2021). He frequently made promises and delivered to keep his base loyal by enacting immigration restrictions and tax cuts. His leadership style and emphasis on advancing his interests rather than national interests resulted in conflicts and polarization during his term as president (Smith, 2021).
The Action-Centered Leadership Model
From the action-centered leadership approach, Trump prioritizes task accomplishment over teamwork and individual needs. Trump is more concerned with attaining his policy goals, frequently in a unilateral and dictatorial manner rather than working together with his team and taking into account the interests and opinions of each team member (Smith, 2021). While he successfully achieved some of these goals, such as tax reform and criminal justice reform, his approach to achieving these goals was often divisive and controversial.
Areas for Improvement
Relationships with Followers
One aspect of Trump’s leadership that could be improved is their relationship with his followers. At the same time, he could keep a solid base of followers, but his management style frequently caused divisiveness and discord (Drezner, 2020).
Emotional Intelligence
The other area of his leadership that needs improvement is his lack of emotional intelligence. I can emulate Trump’s capacity to relate with his base of supporters. He was able to generate support for his campaign and programs by appealing to the annoyances and worries of a sizeable segment of the American populace. However, I intend to avoid Trump’s tendency to use divisive language and engage in personal attacks. It is an ineffective leadership style in promoting unity and positive outcomes.
Jacinda Ardern
Background
Jacinda Ardern is a New Zealand politician who served as the country’s prime minister between 2017 and 2023. She served as the opposition leader of her country following an assumption of the leadership of the official opposition party, the Labour Party. She has successfully led her country through several crises, including the Christchurch Mosque attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic (McGuire et al., 2020).
Leadership Styles
Transformational Leadership
Ardern’s governance style exemplifies transformational leadership, evidenced by her ability to uplift and empower her community. For instance, she led the nation in grief and peacemaking following the Christchurch Mosque attacks, focusing on inclusion and togetherness (Simpson et al., 2022). She also initiated several policies to tackle the underlying causes of racism and prejudice.
Servant Leadership
Moreover, Ardern’s leadership style has aspects of servant leadership, evidenced in her dedication to serving her community by putting their needs ahead of her own (Simpson et al., 2022). For instance, she acted quickly and forcefully to safeguard the health and welfare of her citizens during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Authentic Leadership
Furthermore, Ardern’s leadership exemplifies authentic leadership by continuously being transparent and honest with her followers. For instance, she routinely connected with her people throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, giving them precise information about the issue and the steps to solve it.
Jacinda Ardern’s leadership style is often characterized by her empathetic and inclusive approach, which has helped to build a strong relationship between her and her followers (Simpson et al., 2022). Through a transformational leadership approach, she has connected with people on a personal level and compassionately responded to their tragedies, such as the Christchurch Mosque shootings in 2019 (Simpson et al., 2022). It has helped build strong trust and loyalty among her followers, who feel she genuinely cares about their well-being.
Areas for Improvement
Accountability
One element of Arden’s leadership that can be improved upon is accountability. There are many criticisms that she has not been accountable for ensuring sustainability and housing affordability (Hall, Cretney, and Nissen, 2020). I intend to emulate several elements of Jacinda Ardern’s leadership style, including her empathy and decisiveness. Ardern has been praised for her empathetic approach, which involves actively listening to the concerns of others and showing compassion for their experiences (Simpson et al., 2022).
Decision-Making
Furthermore, she has demonstrated strong decision-making skills, particularly in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, I intend to avoid some elements of her leadership, such as a lack of accountability and overreliance on popularity. Leaders who can balance these different elements of leadership may be more likely to achieve positive outcomes and build strong relationships with their followers.
Conclusion
The capacity of leaders is based on their ability to motivate and inspire their employees to ensure productivity. Some current world leaders who can be termed strategic include Sundar Pichai and Jacinda Ardern. Pichai’s leadership style exemplifies transformational leadership and situational and authentic leadership styles, which have enabled him to have a positive relationship with his team members and reorganize and adjust Alphabet Inc. and Google Inc. regarding corporate strategy.
Similarly, Ardern’s authentic, servant, and transformational leadership styles enabled her to become popular amongst her followers and respond to their needs accordingly. On the other hand, Donald Trump’s leadership has been ineffective to some of his followers because of his lack of emotional intelligence and empathy. He is focused on productivity and neglects relationships with his followers.
Reference List
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