"Leadership and Organizational Excitement"

The article, "Leadership and Organizational Excitement" was focusing on a way to revitalize organizations that are lacking some sort of technique to run a successful business. There were three factors identified on revitalizing an organization. These factors were, organizational development, presence of personnel, and labor relations programs. I found it interesting when author, David Berlew, said that many people within their organization get "excited" about the potential for change, rather than the actual change itself. A leader was founded as someone who is good at creating a game plan and sticking to it to achieve objectives and goals, and have productive, satisfied workers. I think it's a good idea for leaders to include everyone and get everyone involved in business goals. People like feeling "accepted" so a good was to do this is to be fair and give everyone an opportunity to achieve those goals. An objective for the manager to achieve is to make everyone feel stronger. I the article it stated that "exposure to a certain type of leader, like JFK, it leaves people feeling stronger, more confident of being able to determine destinies." This is important for a manager because he/she wants to set a good example for his/her workers. A way the manager of a company can keep staff strong is by giving them a chance to change things. This goes back to what I mentioned earlier about feeling accepted. Three factors tie in with change. First, a common vision of what they are trying to create together and value-congruent manner must be present. Change in an organization provides confidence to individuals and gives them an opportunity to test themselves.

I would strongly agree with anyone that believes that personality matters in leadership. I would not say I completely agree with finding out what type of personality you have by taking a simple test online, but I feel that the results can tell a lot about a person. The five characteristics measure after completing the test are openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. I personally think three of the five closely relate to a person who is a leader.  The three are conscientiousness, because a good leader should be reliable and have an organized game plan for their company, openness to experience because a good leader should be full of ideas and to maximize shareholders wealth, he/she needs to have new, creative ideas. The third characteristic I think a good leader needs to be extremely outgoing, social, and energetic, or better known as extraversion. Having this type of personality is good for a leader because he/she should be able to communicate with staff members and have an open mind when working in groups.

The Brand Called Obama

I found this article to be very interesting. I'm not a huge politics person, so I know very little about Obama. The article started out with Obama putting off calling fund-raisers or leading a rally, instead he was shooting hoops with his nephew and brother in-law. He argued that shooting hoops was his type of theropy. He was also known for his humorous jokes before he hit the podium. This behavior was not a show, Obama believes that this type of leadership characteristic is important for understanding societies changing ways. His greatest strength is among the young, ages 18-29. He is familiar with what this age group is growing up with and knows how to advertise to them. His website has constant updates, videos, photos, ringtones, and widgets. Obamas website explores how technology is changing politics. By him reaching out on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, he connects to young better than traditional barriers. In the article it identified Obama's new way of thinking as "adaptive leadership." this type of leadership that is effective in handling problems that necessitat a shift. I strongly think that leadership characteristics is a part of your personality and who a you are instead of one being turned into a leader. I think that some people are naturally shy and others are born to be in charge of people.

"American Everyman"

Before reading the a article, "American Everyman" I thought to myself what characteristics a good leader should have. I think a leader is someone who has dedication in his or her work. I think a leader should also be creative and should constantly bring new ideas to the table. A third characteristic a good leader should possess is fairness. Negotiation in the business setting is important, not only for yourself, but the poeple you are working with. Warren Buffett, CEO of Birkshire Hathaway, has become a self-made and very successful leader. From the article I personally got the impression that he was bold, devoted, and professional person. Buffett was willing to take a risk by sitting out the high-tech and dot-com stock run-up. His reasoning for this was that he "didn't understand" them. This is a good approach because he stuck to industries he had knowledge about. Buffett also acts in a very professional manner. The letters to his shareholders open with sentences updating them on the corporations financial performance. He avoids lavish photos and text. In the article Buffett uses a form of show-and-tell, exaggeration, dramatic, and numerous to teachS lessons about humility. Another positive leadership characteristic Buffett believes is, "a corporate leader is someone who grabs hold of his own bootstraps and never stops pulling up, no matter how far he rises." From this be can see Buffett doesnt like to stop what he has started midway through the project. He survived many catastrophic events and will continue to do so if he continues operation his company the way he started it.