Final paper

In preparation for your research, select an individual currently in a leadership position. The person must be responsible in some capacity for other employees, and the person must be an individual that can be researched.

Overview
In your overview of the leader, include:

• The leader’s name and title.
• His or her specific role or position and responsibilities.
• The name, industry, and description of the organization, including the culture of the organization.
• The length of time the leader has been in his or her current position.
• A brief history of the leader’s background and career path to his or her present day leadership position.

Analysis
Your analysis should:

• Describe, assess, and analyze the person’s leadership style. Be sure to provide specific examples.
• Identify and describe three significant challenges they faced as a leader.
• Identify and describe their greatest achievement, to date, as a leader.
• Apply and correctly cite a minimum of three leadership concepts from the course to this leader’s roles and responsibilities within the organization, their relationships with others, etc.
• Use these concepts to help describe the person’s leadership style and assess what makes it effective or ineffective.
• Reflect on what you learned about leadership from your research.
• Reflect on the implications for your personal leadership style.

Writing the Final Paper:
The Final Paper:

• Must be eight to ten double-spaced pages in length (excluding the title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a title page
• Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement.

 

 

More Information on Second Page****

Ashford Textbook Reference:

 

Warrick, D.D. (2016). Leadership: A high impact approach [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

 

Ashford Library Textbook References:

 

Snaiderbaur, S. (2012). Symphonic leadership: A model for the global business environment. The ISM Journal of International Business, 1(4), 17-1H,2H,3H,4H,5H,6H,7H,8H,9H,10H,11H,12H,13H,14H,15H,16H,17H. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/docview/1223915080?accountid=32521

 

******Please add two more scholarly sources!******

 

 

 

Walt Disney

Walt Disney was the founder of Disney Bros Studios. His central role was to share his vision with the artists and animators to create memorable films. He would occasionally act out the movies in the studio during meetings before assigning tasks to the creators to spur the imagination and creativity of the artists. Although he was in charge of the creative aspects in the company Walt Disney developed legendary films while instilling an influential organizational culture and performance anchored on a transformative style of leadership.

Leadership Style

Today Walt Disney is a household name across the world. The company dominates the film industry and has produced one of the most impeccable films ever watched in cinema history. Walt Disney propelled the film and music industry through the use of transformational leadership.  The transformational form of leadership attracts change and can maneuver the dynamics by aligning the move with the desired goals. Transformational leadership played an integral in the formation of the enormous Industry that Disney world is today. Walt appealed to the values of his follows to accomplish a higher purpose (PennState Leadership, 2013). In his early years, Disney exhibited highly innovative skills and was a go-getter. Disney was determined to bring his vision to life after completing his studies in animation at the Chicago Institute of Art. In partnership with his brother, Roy Oliver, Walt Disney started the Disney Bros Studio. Since then, Disney has played an integral role in society by influencing and motivating people to achieve their dreams through film.

From the beginning, Disney utilized a transformational leadership style. Transformational leadership style to have the ability to notice a change, set practical goals, and guide the management during the transition. He leveraged on the team composition and personality talents to build the Disney Empire. Disney was trustworthy, emotionally attached, and committed throughout his stay in office, with optimism on tasks. As a leader, he exuded the skills and talents to build the company’s image and reputation. Through personalized leadership, he maximized Disney’s potential to produce animations and films that cut across all audiences. Disney executed the leadership function by handling team with intellect talent to achieve set or desired goals. From the birth of the Disney movies Bros Studios he continuously sought to enact a corporate culture that can evolve, grow, and develop to enhance the overall success of the organizations as well as boost organizational output. Through this, he nurtured, inspired, and motivated his followers and employees to deliver their tasks and activities.

Transformational leadership style drives intellectual stimulation, inspiration, charisma, and individual consideration that are the root basis for employee engagement, empowerment, and productivity. Transformational leadership thrives on motivation and the ability to deliver credible effects on tasks. Disney Bros Studios showcased motivational programs inform of animation (Warrick, 2016). This interdependence portrayed Disney as an ideal leader who valued leaders in society. Through this animation features, this form of leadership earned Disney a prolific position in the film industry. As a transformational leader, Disney established a solid foundation that the company thrives on up to date. Walt Disney enacted many transformative efforts on flexible legal and administrative frameworks to govern and oversee the administration. He was keen to incorporate follower’s opinions and ideas in the decision-making process to ensure that all employees felt valued and appreciate and part of the company. The transformational leadership style evaluates corporate culture and employee performance as they play a critical role in the organization’s overall success. Since then, Disney Bros Studios has maintained a high competitive power compared to other institutions in the Industry.

