Corporate Leadership, The Shareholders Of The Firm (Term Paper Sample)

Corporate Leadership
Name
Professor
Course
Institution
Date
Abstract
Good corporate leadership guarantees the shareholders of the firm that the capital that they have invested in the firm is well managed in such a manner that will maximize their wealth. However, to achieve good corporate leadership within the firm, there is need to ensure the right management style is adapted to facilitate the achievement of the strategic corporate's objectives. One of the Leadership Model that can be employed in a firm is Authentic Leadership Model that guides the leader to possess the following the characteristics: Sense of purpose, strong connection between the leader and the subordinates, self-discipline or they act from their heart and lastly they possess strong values regarding what they do. Steve Booth is an example of a leader that has employed Authentic Leadership Model in Baird firm. A good leader should always be dynamic and innovative in order for the firm to be able to respond positively to the changing market conditions. Thus, an innovative leader should possess the following innovative skills: Associative thinking, "questioning" skills, "observing" skills, "experimenting" skills and lastly, "networking" skill is essential in ensuring the firm has established a close contact with prospective customers as well as their customers.
Lastly, there are several lessons that we can learn from the achievements that have been achieved by Steve Booth as the Chief Executive Officer of Baird Company. First, leaders should endeavor to establish a close connection with their subordinates in order to win a sense of trust from them eventually resulting in loyalty and commitment. Secondly, a leader should strive to ensure he has self-discipline that will guide him or her towards the established strategic objectives of the firm. Also, it is necessary for all leaders to be passionate about their work.
Introduction
Corporate leadership entails top management executives who are mandated to oversee the operations of the company and therefore implement the right management style the will determine future performance of the company (Du et al., 2013). Through the corporate leadership, there is the clear establishment of the duties and responsibilities that are required to be performed by each member of staff in an organization thus ensuring all the various courses of action that are executed are in harmony with the strategic objectives of the firm. Baird is an ideal example of a company that has been very effective courtesy of having an effective corporate leadership style and therefore it has managed to be one of the best 100 companies we have in the world. It is an investment company that is widely known for its organizational culture that places a lot emphasis on the integrity and teamwork among its employees. Baird Investment Company announced Steve Booth as the Chief Executive Officer of the company in 2006. Since then he has been running the firm where he has managed to take the company to new heights thus making him be one of the best leaders that have demonstrated effective corporate leadership that has increased the competitive advantage of Baird firm over its competitors. For that reason, the goal of the paper will be to explore the achievements that have been accomplished by Steve Booth as the Chief Executive Officer of the Baird investment firm. Also, the authentic leadership model will be used in order to assess the leadership traits that are possessed by Steve and lastly the paper will outline the lessons that can be drawn from the leadership style depicted by Steve Booth.
Biography
Steve became an employee of Baird firm in 1994 and he was tasked with the leadership role of leading the Company's Investment Banking Industrials Group. Later he became Director of Investment Banking as well as the managing Equity Capital Markets. Steve Booth was very helpful in defining and driving the strategies that have made Baird become very successful in the banking investment business as well as in equity underwriting with at least 250 investments banking employees around the globe. Steve is serving as the Chief Executive of the firm, a position that he acquired in January 2016. Besides serving as the CEO, he is also the firm's president thus making him be the eighth employee to lead the Baird since it was established in 1919. Under the current leadership of Steve Booth, the company has been very successful in embarking on an international expansion by supplementing talent and competences in the United State, Europe as well as in Asia (Baird Names Booth CEO | Baird. (2017). Through the global expansion, the company has registered an increment in returns due to an increase in market share. The effective management style that has been employed by Steve has continued to make Baird firm to be one of the best competitive investment firms we have globally. Before joining Baird firm, Steve was working at Kidder and Peabody Company which is located at Chicago Business Investment Office. Steve obtained his master of Administration degree from Northwestern Campus. Also, he has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and also a Bachelor of Administration in Economics from Southern Methodists University.
One of the salient leadership theory that can best be used to explain leadership theory is authentic leadership model. Authentic leadership model is about the authenticity of directors as well as their leadership. Under this approach, it focuses on the presence of certain types of characteristics that make an individual qualify to be an authentic leader. Authentic leaders are known to have the desire to serve the people, they know themselves and they are always willing to lead the people deep in their heart. Particularly, authentic leaders are known to have the following attributes: First, they demonstrate a real sense purpose. That is, they are fully aware of what they are about to do and where they are headed. Besides being aware of their purpose, they are stirred and innately motivated by the goals that they have established. Authentic leaders are passionate leaders who possess a deep interest in their work and they place a lot of care when they are discharging their duties (Groves & LaRocca, 2011). Secondly, authentic leaders are known to understand their values and they relate to other people based on their own values. When they are confronted with challenges in their workplace, genuine leaders do not deviate away from the values they uphold but they tend to use their values to mitigate the challenges that they are facing.
The third characteristics that are demonstrated by authentic leaders are presence of strong relationships. Through the aid of this characteristic, authentic leaders are able to establish a strong connection with other people. They are always willing to share their ideas and life experiences and also ready to listen to other people. Through the creation of mutual relationship, leaders and subordinates develop a sense of trust and closeness. Self-discipline is another salient feature of authentic leadership which is essential because it enables leaders to achieve their goals. With self-discipline, leaders are able to maintain focus and determination in their work in order to achieve the set objectives. The last component that is demonstrated by authentic leaders is that they are compassionate about the welfare of other people. Authentic leaders are always ready to help those that are in need of help and thus they are able to establish a close relationship between the leader and the subordinates.
Steve Booth is an example of a leader that has demonstrated to be an authentic leader in his leadership role. First, he is very compassionate because he is very sensitive about the welfare of others and thus he is always ready to help everyone in his place of work. Through compassionate ability, Steve has been able to work with people of different personality thus achieving in developing and maintaining a team spirit in the organization. Secondly, self-discipline is another attribute that has been demonstrated by Steve by ensuring he has maintained high standards of excellence in terms of the services that they deliver to their clients. Moreover, Booth is a kind of a leader who has the ability to establish and maintain strong relationships with the people. Strong connection with the people is depicted by Steve by being open with those that he works with. Presence of this trait has made Steve Booth win great loyalty among employees and for that reason, the firm has enjoyed great employees' productivity and commitment towards the organizational objectives. Lastly, Steve is a leader who has demonstrated great passion in what he does and he places a lot of care in what he does in order to ensure the output that he delivers to the firm, is a product that will meet the intended purpose by the firm. Through the passionate trait that he displays he has managed to remain focused and commitment towards the set objectives of the firm consequently achieving in making the firm to be one of the best performing firms in the world.
Delivery Skills for Innovation
In nowadays, there are plenty of changes that are happening, for instance, rapid globalization, volatile economies as well as stiff competition among business firms as they scramble to increase their market share by venturing into new market areas. These changes that are happening in the modern economies such as the introduction of a new product or service in the market or even innovation of new production technology have a significant impact on the businesses. For that reason, it has become inevitable for the business firms to frequently innovate and maintain the updated production technologies in order to be able to respond the ever-changing conditions in the modern market and also maintain a competitive advantage in the ma...