Discuss the common elements described in the theories/philosophies of Case, Kouzes, and Drucker including how their principles/strategies relate to the new definition of entrepreneurial leadership presented in Understanding Entrepreneurial Leadership in today’s Dynamic Markets. The role of a leader has for long been a great source of debate, questions are asked whether leaders are made or born. Many organizations are changing either by the use of new better technology, introduction of new products and also the economies that these organizations are working in are in changes every day. An organization has to keep up with the change or is swept out by competition and no one can ever be able to stop change from taking place.
The organizations have to put structures and strategies that will be effective in the rapidly changing environment. For the survival of organizations due to the high velocity of change in the business environment the leadership of an organization must be on toes and have knowledge of the markets and the business environment they are in. new and visionary leadership is required more than ever in the current ever dynamic business environments. This leadership must be ready to lead organizations that are facing a great increase in competition and uncertainties that are created by the new dynamic markets (McGrath and MacMillan (2000). Entrepreneurial leadership is a visionary and exemplary leadership in business, it is the leadership that leads organizations to great success in the business environment that is so friendly. It involves strategic planning in a changing market.
The dynamic market is the constant changes in the market, in a dynamic market direction and the magnitude of the market are in constant acceleration (Eisenhardt, Brown & Neck 2000). In the dynamic markets changes in the market are less able to be predicted and these unpredictable changes are continuous; the changes in the technology, the changes in the customers tastes and dislikes, the market networks and alliances, the groupings that are formed by customers and also the competition, marketing, price, increase in returns among other challenges to the market. Conditions of the dynamic market in the current business world have a great influence on the strategic behavior that the current business entrepreneurs adopt. Corporate entrepreneurs must adopt a more prominent rolein the dynamic markets.
Entrepreneurs can make impact on the current market by developing strategies that are great, volatile, visionary and being able to see the future. Steve Case is the founder of American Online (AOL). This is a company that has made a lot of success in the internet industry but with its share of challenges in the market. Steve Case believes that entrepreneurs are born and not made, he believes he is a born entrepreneur and gives a story of how at the age of 6 he was involved in making money with his brother. His first business was a roadside stand where they sold Lemonade that was made from lemon that they got from their backyard. In this early experience in business he learned the importance of value for high margins in the business environment.
He and his brother later formed an international mail order business; this company sold virtually everything that was to be sold, the company did not have much success but the brothers gained an entrepreneurial experience that cannot be priced, the challenges that they faced were important on who they would later become. AOL has been a mystery, many experts have predicted it death but the company has continued to remain strong in the business. Case has always beat competition and always silenced his critics by his company always performing in an exemplary manner.Kouzes is a great educator of business executives in America he has a large client base that includes; Bank of America, Boeing, Dell Computers among other great companies in America. Kouzes believes great business entrepreneurs are made and not born.
He believes that there is no one who is born with a particular gift, but people learn and become graet on what they decide to persue. Discuss your leadership style or the style you aspire to be and how it compares to transactional, transformation, visionary, charismatic, principled, and entrepreneurial leadership. My leader style is democratic style of leadership. This is an open style of management that involve, the involvement of all in leadership this will involve free flow of ideas and great discussions and brainstorming by the experts and staff in an organization. The style is very important in a dynamic changing environment where nothing is constant and changes are the order of the day is it is with the current business environment.
In the fast changing business environment, every opinion and point of view has to be considdered this help an organization not falling out with the present. In a democratic entrepreneurial leadership, all stakeholders are given an avenue of sharing their ideas. These ideas are later collected and put into consideration in the formation of the best possible decision that a leader should make for the organization. The decision made by the leader should later be communicated to the group as this helps in creation of unity among the group.
In the democratic leadership, the leader is able to get the best from all the professional team in the group. The leader is able to capitalize on their skills and talents and this is by allowing the professionals to share their views. As a new entrepreneur, discuss how you would use resources and tools available through the Small Business Administration and score.In any business the most important resource is the human resource, they are crucial in implementing ones vision. For any company to grow and achieve the desired results, the human resource is at the centre of these.
The first thing I would implement is adoption of motivational techniques for staff. There is an old saying that states that ‘you can take the donkey into the river but you cannot force the donkey to drink water’, staff who have no motivation on what they want will not be creative and will not use the resources at their to create wealth. Motivation of staff will involve creation of reward; these rewards can either be monetary, praise but must good enough that they motivate the staff towards achieving the company’s goals. When the staff are adequately motivated and one has the right staff in terms of qualifications and experience, all other things fall in part as they will ensure all resources and tools are optimized optimally.
If you were to create your personal principles of leadership, what would they be and explain why you would chose them. I am a great believer in team work and how if people work as a team they can get everything done. Everybody have their weaknesses whether as leaders or other staff, with a good group it helps to cover for each other weaknesses and helps in a formidable group. Therefore my principle of leadership will be involvement of professionals in the organization in crucial decision making and formation of important strategies.