Challenges

In 1941, Disney’s animators went on an acrimonious strike. It profoundly affected the production of animations in the company.   The strike, which spans over a long period, significantly limited the manufacture and supply of film. Walt was dismayed by the ambiguous demands and grievances of the employees. The employees complained of alienation, poor pay, and heinous acts from the administration. The strike affected the creativity animation aspect of the company, as it was challenging to bring Walt’s ideas to life without the animators. During this period, he developed high anxiety levels and could not concentrate due to its loopholes. Although the demands of the employees the strike was futile, it dawned on Walt, the essence of teamwork in an organization.

After World War II, Disney experienced a severe financial crisis that destabilized the operation and running of the business. In the wake of 1946, the company had more than 4million in debt, and the market was slowly collapsing due to the economic recession experienced in the aftermath of World War II. The company was supplying volumes of the film in Europe, but experienced difficulty getting funds in its U.S. headquarters.  Walt was under pressure from the administration to stop the distribution of firms to the Europe frontier as the company was experiencing losses. However, Walt was adamant that he could salvage the company from the enormous financial crisis and rebuild a steady income stream from Europe. At the same time, his brother and partner in the Disney Bro Studios broadly criticized his decision and vowed to step down. This period was a very stressful time for Walt and profoundly affected his career life.

In 1941 the U.S. government raided and overtook Disney workshops and transformed them into tank and artillery repair shops. Following Government’s directives to close worldwide film markets. The U.S. Government enacted sovereign control over all film markets. All film organizations had to undergo strict vetting to acquire a license to allow ownership of the film premises regardless of whether the company was working on a Government project, the services. Not only did the Government overtake the Disney premises, but they also coerced the animators, artists, and Walt Disney to craft military films that incorporated the Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and other characters. Although the Government funded the production, Disney experienced enormous losses as the company could only produce films for Government agencies.  The U.S. Government prompted Disney to incorporate its flagship characters Donald Duck in multiple films to portray patriotism. As of 1943, Disney was entirely run and controlled by the Government. The company created animations and films solely for Government agencies. The Government was using Disney characters and programs to create the patriotic appeal to inspire Americans to pay their taxes so that the state would be able to fund the war.



Greatest achievements

Walt Disney revolutionized the animation Industry. In his early years, he introduced and pioneered developments in the production of images, motion pictures, animations, and theme parks. One of the most symbolic achievements as the co-founder of the Disney Bros Studios is that Walt introduced the synchronization of sound in an animation short clip that was known as the Steamboat Willie. In 1932, Walt produced the first and the most epic film with digital effects that displayed a full-color three-strip Technicolor. The use of the multiplane camera features while creating Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the major contributor to the success and fame of the film (Steven, 2013). He played a pivotal role in the expansion of film markets across the world.  Through his creativity and competency in sales, Walt brought to life the most prominent theme park in the history of film, which accrues millions of dollars in revenue. The park is an international landmark that attracts more than 20,000 daily. Although Walt Disney anticipated creating many theme parks, Disneyland is the only park completed under his leadership. Also, Walt Disney oversaw the creation and production of the first-ever cell-animated feature-length film.

Leadership concepts

Walt Disney’s mission was to create a theme park that appealed to both children and adults. In pursuit of his goal, he employed and utilized various leadership concepts that would ensure the project took off.  Following his strong commitment and drive in 1955, he successfully oversaw the construction and completion of the Disneyland in Anaheim. California (PennState Leadership, 2013). Walt Disney exhibits many leadership traits and often linked them with courage and commitment to pursue his dreams. Walt possessed a unique drive and dedication, coupled with empathy that created a perfect combination to facilitate creativity and innovation. As a leader of a large organization, he could listen to the opinions and ideas of his followers and show empathy.

Furthermore, Walt nurtured his creativity and innovation and brought his dream to life by embracing a leadership style that aligns with his direction and vision. Throughout his term in office, he was able to combine various skillset that created a perfect blend of salesmanship and servant leadership. His excellent leadership skills and personality traits earned him success and international recognition as a prolific leader.  One of the most significant characteristics that propelled the administration of Walt Disney is the perseverance, dedication, commitment, and vigor to acquire his goals. He put in the time and effort until his ideas came to fruition.

