Summary
Wrigley is the heir to a vast fortune of the American company Wrigley, which is engaged in the production of chewing gum. He is also the CEO of Parallel, a cannabis company that will go public through a merger with a SPAC company at an estimated value of $ 1.8 billion. Wrigley is confident that his new project, the Parallel startup, can compete with his family’s business to produce the famous Wrigley’s chewing gum. The billionaire is betting not only on attracting consumers: he believes that marijuana can save lives. Evaluating the quality and effectiveness of this organization’s management is an exciting topic for research and analysis.
Wrigley’s Leadership and Parallel Management
The leader is a symbol of community and a model of group behavior. Leadership is an essential component of effective management. An analysis of the nature of leadership shows that it stems from the specific needs of people and their associations, which are designed to satisfy leaders (Colquitt et al., 2018). In more detail, the nature of leadership is revealed by its various theories. The theory of traits explains the phenomenon of leadership by outstanding human qualities, such as intelligence, will, purposefulness, organizational abilities, competence, etc. The organization’s development strategy and leadership effectiveness are related to the objective and subjective capabilities of the leader (Anand & Barsoux, 2017). According to the concepts of charismatic leadership, followers are inspired by the leader and strive to imitate him in everything.
Features of Company Management
The lectures and readings make it possible to characterize Wrigley’s leadership as highly effective and successful. Wrigley carries out competent management of the Parallel company, as he clearly understands what he needs to strive for and what he needs (Colquitt et al., 2018). Leadership in the organization determines the vector of the company’s development and encourages employees to work hard to achieve results. In an ideal situation, the group members recognize the official leader as a leader (Colquitt et al., 2018). The coronavirus pandemic has negatively impacted many enterprises and large and small businesses, making entrepreneurs desperately think about saving their businesses (Nelson, 2020). Still, Wrigley is a highly successful company CEO, as he perfectly understands this complex process’s features.
Wrigley’s management strategy aims to change consumer behavior, transform the legislative framework and find ways to use the substance in the healthcare sector. Parallel company now has forty-two locations in three states: thirty-nine in Florida, Massachusetts, and Nevada (Yakowicz, 2021). New ones are planned to open in Pennsylvania and Texas. The company is even exploring the possibility of expanding its activities to the platform in Canada. In just three years, Wrigley turned Parallel into a new type of cannabis producer (Yakowicz, 2021). Having set himself the goal of creating a prominent brand of marijuana, he invited managers and consultants from the largest corporations in the world to join the management team: Coca-Cola, Walgreens and Patrón Spirits. Also, Parallel is studying issues related to obtaining licenses to cultivate cannabis and cannabis in Southeast Asia.
Wrigley effectively manages his organization, as he can influence employees to encourage them to be active and strives for self-organization within the team, ordering all processes. He knows how to make other employees work and concentrate on achieving a common goal (Colquitt et al., 2018). Parallel is not the most significant cannabis producer in America, but it is methodically expanding its activities under Wrigley’s wise and sensitive leadership. Wrigley has a high-quality relationship with employees, contributing to their positive thinking, enthusiasm, and lack of cynicism (van Dam et al., 2021). The company obviously has a great future and success in many areas, as its head has global ambitions, which he successfully implements. Wrigley believes that Parallel can become the world’s first gold standard in the production of cannabis, changing the attitude of Americans toward marijuana.
Wrigley’s Features as a Leader
The role of leadership is difficult to overestimate; without it, the organization is doomed, at best, to stagnation, at worst, to the termination of its existence. Based on watching the video, it becomes clear that Wrigley, the CEO of Parallel, is a charismatic leader. Charismatic leadership is a unique form of exceptional and gifted influence on other people through their personal attractiveness (CNBC Television, 2021). Wrigley has the traits of a charismatic leader, which is difficult not to notice when listening to how he speaks and behaves. Firstly, it is complete confidence in what he says and thinks. He makes others believe in his judgments, even if initially, they may not share his point of view (CNBC Television, 2021). Secondly, it is a vision of prospects because Wrigley sees them where others do not see an opportunity to realize themselves or win.
Thirdly, Wrigley is very good at captivating other people with his ideas. For these purposes, he uses honed oratory, persuasion and explanations. After this speech, it is even possible to begin accepting the views of such a leader as one’s own. Fourthly, Wrigley has an outstanding dedication to his work and idea. Such people do not run, even when the ship is sinking. He is not afraid to take risks, and even if the ship eventually goes into the depths of the sea, he, as a leader, will take all the responsibility solely on himself. Moreover, he is not a supporter of dark leadership, which positively affects the well-being of his employees (Otto et al., 2018). Wrigley creates an excellent impression of his competence, sets high-level expectations, and is not afraid to directly declare future achievements, instilling confidence and respect in other people.
References
Anand, N. & Barsoux J. (2017). What everyone gets wrong about change management.Harvard Business Review.
CNBC Television. (2021). Cannabis company Parallel CEO on going public via SPAC [Video]. YouTube.
Colquitt, J., LePine, J., & Wesson, M. (2018). Leadership: Styles and Behaviors. Organizational Behavior: Improving Performance and Commitment in the Workplace (6th ed., pp. 462–489). McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN: 9781260092301
Nelson, E. (2020). Pret a Manger will try anything to survive. The New York Times.
Otto, K., Thomson, B., & Rigotti, T. (2018). When dark leadership exacerbates the effects of restructuring.Journal of Change Management, 18(2), 96-115.
van Dam, K., Verboon, P., & Tekleab, A. (2021). The impact of middle managers on employees’ responses to a merger: An LMX and Appraisal Theory approach. Journal of Change Management, 1-19.
Yakowicz, W. (2021). A higher calling. Forbeslife, 52-54.