The Mindset of a Leader

Leaders come from all different backgrounds and cultures. Some would say that they are born with leadership properties (the specific traits of the person) and others will argue that they can be formed and molded into leaders (emergent leadership, transformational leadership, charismatic leadership, etc.). This article analyzes the mindsets of individuals who believe or want to believe that they could become leaders. The article also looks at those who feel that they are limited in their abilities to be a leader.

The Mindset

The one area that was very interesting to read was about the different mindset that individuals have from one another. The mindsets are broken up into two segments. There are those who believe that they can grow and change to reach a new level of leadership. Through some untapped potential they could get better at what they were set out to do. Those people have, what Carol Dweck, called a “growth-mindset”. The flipside to that would be the individual who thinks that their talents and abilities will only be able to take them so far in life. This thought process seems to derive from the thought of failure as being a terrible outcome rather that a way to improve oneself. Again, Carol Dweck calls this a “fixed-mindset”.

These “mindset” are very similar to the idea that leadership is based on traits for those individuals who are in the “fixed-mindset”. Others in the “growth-mindset” seem to be on the idea that leadership skills can be developed and the individuals are not necessarily born leaders.

Why are they in that Mindset?

Opinions as to why people would consider themselves to be or not to be a leader seemed to revolve around the environments in which that they learned and developed, at least for post high school education. Those who were supported by the notion that they could become better, to evolve, where much more likely to feel that they could grow. They were considered to be growth-minded individuals. The author of the article stated that he was a graduate of the Naval Academy, and being a graduate he had a strong sense of leadership once he graduated. The Naval Academy set the expectation for their students to be effective leaders. The author also suggests that those individuals in state universities are well prepared in terms of knowledge and practical skills, but they are lacking in leadership skills where little emphasis is placed.

-Brandon Leitschuh

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/jun2009/ca20090619_819188.htm?chan=careers_managing+your+company+page_top+stories

Influential Woman Leaders

International Business Machine Corps has announced that a female, Virginia "Ginni" Rometty, will be the next chief executive office for the company.  She is succeeding Sam Palmisano and is the first female CEO in the company's 100 year history.  Rometty is currently head of sales and marketing, so with her knowledge of the company and sales, she should be able to keep the company's profit increasing.
The company has had such a profit growth that it is at thheir highest share price since 1915 and in order to keep that going, Rometty is going to have to lead her company to continue to go down the right path. Sam will stay with the company as a chairman and the move will not be in affect until January 1st.  Palmisano has announced that between 2010 and 2015, the company plans on adding 20 to revenue.  This is give a tough task for Rometty, but Palmisano has liked what he has seen in her and believes she was the right fit for the job.  Palmisano says she is superb in the operational leadership standpoint and has already helped the company grow.  Virginia first caught his eye in 2002 when she helped complete the $3.9 billion acquisition of PwC consulting, which was the largest in IBM's history.
Rometty is originally from Chicago and got her degree from Northwestern.  One of her first jobs was with General Motors doing an internship and then landed her job with IBM.
Throughout the article, I learn of her attributes and what she brings to the organization but I think she will succeed as the CEO because she has experience.  She was able to work her way up through the organization and learn the ropes.  She had enough experience to have her managers/bosses trust her and be able to feel comfortable enough to promote her.  She recently went back to Northwestern and gave a commencements speech and encouraged all the students to challenge themselves and be able to think and use their skills.  I think with that mind set, always wanting to win another challenge and keep going, she posses the skills to be a powerful leader and has the ability to get the company growing.
She is going to have 426,000 subordinates and will have to make sure they are all on the same page in order to keep the profit rising.  I do  not think there is any challenge she is afraid of and sounds very positive going into her new position.
- Matt Kester

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-25/ibm-names-rometty-to-succeed-palmisano-as-first-female-ceo.html