LEADERSHIP OBSERVATION ANALYSIS ESSAY

LEADERSHIP OBSERVATION ANALYSIS ESSAY

Introduction

“The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development. There is almost no limit to the potential of an organization that recruits good people, raises them as leaders and continually develops them,” a quote by John Maxwell. Maxwell tried to illustrate the importance of good leadership in any organization. Leaders usually have to make tough decisions for the benefit of the company. Boseman, as the leader of the law firm, had to make several tough decisions for the benefit of the firm. Due to good leadership and wise strategies, Boseman managed to keep the law firm afloat and an increase in the revenue collected.

Summary of the Show

The two episodes of the show that I will analyze for this essay are season one, episode two and season three, episode nine. The two episodes have cases where Boseman has had to make a decision that will impact the organization in a positive manner. In season one, episode two, Diane has just lost all her life savings from a Ponzi scheme. She has to start afresh although she was just about to go for early retirement. Boseman approaches Diane and offers her a position at the firm to work as a partner [1]. Some of the partners are not welcoming the idea of Diane joining the firm at that high position. However, Boseman convinces them that it is the best thing for the firm. The partners finally give in and allow Diane to join the company. Diane brings a lot of cases to the firm and can improve the reputation of the organization. For the first time in the organization, there is a white person in the partnership position.

In the third season, the case of racism has cut across in the law firm. There are some employees in the firm that believed that the white lawyers were getting better treatment than the black lawyers[2]. Initially, the law firm was created mainly by black partners to ensure that black lawyers can get a place to work. Due to the question of inclusivity and diversity, the firm had to hire people from a different ethnic group. However, Boseman was of a different opinion. He had to solve the matter as fast as possible before it got out of hand.

Understanding Leadership

Several qualities are expected of a good leader in any organization. A leader had the task of motivating the employees to take all their tasks seriously. They have to ensure that they can create a good relationship with the leaders while ensuring that they remain authoritative. Leaders also have to make tough decisions in an organization.

In most cases, they make a decision from the recommendation of the board of directors. Good leaders have to convince the board of directors to make decisions that are beneficial to the company. Some of the core elements of a good leader are honesty and integrity, accountability, and excellent communication skills among others[3].

A good leader has to be honest and have integrity. Dwight Eisenhower stated that ‘the supreme quality of leadership is unquestionably integrity. Integrity refers to the virtue of having strong moral principles. Leaders deal with ethical dilemmas from time to time. Only leaders with functional integrity can make a sound decision. Honestly and integrity are essential for ensuring the success of a company. From the way Boseman handles most issues in the organization, one can say that he is honest and has integrity. He had to ensure that the organization policies were not set aside for any individual. Furthermore, a leader cannot expect integrity and honesty from their followers if they do not possess the same values.

Communication is vital for success in any organization. Leaders are expected to have explicit communication skills. They have to ensure that they can communicate the goals and vision of the organization to their followers. They also have to be open to the suggestions that most of the employees are giving. Currently, many organizations are employing servant leaders. Servant leaders can easily associate with other workers and get their input regarding issues affecting the company. Mr Boseman tried his best to ensure that he could communicate with the employees of the firm.

Accountability makes the leader responsible for all the actions that are taken in the company. A leader should be able to take many shares of the blames than of the credits of other employees[4]. For instance, in a law firm, the leader takes responsibility for any case that they lose. Usually, it is the role of the leader to select the best person to handle cases that are presented in the firm. A leader should know the strength of all the employees and make sure that they only delegate tasks to those that are qualified. A leader can decide to work on the tasks that they believe the other employees cannot handle diligently. Most organizations usually hire an auditor to find out the progress of the company. The leader has to be accountable to the findings of the audit report.

Beneficial Leadership

Mr Boseman has portrayed some characters that make him a good leader. For instance, he was able to convince other partners to allow Dane in the organization as a partner. Initially, some of the partners were against his decision to offer that position that an external person. However, he managed to convince the partners to consider his decision. He had god communication skill and command of authority while communicating with other partners. As much as he was the head of the firm, the other board members were name partners and also had a say in how the organization is run. Mr Boseman managed to see the benefits that Dane would add to the law firm and thus convinced the other partners to give her a chance. He went ahead to accept Maia, the young female lawyer, that Dane came with to the firm.