Walt Disney had a futuristic vision fueled by creativity and innovation potential to create an amusement park. He held the supreme power of the growth and development of the organization.  Therefore, it was imperative to acquire a useful model of communication to rely on his aspirations and desires for his followers. He had to communicate clearly and concisely to keep the people motivated and aware of the vision. Similarly, Walt portrayed exceptional communication skills that made him successful in salesmanship. His perfect mastery of both leadership and personal skills enabled him to sell his ideas to potential investors and receive funding for his project. Walt Disney facilitated a transformative and growth-led communication model in terms of production cost, salaries allocation, distribution of films, and supply that created trust and transparency with investors and financiers. As a result, investors are motivated to invest in the company, which simultaneously boosts the unit per productions.  Communication is a pertinent aspect in any organization as it harmonizes different ideas, opinions to arrive at the desired goal that will influence change and performance (Salvatore, 2012). Walt Disney was the overall in-charge and performed an exceptional task of integrating his vision to the employee. Leaders must have a well-integrated channel of communication to enhance input and output.

Walt Disney once said, “All our dreams can come true if we dare to pursue them.” These words prompted him to achieve his dream. Courage played an instrumental role in his success in becoming a household name across the world. This leadership concept thrives on commitment, perseverance, and vigor to steer on towards the dream. It involves the ability to concentrate on visions with agility and passion until the ideas morph into overall success. He was able to take the leadership position and employ a dynamic approach to strategies to achieve his goal, respectively. Leaders are the company’s key drivers, and they must be able to steer the company towards the desired goals.

Use of leadership concepts to assess leadership styles

Walt Disney succeeded in achieving his dream because he possessed leadership skills and personality traits that had direct and significant effects on the company. Walt was committed to his vision and worked vehemently to achieve it.  His drive and responsibility, accompanied by the transformational leadership style, culminated in overall organizational success. A transformational leader exhibits a high level of professionalism. They portray proper management strategies, impose disciplinary habits, effective stress management styles, and ensure smooth flow of information by bringing change through polishing the performance of their aides. Transformational leadership forms the basis of a self-motivated, driven, and committed team. Through this, the team will get accustomed to leaders’ vision and gradually work in coherence with the leader to set and make effective changes in the organization (Warrick, 2016).

As a leader, it is crucial for your followers to trust and belief in your word. It is imperative to practice honest, confidence, and enthusiasm when conducting any business activities. For followers to believe and trust your idea, it is of paramount importance that you cultivate transparency. This aspect played an integral role in the construction and completion of the theme park under the leadership of Walt Disney. From the beginning, Walt had built a stable relationship with investors, capital markets, and donors as he had been accountable for production and distribution channels. As a result, people were able to invest in his idea and promote his work on a global scale.

Since the inception of Disney, Bros Studios Walt had aspired to create great animations that would revolutionize the world of film, and he was determined to make that dream come true. Walt took a risk and put himself out there to create a legendary movie that will change narratives, influence people’s behavior. He assembled highly competent team members that are an artistic and great insight to create a capable team that can help us navigate the production world and remain relevant and successful. It is the leader’s dual responsibility to analyze risks and come up with general ideas to bridge the gap. By doing the leaders increases the probability of an improvement in the overall organizational success. On the other end, sets clear objectives coupled with extensive preparation, implementation, and decision making to create a committed and accountable team of followers.

Leadership

Leadership is a complex phenomenon that requires the input of all members of an organization. The type of leadership utilized in a company is relative to organizational performance. Leaders that leverage of transformational leadership style form a strong foundation for employee engagement, creativity, and overall organizational success. With the advent of globalization and knowledge-based economies, changes are an inevitable and critical component in the growth and development of an organization.

In conclusion, my leadership style thrives on individual consideration and respect for people’s emotions. My main positive traits are integrity, commitment, and creativity. In the future, I am positive that these traits will reflect in all areas of my work, especially in my career, as I aspire to vie for leadership positions.

References

PennState Leadership, 2013. PennState Leadership Psych 485blog. [Online]
Available at: https://sites.psu.edu/leadership/2013/10/30/walt-disney-transformational-leader/
[Accessed 2020].

Salvatore, S., 2012. Symphonic Leadership: A Model for the Global Business Environment. The ISM Journal of International Business ed. s.l.:s.n.

Steven, W., 2013. The Magic Kingdom.Walt Disney and the American way of life. New York: University of Missouri Press.

Warrick, 2016. Leadership: A high impact approach. [Online] [Accessed, 2020].