Qualities of Darwin Smith as a Leader
From your understanding of Darwin Smith, in the case study, brief his qualities as a Leader
Darwin Smith was an ambitious leader who took every possible initiative in leading Kimberly-Clark Company to success (Lai, 2011 p.17). He not only let his low priority self-needs and ego but also channeled his efforts for the benefit of the improvement and achieving of the organizational goals. Darwin Smith qualified to be a level 5 leader since he blended intense professional will with extraordinary personal humility. Through his outstanding leadership qualities, Darwin Smith took Kimberly-Clark Company that was lagging behind in the stock market to great heights which led the company to become a pioneer. Through determination and dedication, Darwin Smith led the organization until it successfully achieved cumulative stock returns that were “4.1 times the general market” (Spisak, Nicholson & van-Vugt, 2011 p172).
In addition, Darwin Smith was an exceptional leader who was a risk taker, challenged the usual and created a masterpiece while on the go. He decided that the company would shift from their old practice of the production of coated paper so as to focus on the consumer paper-products which resulted in great success for the organization. Furthermore, although Darwin Smith was diagnosed with nose and throat cancer, death did not beat his determination. Doctors had given him a year to live but he lived for 25 more years since he did not let anything influence his work. The organization achieved great success since Darwin Smith dedicated his life to the company’s welfare and chose to live a low key life.
Leaders are born / Leaders are made. Justify your understanding from your analysis of the personality of Darwin Smith
Leaders are born and also made. People are capable of becoming great leaders through observation, learning and teaching processes (Trichas and Schyns, 2012 p.559). Leadership is a skillset that can be learned through experience, practice, perception and training over time. Learning leadership is a lifetime activity and good leaders seek out opportunities for development that will enable them to learn new skills. However, according to Marques (2010 p.317) made (artificial) leaders are different from born (natural) leaders since there is a great difference between “mastering” a skill and “learning” a skill, in the same way, that some people are born with amazing athletic talents or musical gifts. People who are leaders have a great history behind them through being leaders from their journey’s onset. Darwin Smith was an ordinary man who, in 1971, was named the Chief Executive Officer of Kimberly-Clark Company. Before Darwin Smith joined Kimberly-Clark, the company’s stock had fallen 36% behind. The article shows that Darwin Smith was a man who was mild-mannered and who blended intense professional will with humility.
As the CEO of Kimberly-Clark for twenty years, he transformed the organization to one of the world’s best consumer paper companies. Darwin Smith used the “eccentric” management style and deviated from the characters of renowned leaders. Darwin Smith put himself through night school despite coming from a humble background as a farm boy in Indiana. At one point in life, Darwin Smith cut his finger while working and still reported to work the next day, an act which emphasizes his determination. In addition, although he was diagnosed with throat and nose cancer, Darwin Smith lived for 25 years more despite being given 1 year by doctors to live. Furthermore, despite his humble beginnings, Darwin Smith was Harvard educated. Leaders should therefore have extraordinary personality traits of determination, dominance, drive and persistence (McDermott, Kidney & Flood, 2011 p.366).
Born or Made: Analysis of Darwin Smith’s Personality
What is your understanding is the nature of the leadership style exhibited by Darwin Smith?
Darwin Smith’s leadership style was eccentric, whereby he overlooked the development of his personal image and focused on developing the image of the organization. An eccentric leader is not the one who leads other people to the right path, but one who makes effort in making other people feel comfortable (Reid, Bud-West, Winston and Wood, 2014 p.28). In addition, they also guide their followers and motivates them across their journey of enlightenment and learning for the achievement of a common goal that becomes everyone’s goal because of him. Eccentric leaders are known by their qualities whereby the qualities are characteristics that are well tailored to make an exceptional leader. According to Price and Van-Vugt (2014 p.363) these kind of leaders are selfless and channel all their efforts for the improvement of the organization.
What are the types of skills that will be required of a person to be a leader, if one has to be in the genre of Darwin Smith?
