Answer the 3 questions below and reply to each student.

Student Reply must be over 200 words.

Make sure all student replies you start it with Hello (Student Name),

Please upload each question in different word documents.

Question 1:

Please watch the video, “What you can learn from Steve Jobs (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..” Based on the content presented in the video, what leadership traits made Steve Jobs an effective leader? Some researchers have found that leaders have certain traits related to social intelligence; how did Steve Jobs’ social intelligence play a role in his success and how did it impact people and results? Do you consider Steve Jobs to be a transformational or transactional leader? Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts.

Guided Response: Your initial post should be at least 200 words in length. Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Respond substantively to at least two of your classmates posts.

Student Reply 1:Brian O’Malley

Steve Jobs has many leadership traits that some would say are very deep-rooted and strong to contend with. That may be why he was so successful, especially coming from almost closing up shop to running the biggest communication device programs around. His “Drive” and “results-oriented work environment” (Weiss, 2015) are two traits in which his success is anchored on.

I never knew much about Steve Jobs other than a couple things. I knew he was the leader for the corporation Macintosh. I knew this because every time I had ever seen him, he was on a stage presenting a new innovation or concept to a crowd full of people. His personality, social interaction, and high energy are shown in his extraversion (Weiss, 2015) style of leadership. Which made for a very great placed spokesperson as well.

Steve Jobs like many other leaders did not come out of the cookie cutter leadership text. Many times I have found a great leader has the ability to harness multiple traits or actions covering all sides of leadership fundamentals. Therefore Steve Jobs has both transformational and transactional approaches. His pursuant of new and innovative ways which challenge making a product better and better is similar to “putting a dent”(Forbes, 2011) in society. Which not only displays the traits of a transformational leader but a successful one at that. I do also think with some of his scheduling, reveals, and timing of products. Made him very competitive and has always brought a wave of consumers running to the stores for the latest gadget.

Forbes. (2011, October 5). What you can learn from Steve Jobs (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. [Video file]. Retrieved from

What You Can Learn From Steve Jobs | Forbes (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

What You Can Learn From Steve Jobs | Forbes

Weiss, J. W. (2015). An introduction to leadership. (2nd ed.) [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Student Reply 2:Andres Valencia

Based on the content presented in the video which were somewhat open to interpretation passion, vision, creativity, simplicity, innovation, and communication are traits that made Steve Jobs successful and an effective leader. Optimism is also a key trait not particularly discussed in the video, but clearly defined in our text as a quality he posses in his strong arsenal. His social intelligence played a role in his success by knowing how to inspire passion into his products, that made people care about it. His social intellect impacted people by making them a part of his goals. According to the text “Apple CEO Steve Jobs was also a master at inspiring and motivating not only Apple employees, but also customers, the media, and technology geeks who loved his new products” (Weiss, 2015). I consider Steve jobs to be a transformational leader, because his inspirational acts motivate followers to achieve their goals, and the organizations potential. He get’s people to contribute to make the extraordinary happen. Rather than rely on his sole innovation he is the catalyst to make everyone else achieve their ideas to their full capability. His combination of unrelated ideas into something innovative like calligraphy into Macintosh is another reason he is successful, but I think this unorthodox way of thinking was also critical when brainstorming those ideas with everyone around him so the right ones could be selected.

References:

Forbes. (2011, October 5). What you can learn from Steve Jobs (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. [Video file]. Retrieved from

What You Can Learn From Steve Jobs | Forbes (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

What You Can Learn From Steve Jobs | Forbes

Weiss, J. W. (2015). An introduction to leadership. (2nd ed.) [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Question 2: 

Give an example of ethical leadership. What are the characteristics of ethical leadership? And why do you think ethical leadership is important?

Guided Response: Your initial post should be at least 200 words in length. Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Respond substantively to at least two of your classmates posts.

Student Reply 1:Kenneth Johnson

To define ethical leadership and provide an example, I will first give a few examples of what ethical leadership is not (from history):

President Richard Nixon was not an ethical leader when he knew about and tried to hide the illegal activities that lead to his resignation because of his involvement in Watergate (common knowledge from history).

President Bill Clinton was not ethical when he lied to the nation that he did not have relations with his intern. Using his power to influence a young lady for personal gratification also contributed to his unethical behavior (common knowledge from history).

