Select a leader from the USA Today list who you consider to be an outstanding example of visionary leadership, and write a 5-6 page paper where you:
Michael Jordan, basketball star- Arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, mostly for the Chicago Bulls, his athletic leaps and slam dunks
influenced a generation of players. With a likeable persona, he also led all leagues in lucrative endorsements.
Background
Leaders of today can be categorized by their various leadership styles, but all successful leaders have one thing in common: they are visionaries.
For example, Presidents Bill Clinton, John Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan; high tech giants Steve Jobs and Bill Gates; and world figures such as Mahatma
Gandhi and Martin Luther King all had visions far larger than themselves and the role they played. For example, Gandhi is single-handedly responsible
for returning India to home-rule after centuries of being ruled by Great Britain. Martin Luther King is considered to be the father of the civil
rights moving here in the United States. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs revolutionized the technology industry with their MS-DOS and Windows software, and
the iPhone, respectively.
Each of these leaders constructed a vision that was creative, clear, and concise, and that also complemented the organization’s culture and strategy.
They all possessed the foresight to plan strategically for potential opportunities and threats, and once they constructed their vision, they were
able to influence people, implement policies and procedures, and execute on the vision, i.e., turn that vision into action.
One key thing with visionary leaders is that they are the creative geniuses behind the vision, and nearly all of them lead by example. Which brings
us to the next point: Microsoft certainly isn’t the company that it was after Bill Gates stepped down “ will that same fate happen with Apple now
that Steve Jobs is no longer running the company?
Required Reading
Please review the 25 most influential people according to USA TODAY (http://www.usatoday.com/news/top25-influential.htm)
Case Assignment
Select a leader from the USA Today list who you consider to be an outstanding example of visionary leadership, and write a 5-6 page paper where you:
Analyze your subject leader’s style and explain why this leader is a visionary.
Keys to the Assignment
The key aspects of this assignment that, at a minimum, should be covered in your paper include:
Why do you characterize this individual as visionary? Give specific examples.
Analyze the added value of this visionary leader brings to the organization based upon your research.
Do you think visionary leaders are needed in every workplace? Why or why not?
What business conditions particularly call for visionary leadership?
Required Readings
Journal Articles and Websites:
Appelbaum, S., Bartolomucci, N., Beaumier, E., Boulanger, J. & et al. (2004). Organizational citizenship behavior: A case study of culture,
leadership and trust. Management Decision, 42(1/2), 13-43.
Cardenas, J., & Crabtree, G. (2009). Making time for visionary leadership. College and University, 84(3), 59-63.
Casimir, G., & Waldman, D. A. (2007). A cross cultural comparison of the importance of leadership traits for effective low-level and high-level
leaders: Australia and China. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 7(1), 47-61.
Conceicao, S. C., & Altman, B. A. (2011). Training and development process and organizational culture change. Organization Development Journal, 29
(1), 33-44.
Hofstede, G. (1993). Cultural constraints in management theories. Academy of Management Executive, 7(1), 81-94.
Kaifi, B. A., & Mujtaba, B. G. (2010). Transformational leadership of Afghans and Americans: A study of culture, age and gender. Journal of Service
Science and Management, 3(1), 150-159.
McLaughlin, C. (2001). Visionary leadership. Retrieved from http://www.visionarylead.org/articles/vislead.htm
Waldman, D. A., Luque, M. S., Washburn, N., House, R. J. & et al. (2006). Cultural and leadership predictors of corporate social responsibility
values of top management: A globe study of 15 countries. Journal of International Business Studies, 37(6), 823-837.
YouTube Video: Visionary Leadership. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbXkYinkeJA
YouTube Video: Vision, Leadership and Organizational Improvement. Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFXxxbnKheI&feature=related
