Dwight Eisenhower's Leadership Style

Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it” (www.leadershipnow.com[->0]). This is just how Jeanne Lewis a graduate from Harvard Business School approached management. She motivated and pushed her followers to accomplish the things she felt needed to be done. As a leader within Staples Inc. she was able to accomplish a great deal by recognizing the readiness of her followers and applying the correct leadership style. In the following paragraphs we will discuss what follower readiness is, it’s four levels, the four levels of leadership style and how the leadership style used is determined by the readiness level of the followers. We will also take a look
Readiness level one is best matched with leadership style one. This style is the best approach because followers are not skilled enough and lack the motivation to accomplish the task on their own. The leader is responsible for making sure the followers understand what they need to do and how they need to do it. Leadership style two best fits readiness level two because the follower still needs the support of the leader to tell them what needs to be done and how to do it but at this level the follower is motivated. They are willing to learn and offer suggestions for accomplishing the task. Leadership style three and readiness level three are a good match since the follower has the ability to do the task but lacks motivation. By the leader taking interest in the follower’s feelings and suggestions the leader can often help to motivate the follower to get the job done. Low Task and Low Relationship leadership style is a good fit to the Able and Willing follower since this follower doesn’t require much supervision. They have the skills and the motivation to accomplish the task. This allows the leader to be able to delegate a lot of the responsibility to the followers and can trust that things will be done and done
Anytime she changed positions and began working with a new group she would dig deep into the group she was working with. She would ask questions and pay attention to how her followers would operate. As described by one of her colleagues, Jeanne “tended to manage tightly at first, then loosened the reins (Cases in ALP p. 81). Another reported his first impression of Lewis as being a “micro-manager” but then “realized that she liked to inspire dialogue and debate to ensure that they dug deeply in their decision making” (Cases in ALP p. 81). After taking the time to learn about her subordinates she would then decide on the proper approach to manage her followers. She took the time to assess their readiness level and then find the appropriate Leadership Style that best fit the situation in which she was