There are certain types of skills possessed by people who are in Darwin Smith’s leadership genre. The kind of leadership requires a person to be selfless and focus entirely on the development of the organization while ignoring their image, fame, achievements and personal role. Level 5 leaders have the ability to identify and include the best people in their journey towards achieving their goals (Taormina, 2010 p.44). Level 5 leaders do not just build strategies; they find random people to carry them out, take a different route of choosing the right people and decide on where they want to go. In addition, level 5 leaders have the skills of accepting and facing brutal truths and realities of situations, numbers and data but at the same time never lose hope of a better future (Bel, 2010 p.51).
Furthermore, they also have the ability to strive in the alignment of consistent efforts towards a goal. Moreover, they also have skills in exercising their judgment in understanding an aspect thoroughly and in-depth rather than burdening themselves with unnecessary information. Level 5 leaders also have the ability to encourage and practicing disciplined approaches towards their life at work and are visionary thus use technologies that are carefully identified to give their businesses strategic advantage.
Is it possible in today’s context to have leadership qualities possessed by Darwin E. Smith?
In today’s context, it’ possible for people to have leadership qualities possessed by Darwin Smith. Research by Liden, Wayne, Zhao and Henderson (2008 p.167) shows that the leader is required to have the intellect for sure, selflessness, self-awareness, the communication skill, the knowledge and all other qualities of the level 5 leader. To possess the qualities, the leader should strive to achieve a level 5 leadership level and have all the skills of the level 4 leadership (Kaiser, Hogan and Craig (2008 p.96). For example, the leader should lead with humility and aim to achieve successful actions which speak louder than words. In addition, the leader should practice modesty by giving credit where it belongs be it to subordinates, customers or coworkers.
Nature of Darwin Smith’s Leadership Style
What is your understanding is the nature and personality of Yvon Chouinard?
According to research conducted by Stevenson (2012 p.26) Yvon Chouinard was a surfer, legendary climber, philanthropist, entrepreneur and environmentalist. In addition, he is also a writer who writes articles on outdoor climbing ethics and issues. Recently, Yvon Chouinard published a book about mixing sound business practice and environmentalism in corporate ethics. Yvon Chouinard is mostly noted for Patagonia Inc., a clothing and gear company where he has constructed a culture that strives for the creation of a working environment which is ideal, whereby employees have a chance of thriving and becoming more productive at once (Chouinard, Ellison and Ridgeway, 2011 p.54). The company’s environmental ethics are outstanding. Yvon Chouinard is not only successful in business but also a leader who has discipline, influence and vision. Yvon Chouinard exemplifies these traits, using perseverance and discipline to develop a business that is successful while being true to his personal traits. According to Hepburn (2013 p.630) the success of Yvon Chouinard came along with responsibilities, whereby he realized that a company which is profitably brought about chances of achieving personal goals and also makes it possible to make the organization the best place to work since it was a place for environmental activism. Yvon Chouinard’s dissatisfaction over the quality of climbing hardware led to his first business of blacksmithing and forging climbing equipment. The business became successful and he started selling climbing hardware to climbers from the back of his car from where the business grew to be one of the best domestic suppliers of climbing hardware. Patagonia was later born later after the expansion of their clothing line to a popular label.
Do you feel it is possible to become a leader when confronted with situations? What are the skills required of a person to become a leader?
According to Batool (2013 p.84) people can become great leaders after being confronted by certain situations. For example, Yvon Chouinard was disappointed by the quality of the climbing hardware which led him to train himself blacksmithing and started forging his own quality climbing gear. What started as the selling of climbing equipment to colleagues from the back of his car later became a successful company. Therefore, in this case, the disappointment experienced by Yvon Chouinard of low-quality climbing gear was the primary factor that necessitated his becoming a great leader.