Martin Winterkorn, ECO of Volkswagen automaker managed his company culture with ruthless wrongdoings that became a global environment issue when VW was charged with emissions fraud for the erroneously produced diesel test results (Fortune Editors, 2016).

Each leader lacked the moral courage to stand up and say this is not how we run our business, and this is not what I as a leader will approve of.

An example of ethical leadership would be simply put as a person being a good leader. If you are a good leader and your examples portray who you are and what you stand for the ethical part of who a leader is will shine through when tough decisions must be made. Right or wrong, an ethical leader will always choose what is right and work to ensure his or her team does the same through exhibits of moral leadership with the leader setting the standards for all others to follow (Weiss, 2015).

Without ethical leadership at all levels of business, government, and society, our world would be chaos. Remember the movie Back to the Future II? When Biff Tannen stole the time machine and went into the future and found the sports almanac? He returned to the present and used the almanac to change future history for Hill Valley with his massive lottery winnings. The city was changed to crime and corruption because Biff did not have an ethical backbone and only saw and did what interested him. The citizens of Hill Valley had to live in crime-ridden neighborhoods and the cost of living was through the roof for all as Biff harvested the rewards of his unethical behavior. Well, imagine our world without ethical leaders, it would be like Hill Valley back in 1985.

Leadership characteristics of an ethical business leader include: “Moral purpose and integrity to do what is right, just, and fair in service of the common good toward stakeholders, stockholders, and the broader society” (Weiss, 2015). The characteristics of ethical leadership are the building blocks of good and moral business practices and are part of servant and stewardship leadership that has high importance for any company or group that wants to represent themselves as good corporate leaders. Without the adherence to good ethical leadership, we might be living in Biff’s 1985 Hill Valley. Thank you.

References

Fortune Editors. (2016, Mar 30). The World’s 19 Most Disappointing Leaders. Fortune. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2016/03/30/most-disappointing-l… (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Weiss, J. W. (2015). An introduction to leadership. (2nd ed.) [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

Student Reply 2:Stephen Bremer

Ethical leadership is a great topic to discuss and am happy we have it as a discussion post. Ethics, morals, and values are all subjective. Ethical leadership especially that demonstrated in the business environment is thought of as what represents the common good. As our text would define, “It follows, then, that ethical business leadership in organizations, especially those that are business related, involves acting with moral purpose and integrity to do what is right, just, and fair in service of the common good toward stakeholders, stockholders, and the broader society.” (Weiss, 2015)

The key statement being common good of broader society. I single this out with the point of our ethics, morals, and values we instill in the United States may not be seen as ethical in other parts of the world. For us it is ethical for men and women to conduct business as equals. In some places in the Middle East men and women cannot even speak to each other in public let alone conduct business.

When I think of an ethical leader, transparency in communication of motives and objectives is at the forefront of my list of characteristics. Which draws me to consider fast food chains and ponder whether they are ethical leaders or not. We know that fast food is not healthy for us, we know obesity is an issue in the US, but we also know that we have a need for sustenance while on the go. I would argue that they are ethical in their business practices because their intent is not to create more obesity, but their intent is to serve the needs of sustenance on the go during a hectic schedule. They aren’t marketing our burger is healthier than a salad, they clearly and transparently display the calories for each menu item. If they were marketing unethically then they would be telling people our food is good for you, and better than your average salad. If fast food establishments did not exist, what would replace them for eating on the go? Would we eat healthier? Would obesity still be a problem in the US?

I guess my point being that Ethics are subjective to the greater good of broader society.

References:

Weiss, J. W. (2015). An introduction to leadership. (2nd ed.) [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

Question 3:

Use the Ashford Library to research a prominent leader, living or deceased, who you admire. Explain whether the leader’s style is transactional or transformational. What type of leadership characteristics does the leader demonstrate? What aspects of servant leadership does the leader exhibit? Provide relevant examples to support your claims.

The paper should be three to four pages in length (excluding title and reference pages). At least two scholarly references (a minimum of one being from the Ashford Library) plus the course textbook must be utilized in the research. The paper should also reflect proper APA format and style and integrate resources with in-text citations to support the writing. Vocabulary and course content should be integrated throughout the paper.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.