Essay Leadership

Words: 3136
Pages: 13

Critical Analysis of Jeff Weiner – CEO of LinkedIn.
Assignment topic
Using relevant theories and models critically evaluate and analyse the leadership of a 21st century business leader. If you were in the position of the leader, what could you do to be a better leader and make a stronger impact on the followers and on situation/s?
For this assignment you can select a leader from a large or a small organisation. It could be a CEO of an international organisation whom you have read about in the newspapers/biographies, or a family member who runs a small business with a few staff members. The choice of leader is yours.
In your assignment you should cover the following:
- A clear description of the leader, the organisation/industry, and
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(LinkedIn - Annual Reports. 2014)
2.3 The Situation
Due to its rapid growth since 2003 (Refer Figure 1 below) LinkedIn faces a number of challenges notably the ability to proportionately scale with an increasing workforce. This will further highlight the need for strong leadership from the CEO down through the various business units to ensure the company achieves its vision ‘to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce’ through its mission ‘to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful’ (LinkedIn - Annual Reports. 2014)

3 Evaluation of Jeff Weiner as a leader
3.1 Character:
When critically evaluating Weiner’s leadership trait, style, behaviour and attitude it is easy to see that his first principle of leadership is managing compassionately. In an interview conducted by Business Insider magazine (Business Insider. 2014) Weiner advocates that leadership is defined as:

‘The ability to inspire others and accomplish shared objectives. It starts with vision and the ability to think about where you want to take your vision. It's about courage and conviction and the ability to communicate that vision’.

Weiner has a clear vision for LinkedIn and believes the best way to achieve this vision is to manage compassionately and with empathy. He believes that the leader/follower relationship is all important and that only by ‘walking a mile in their shoes’ can you truly manage with compassion. Weiner’s