Ch. 1: Leader as a Hero (2 of 2)

LEADER AS A HERO

When perusing through various internet sites, it was clear that the idea of the hero leader is not necessarily consistent with what the text described, such as the exhibit 1.2 and its description of the "Old Paradigm Leader = Stabalizer, Controller, Competitor, Diversity Avoider, and Hero" and the New Paradigm Leader = Change Manager, Facilitator, Collaborator, Diversity Promoter, and Humble" (Daft, 2018). 

Some sites even correlated hero attributes to be similar to the humble leader. If anything, that might put in perspective the paradigm shift of leadership that is occurring. For the purpose of the text we will use the old paradigm version of hero, which like the exhibit above describes the competitive and controlling type CEO. It definitely isn't hard to find those types of leaders. Many will probably describe Steve Jobs, and he would definitely meet that description. Elon Musk is another that comes to mind, and he will be who I will discuss here. 

Few would argue that Musk is a true visionary. He is very goal oriented and is very hands on with most of his projects. He also apparently pushed learning through failure as his ethos, which states “Failure is an option here. If things are not failing you are not innovating" (Marsh, T-Three). But it is also known that he is very driven, controlling, and competitive. While he may learn from failure, I don't get the idea that he just brushes it off. He is also known for extreme micromanaging, which is typical of the old paradigm hero mindset. 

While I was unable to find a great deal of leaders who fit the humble type, I had a lot of choice in identifying one that is of the old paradigm hero leader. 

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