A good leader should be able to handle any problem that may arise in the company[5]They can consult with the board of directors or some of the workers and try to find a solution to the problem. There are some issues that a manager can discuss with the subordinate and ensure that they have a working solution for the problem. For instance, Mr Boseman consulted with some of the lawyers on the best defence tactics. On the other hand, Mr Boseman could not consult with employees on how to handle the racial issues in the company. Some of the lawyers claimed that there was favouritism and that most white lawyers had an earlier increment of salary. When Mr Boseman had of the issues, the first instinct was to get to the bottom of the matter before making any decisions. Boseman decided to hire and an external auditor to look into the claims and offer any recommendation. Mr Boseman also had to take responsibility for the racial claims even though he was not personally responsible. He had to look into the racial claims and sort the issue before it escalates and get out of hand.

Leaders can also be judged by the hard decisions that they had to make. There was a case that occurred Maia, and the firm had a zero-tolerance policy. Once a member of the firm had been arrested or associated with illegal activities regardless of the severity of the crime, the firm had to let them go. Some of the board members wanted to keep Maya in the company even after her trial. Some felt that they had to adhere to the zero-tolerance policy since retaining Maia after the incident would appear like favouritism. Mr Boseman had to decide to let Maia go despite her contributions to the company.

There are several shortcomings of Mr Boseman as a leader that are observable in the show. For instance, as the leader, he could have foreseen the issue of racial discrimination in the company. However, since he was not racist in his decision, he believed all the employees to be of the same mind. Mr Boseman could have interacted with all the employees frequently. Some of the employees could have mentioned the issue sooner.

Conclusion

A good leader is very critical for the growth of any organization. Mr Boseman has portrayed some element of a good leader in the law firm. His nature as a good leader is substantially depicted in season one, episode two and season three, episode nine. There are several had decisions that he had to make. Some of the core elements of a good leader are honesty and integrity, accountability, and an excellent communicator, among others. The key roles make him beneficial to the law firm.

Notes

1. Delroy Lindo and Regina Taylor, The Good Fight, film, 2017-.
2. Ibid
3. A. Logunova, “CONCEPTUAL RESEARCH OF THE ECONOMIC COMPUTER DISCOURSE “DESCRIBE A GOOD LEADER””, Kognitivnye Issledovaniya Yazyka 25 (2016): 836-841, doi:10.20916/2071-9639-2016-25-836-841.
4. Jenny Dearborn, “DATA ANALYTICS: THE FOUR STEPS EVERY LEADER SHOULD TAKE NOW”, Leader To Leader 2018, no. 88 (2018): 38-43, doi:10.1002/ltl.20356.
5. Janet M. Krebs, “Can You Handle Being The Boss?”, The ASHA Leader 17, no. 11 (2012): 26-27, doi:10.1044/leader.ipp.17112012.26.

Bibliography

Dearborn, Jenny. “DATA ANALYTICS: THE FOUR STEPS EVERY LEADER SHOULD TAKE NOW”. Leader To Leader 2018, no. 88 (2018): 38-43. doi:10.1002/ltl.20356.

Krebs, Janet M. “Can You Handle Being The Boss?”. The ASHA Leader 17, no. 11 (2012): 26-27. doi:10.1044/leader.ipp.17112012.26.

Lindo, Delroy, and Regina Taylor. The Good Fight. The film, 2017-.

Logunova, E.A. “CONCEPTUAL RESEARCH OF THE ECONOMIC COMPUTER DISCOURSE “DESCRIBE A GOOD LEADER””. Kognitivnye Issledovaniya Yazyka 25 (2016): 836-841. doi:10.20916/2071-9639-2016-25-836-841.

[1] Delroy Lindo and Regina Taylor, The Good Fight, film, 2017-.

[2] Ibid

[3] E.A. Logunova, “CONCEPTUAL RESEARCH OF THE ECONOMIC COMPUTER DISCOURSE “DESCRIBE A GOOD LEADER””, Kognitivnye Issledovaniya Yazyka 25 (2016): 836-841, doi:10.20916/2071-9639-2016-25-836-841.

[4] Jenny Dearborn, “DATA ANALYTICS: THE FOUR STEPS EVERY LEADER SHOULD TAKE NOW”, Leader To Leader 2018, no. 88 (2018): 38-43, doi:10.1002/ltl.20356.

[5] Janet M. Krebs, “Can You Handle Being The Boss?”, The ASHA Leader 17, no. 11 (2012): 26-27, doi:10.1044/leader.ipp.17112012.26.