A good leader should be a good guide to his team and should be able to have great performance while avoiding being overly dominant (Friedrich et al., 2009 p.942). In addition, a good leader should have a visionary sight in order to project and see the future of the organization which would assist them in planning for future steps for the company’s development. Additionally, leaders should have excellent time management skills so as to be able to schedule and plan for the time between tasks. Furthermore, being a good leader is all about becoming an asset to the company, hence having skills on how to effectively encourage and motivate the team is effective in the achievement of the company’s goals. Further research by Budworth and Mann (2010 p.182) shows that leaders should be able to encourage employees who have ideas which are innovative. Moreover, leaders should be able to execute well in times of challenges and disasters by being strong in handling various kinds of situations. Leaders should also be responsible in order to create a good and friendly environment since a happy atmosphere results in increased profitability and productivity for the organization.
Required Skillset to be a Leader in Darwin Smith’s Genre
What are the situations and factors that are to be taken into account, if one were to exhibit the leadership quality exhibited by Yvon Chouinard?
When exhibiting the leadership quality exhibited by Yvon Chouinard, several factors and situations should be taken into account. According to Pless, Maak and Waldman (2012 p.57) leaders should copy and learn the good traits from successful leaders. Yvon Chouinard’s leadership at Patagonia was basically fearless which enabled the organization to thrive in ensuring innovation in its corporate practice and culture while at the same time embracing new changes and developments. For example, the company switched to using grown cotton that was organically grown and other forms of materials that are recycled only, in its process of production. Yvon Chouinard’s fearless qualities ensured that the organization was able to manage to give away a small percentage of its annual gross sales to various small-scale works that are not-for-profit and at the same time maintain the company’s profitability. Yvon Chouinard’s “let my people go surfing” shows that by keeping an explorer’s a determined spirit, one can still remain successful by blending social duty, play and work. Yvon Chouinard’s showcased an easy leadership whereby he managed curving a reputation of quality that is unsurpassed, a maverick plan and long-term environmental strategies in the organization. Even in the face of a business world that is challenging Yvon Chouinard is still into surfing and generally enjoying adventure but surprisingly maintain successful records in his business. The discussed factors should therefore be considered by anyone wishing to exhibit the leadership qualities exhibited by Yvon Chouinard.
In today’s globalized, competitive world, do you feel the leadership practices followed by Yvon can be applied?
Although the current world and business environment are competitive and globalized, the practices of leadership exercised by Yvon Chouinard can still be applied. Leaders can still emulate the leadership qualities exhibited by Yvon Chouinard through improving their transparency and being accountable for areas they do not know much about including geographies that represent new stakeholders, new cultures, new markets and new technologies. Leaders can always step out of their comfort zones and converge global megatrends that are pressuring many leaders to navigate a more transparent, more integrated, more complex and faster business world. Leaders should focus on involving increased business level and personal discomfort (Elkington and Upward, 2016 p.131). In addition, they should work on coping with the blurring public and private life and forge new relationships with employees and competitors which will require new mindsets and skills. Leaders should also think outside the box by being innovative and projecting the future of their organizations to ensure that they have a clear picture of where they want the organization to be. Integrating business projections in their business plan will enable the company to have a clear direction of where it is set to be in the near future.
What do you feel are the advantages and disadvantage of following Yvon’s leadership approach?
Yvon Chouinard’s leadership style seeks to improve morale and build rapport. The style is different from various styles that sometimes make workers feel like they are over being criticized or bossed. When employees have a feeling of being valued or being important to the organization, they become more engaged in their daily tasks and the organization’s long-term vision (von-Devivere, 2018 p.197). Employees who know that their voices are being heard have a feeling of being valued and enjoy doing a good job for the company thus improving their efficiency. There is more friendliness in the work environment which is pleasant for the employees.
Possibility of Having Smith’s Leadership Qualities Today
However, there are some disadvantages in Yvon Chouinard’s style of leadership in that not every aspect is beneficial since when the boss is closer to the employees, management lines become blurred. For example, a boss who is closer to employees may feel it hard to reprimand the employees when they do wrong Firing a poor working employee may therefore get difficult for the manager which may lead to the organization retaining the poor worker for a long time. According to Crooke, Csikszentmihalyi and Bikel (2015 p.149) when leaders are close to their employees, the culture of a company may take long to be built for the achievement of the desired company goals and objectives. In addition, creating a democratic process and getting input might dilute the vision of the business with no one having a clear picture of the direction the company should take.
References
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