KEL663 Kellogg Week 8 leadership discussions

Week 8

Discussion #1: Shared Practice: Can Leaders Manage and Managers Lead?

Identify from your professional experience a leader with whom you have interacted as a follower, colleague, or supervisor that matches only one of the following descriptions:

He or she is a good leader lacking effective managing skills.

He or she is a good manager lacking effective leadership skills.

He or she is an effective leader and manager.

He or she is a neither a good leader nor manager.

Once you have identified a leader from your professional experience that matches one of the descriptions listed above, do the following:

1. Without giving the actual name of the leader you have selected, identify his or her strengths and weaknesses as a leader and as a manager. Then distinguish his or her leadership skills from his or her management skills.

2. Provide an analysis of the effect he or she had on the business environment where you worked at the time.

Discussion #2: Case Study Analysis: The Impact of Leadership at Ford Motor Company

Read the case study At Ford, Turnaround is Job One (Shein, 2012), which examines how Alan Mulally led the turnaround at Ford Motor Company as president and chief executive officer. Following this, read the other resources that discuss Mulally’s leadership and management skills (Carey & Keller, 2012; Kaipa & Kriger, 2010). Finally, review the executive summary that you created last week for your BPPG, as well as the articles and resources you have studied in the course until now.

Then, to prepare your post for the Week 8 Discussion, consider what Alan Mulally accomplished as a leader at Ford Motor Company. Ask yourself why his leadership was effective, and determine the lessons that can be learned from this example of leadership and management as they relate to the ideas, theories, and topics discussed throughout this course.

With these thoughts in mind:

Respond to the following:

1. Using the leadership theories and practice perspectives that you have reviewed throughout the course, explain whether you think Alan Mulally was an effective and ethical leader of Ford Motor Company. Provide a rationale to justify your response. (Hint: The answer should not be “because he’s done well.” Your analysis should link leadership and management skills you have examined throughout the course to specific examples of Mulally’s successes or challenges while he was the leader at Ford.)

2. What lessons can you learn from this case? Explain the implications such lessons can have on your career as a leader and as a manager.

3. What lessons can be learned from this case? What are the implications such lessons can have for your current organization or one that you care to be a part of?