Who is Capable of Leading Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Who is Capable of Leading - Essay Example As the paper declares leadership engages more than being able to obtain changes in behavior that flow from coercion linked to the possession of power or enticement linked to the ability to reward. Leadership involves the possession of qualities that lead others to want to follow the leader's directives, either because they feel obligated to do so, or because they desire to do so In other words, leadership is a characteristic that is voluntarily conferred upon a person by others and involves the ability of a person to engage the active and willing cooperation of followers. Leadership is, therefore, a process of influence that depends more on persuasion than on coercion. The ability to motivate group members, while clearly a key function of leadership, is not all that leadership involves. This essay stresses that leadership is also linked to the ability to set goals for the group that is vision; goals whose attainment facilitates the continued success of the group. In addition, leadership involves being able to structure the organization so that it can effectively attain those goals that is implementation. The several theories of leadership that have developed since the earliest history of organized societies articulate a wide variety of other criteria of leadership, making any simple definition of leadership incomplete. Leaders come in each size, figure, and temperament -- short, tall, neat, sloppy, young, old, male, and female.

Article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Article - Essay Example In this paper, an analysis of two articles about this biography will be done, with reference to the New York Times articles, can be considered to be the  effective  one  of the two. Janet Maslin’s article attempts to show the readers of Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs, that Jobs was not the nasty person that many of those who had been close to him considered him to be. She writes this article to an audience which is likely to be extremely supportive of Jobs, and which will likely be exceedingly hostile to those people who are critical of him. The purpose of Maslin’s article, therefore, is to celebrate Jobs’ life through the revelations made about him in his biography. One gathers that Maslin’s view of Jobs’ biography is highly supportive of Jobs, overlooking his faults and instead  mostly  considering  the positive aspects of his life. Maslin accomplishes her task remarkably well because she presents a Steve Jobs that was not o nly a famous man, but also a human being. The style used by Maslin in writing about Jobs’ biography leaves the reader, or audience, incredibly curious, and it is likely to encourage one to read it. The use of imagery is prevalent throughout the article, and each of the images that Maslin writes about can be considered to have a double meaning. ... It not only shows how his background helped develop his creative ability, but it also reveals those aspects of his life which made him stand out from other human beings. The positive tone of the article is also shown when one discusses Jobs’ personal life. While others would heavily criticize him for his abandonment of his illegitimate daughter, Lisa, Maslin redeems this image by stating that he later came to accept and support his daughter. The tone of the article can, therefore, be said to be positive in matters concerning both Job’s business life, and his personal life. There is extraordinarily little in the article to taint this image. The second article, by Fred Schruers, about Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs can be considered to be overly critical of the subject. It has for an audience who would like to see a balance between both the positive and negative aspects of Steve Jobs. Schruers criticizes the way that Isaacson wrote Jobs’ biography, stati ng that he got too close to the subject of the biography to be able to write objectively. Schruers suggests that since Isaacson was present throughout Jobs’ eventual illness, he shared too many personal moments with him, and this may have distorted his true opinion of him. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to reveal the weaknesses that are found in Steve Job’s biography. It can be said that it might even encourage a reader to study it with a pinch of salt. Schruers, in his article, also uses imagery as a way of stressing the points which he is trying to put across to his audience. At one point in the article, he states that it would have been unfair to ask Isaacson to play the role of Church Lady while interviewing