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LEADERSHIP STYLE

RUNNING HEAD: LEADERSHIP STYLE

LEADERSHIP STYLE

Houman Kargar
LDR/531
Professor Foley
August 18, 2014

LEADERSHIP STYLE

Introduction
How do some people turn out to be successful leaders? What are some skills that they
possess that facilitate them in demonstrating effective leadership? These are some questions
people have been trying to answer over the course of centuries due to the fact that leaders have
the most essential and critical part in building a nation and development of numerous other
objectives. In order to resolve these concerns, leadership theories have emerged that focus on the
characteristics that distinguish a leader from a follower, along with determining his or her
efficacy. In addition, these theories, apparently the characteristics of a leader, attain the
procedural likeness for his or her followers. Dilma Rousseff, the first female president of Brazil,
is one such leader who is like a mentor for me.
In this paper, I will identify leadership theories and characteristics of Dilma Rousseff.
Also, I will show how my personal leadership style and characteristics compare or contrast with
those of Dilma. Also, I will analyze some ideas and plans to improve my effectiveness as a
leader.

Dilma Rousseff
Dilma Vana Rousseff is the first female and 36th President of Brazil, who is currently
holding the president office since January 1st, 2011. Before this, she has also held the positions of
Chief of Staff of Brazil and Minister of Mines and Energy. During her youth, she joined multiple
left wing lobbies and Marxist Urban movements that fought against a military dictatorship, but
was ultimately imprisoned in 1970. When she was released two years later, she started building
her life with Carlos Araujo and founded the Democratic Labor Party and became the Secretary of
the Treasury of the City of Porto Alegre in the then government, and later the Secretary of

LEADERSHIP STYLE

Energy of the State of Rio Grande do Sul under next two governments. However, she left the
Democratic Labor Party due to internal conflicts and joined the Workers Party in 2000. Later in
2002, Rousseau was offered the post of Minister of Mines and Energy that she happily accepted.
In 2005, she took over the office of Chief of Staff and stepped down in 2010 in order to run for
the presidency in which she succeeded. Observing the overall career and professional successes
of Dilma Rousseff, it is apparent that she utilized leadership theories effectively. When she was
imprisoned from 1970 to 1972, Rousseff was tortured as well. Later, when she was released, she
continued her social activities, and her journey for presidency then commenced. What is most
admirable about Rousseff is that she never manipulated her previous suffering in her political
career except for learning from the mistakes she made previously. In this way, her focus was on
the transformational theory, i.e. focusing on the development of a relationship with her fans,
followers, and supporters. Moreover, she motivated her followers, particularly females to move
forward and play their parts in the development of a sound society (Phillips, 2011).
In her professional career, Dilma had to face many confrontations. Apparently, her first
task in all major posts was to clean up the leftovers of the politicians and authorities whom she
succeeded. One such issue is the economic crisis that initiated globally in 2008. People were of
the opinion that being Chief of Staff, Rousseff would fail to deal with this issue. However, her
situational theory of leadership proved to be very sound, and she took the responsibility of the
issues, while asserting that it was her administrations responsibility to deal with this along with
other major issues. On an international level, she stated that a country must be judged according
to its ability of protecting its citizens, educating them, ensuring health measures and more.
Another instance of her efficiency as a leader is the issue of construction of dams.
Despite the fact that her relationship with the congress is quite stained, she has her own

LEADERSHIP STYLE

perception for the economic development that she intends to implement. She has been addressing
this issue by in a very unlikely manner. She is reported to be a very humble person but holds a
very steady approach against social activists and congress in the matter of construction of dams
in Arizona Forest. Such application of contingency theory of leadership has helped her in
establishing her position and stance on this matter.
Rousseffs entire admiration is a representation of behavioral theories since she has
managed to appoint posts to authorities in such a way that they tend to work openly and in an
improved way. Also, Rousseff has implemented a participative theory as she manages to interact
with common people on a regular basis (Fellet, 2012).

My Leadership Style
After reading about Dilma Rousseff and observing her overall conduct, I have reached
the opinion that my leadership style is quite distinct from hers. Primarily, I do not see as myself
as a leader who employs situational theory when handling a crisis. Also, my behavior is
sometimes not appropriate for a good leader as I tend to lose my temper or lack mental qualities
when taking a decision to respond. At the beginning of Rouseff's career, she had to face the
criticism that she was not able to devise a sound foreign policy. The issue of Rio +20 became a
source of conflict between the left and right wing. However, she followed the path of Lulu and
previous foreign ministers and managed to design an authentic and free foreign policy (Ituassu,
2012) due to which now Rouseff and Brazil hold a higher position in international politics. If I
was in her shoes, I might have failed to do so because taking risks is another factor that is present
in her but absent from my leadership style.

LEADERSHIP STYLE

Conclusion
In order to enhance my leadership characteristics and style, I should initially improve my
communication skills. Also, it is necessary that I increase my interaction with everyone as this
will help me build my behavioral characteristics in leadership. Also, I should take risks in
decisions and consult all related persons. Furthermore, I must learn to take responsibility of all
people that I manage and keenly observe the situations and people at hand.

LEADERSHIP STYLE

References
Ituassu, A. (2012). The incredible Dilma Rousseff | openDemocracy. openDemocracy. Retrieved
August 15, 2014, from http://www.opendemocracy.net/arthur-ituassu/incredible-dilmarousseff
Phillips, T. (2011, December 3). Dilma Rousseff's pledge to empower Brazil's women comes
good. The Guardian. Retrieved August 15, 2014, from
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/dec/02/dilma-rousseff-pledge-empowerwomen-brazil
Fellet, J. (2012). Brazil's Dilma Rousseff steers a steady course. BBC News. Retrieved August
15, 2014, from http://m.bbc.com/news/world-radio-and-tv-19640346