The right leader can be very influential not only in making important company decisions but in motivating employees to optimal performance. In this week, you will consider theories of leadership.
Leaders who are able to motivate employees on the basis of a strong, charismatic personality has often been credited for organizational success. In this activity, you will choose one charismatic business leader and analyze his or her success and the success of the business he or she leads on the basis of the power and leadership theories you’ve learned in the text and outside readings. In your paper be sure to do the following:
- Read Chapters 12 and 13 of Spector, P. E. (2012). Industrial and organizational psychology: Research and practice. 6th ed. John Wiley & Sons.
- Choose one well known business leader who is considered a transformative leader – Oprah Winfrey.
- Prepare a brief summary of the leader’s life, any personality characteristics that are known about this person.
- Explain this leader’s leadership style according to the transformative leadership theory.
- Apply other leadership theories from the text to see how they may or may not be able to offer an alternate explanation for the impact these types of leaders have.
- According to your own evaluation, which leadership theory best applies to this business leader?