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Leadership styles in America

Leadership styles are more varied in America today than in Asia. In America there are five:

Directive

Participative

Empowering

Charismatic

Celebrity (superstar)

The first four reflect how an executive deals with subordinates in the company; the final one is directed at people outside

the firm.

Directive leadershipis well known in America, but is declining in frequency. It stresses the direction given by

executives to others in the firms. The leader is very much in charge. This style is very common in Asia.

George Bush

He is a classic example of a person with directive leadership, wherein despite the whole world speaking against the war

against Iraq, he went ahead with the war causing a huge life and money detruction.

Participative leadership, which involves close teamwork with others, is more common in Europe, where it is sometimes

required by law (as in northern Europe, especially Germany) than in America. It is also common in a variant colored by

national cultural norms, [as] in Japan.

Barack Obama

When junior senator from Illinois Barack Hussein Obama came along, many American citizens saw one with a

leadership style to unite and not divided, to draw many voices into the conversation and thus have access to better

information to make better decisions. But no amount of his own audacity to hope nor his inclusive, participative

leadership style has allowed American president Obama to solve pressing matters (e.g. the BP oil spill in the Gulf of

Mexico and reining in Wall Street) any more quickly than his predecessor. Just as former president Bush before him,

Obama's leadership style has demonstrated barriers and limitations.

Empowering leadershipis relatively new, and stresses delegation of responsibility to subordinates. American

companies that operate with largely autonomous divisions employ this style of leadership. A few younger Asian business

leaders now espouse this style (for example, the CEO of Banyan Tree Resorts).At the core of empowering leadership is the ability to energize the people in a company. Jack Welch commented, "You may be

a great manager, but unless you can energize other people, you are of no value to General Electric as a leader." Energizing

others is the core of the new leadership in America.

Google

The work culture of google empowers each employee to think in most constructive manner and out of the box and also

empowers the employee to implement the ideas they have generated.

Charismatic leadershipis the leader who looks like a leader. People follow such a leader because of who he is, notbecause of good management or even business success; nor because [the people] are offered participation,

partnership, or empowerment. Human magnetism is the thing, and it is very different in different national cultures. What

looks like a charismatic leader to Americans may appear to be something very different to people from other societies.

Steve Jobs

A classic example of charismatic leader is Steve Jobs where the latter version of Apple iPhone was sold just by Steve

Jobs marketing style and speeches. His charismatic personality act as a turn around for Apple.

Celebrity leadershipis very different. It looks outside the company to the impact on otherscustomers and investors.

The CEO becomes a star and is sought after by the media like a screen star. Ordinarily it requires good looks, a

dramatic style, and an ability to deal effectively with the media. It is in a bit of a slump in the United States right now due

to the corporate financial reporting scandals, which have focused attention on CEOs with the ability to get things done

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.right in the company; but celebrity leadership will make a recovery. Boards looking for top executives to revitalize a firm

look for superstars; they seek outgoing personalities.

Richard Branson

Richard branson has a personality which is extravagant and high flying and he leads a luxuries life and spends lavishly

like a celebrity, wherever he goes. Hence, he is a classic example of a celebrity leader in the US.

There are nine key qualities that research shows people seek in a

successful leader:

Passion

Decisiveness

Conviction

Integrity

Adaptability

Emotional Toughness

Emotional Resonance

Self-Knowledge

HumilityAmerican top executives are more likely to make decisions personally and with their own accountability.

Adaptability is a pronounced characteristic of American leadership generally. It is less common and less valued in Asia and

Europe.

Emotional toughness is common to all top executives; Americans spend more time trying not to show it.

Emotional resonance, the ability to grasp what motivates others and appeal effectively to it, is most important in the United

States and Europe at this point in time.

Humility is a very uncommon trait in the American CEO. It is sometimes found in Asia. It is often a trait of the most effective

leaders, as it was in the best-respected of all American political leaders, Abraham Lincoln.

Other facts

Lesser family run business and more run by professional executives.

Firms are run by professional managers who are replaced by other professional managers,

either as a consequence of retirement or of replacement by the board of directors of the

firm. The better companies have sophisticated programs for developing executives within

the firm, and ordinarily choose a next chief executive officer from among them. They may

hire CEOs directly from the outside, with no previous experience with the firm.

There is less freedom of action for executives and boards in America than in Asia.

Masculine country - valuing work over social pursuits, and the accumulation of material

wealth, over social harmony and quality of life US is a lower uncertainty avoidance society. Low uncertainty individuals, in contrast, tend to

be less risk avoidant, innovative, and not hampered by the uncertainties waiting one

engaging in novel endeavors.

While the United States is the most individualistic culture in the world

Transformational Style of Leadership - brought the followers to trust, admire, and be loyal as

well as to show respect toward the leader, while followers were motivated to go beyond

what was expected from them. Americans can be made to understand how critical it is for

the organization to take steps in order to achieve organizational goals and positively impact

the bottom line, even if it means inconveniencing employees, and bringing them to incur

personal losses in the process

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They want leaders to be exceedingly motivating and visionary, not autocratic, and

considerate of others. Furthermore, they report that leaders should be team oriented and

autonomous. The least important characteristic for Anglo countries is self-protective

leadership. They believe it is ineffective if leaders are status conscious or prone to face

saving

Reference:

Article by D. Quinn Mills hbs