Caroline Walls, Connor Fussa, Alvaro Palomino

Mrs. Compton
English 1
May 6, 2016

ACC podcast
Alvaro: Welcome to today's edition of the ACC podcast. Im Alvaro.
Caroline: Im Caroline.
Connor: And Im Connor.
Alvaro: Today were going to be going over the aspects of leadership.
Connor(Curious): What is leadership?
Caroline: (Excited) Im glad you asked Connor! Leadership is the act of leading a group of
people or an organization. Leadership can be a group of individuals or just one individual whom
people look up to. There are different types of leaderships like Laissez-Faire which is when
employees are given complete freedom and make their own decisions without much supervision.
Connor: (Curiously)Well tell us more.
Caroline: Well then there is Autocratic leaders which is when a person makes decisions on their
own and they rarely accept advice or constructive criticism from others.
Caroline: Transactional is the next form of leadership. I feel like this one relates to the famous
book by George Orwell, Animal Farm. Transactional leadership is a style of leadership that
uses punishment or reward to encourage people to complete set goals. I feel like transactional
leadership relates to the character Napoleon because he praised animals who worked hard, and
punished animals who did not reach his standards.

Alvaro: (Worried)Wait, you forgot transformational.

Caroline: Oh yeah, transformational leadership is when you actively communicate and work with
employees to meet goals and make decisions together.
Connor: (Surprised)Wow, I never understood how many different types of leaders there are. In
Animal Farm, the pigs became leaders and expressed some of these traits.
Alvaro: You mean like how Napoleon, Snowball, and the pigs use their power to get the animals
to do whatever they want?
Connor: Exactly. We can also see how leaders abused their power in Animal Farm when we think
of how Squealer used propaganda to tell the animals lies for their benefit. On chapter 14 of page
three, squealer says "Comrades!You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit
of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself.
Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples contain
substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole
management and organization of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over
your welfare. It is for YOUR sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples." this is a form of
Autocracy.
Caroline: (Curious) So what kinds of things do leaders do? How can leaders abuse their power
and what can they do to create kindness and equality in an environment?
Connor: this is explained in an article by Professor Lindred Greer at Stanford University titled
how power struggles escalate. it says that power changes people, and leaders in organizations
or companies can tend to disregard other people's needs or feelings in favor of their own well
being.

Alvaro: I read an article on this a few months ago. In an article by BBC, they said that Vladimir
Putin, the president of Russia, uses the people`s money for his own personal wealth. He takes
billions of dollars behind the scenes every year. He even gives large sums of money to
neighbouring countries and allies. However, he cuts off supplies and trade to countries that he
does not trust.
Caroline: Yeah, I saw that article too. It also says that he rules with Autocratic leadership. He is
practically a dictator and uses the peoples money for his own well being.
Alvaro:(Questionably)Well leaders aren't always bad right? What makes a good leader?
Caroline: I think that a good leader is usually someone who is cares about the people they're
working with and tries to do the best for their society.
Connor: I agree, in the article How power struggles escalate the author describes what a good
leader is and the actions they have to make in order to keep things under control.
Alvaro: Yeah, according to Greer there are multiple steps you can take to assure a culture of
freedom and fairness.
Caroline:(Curiously) Like what?
Connor: (Excited) I know! Establishing roles are a great way to create equal opportunity for
everyone.
Alvaro: I agree. Another step would be having shared decision making. Without it, there would
be corrupt dictators making all of the decisions.
Connor: I think also that creating a culture of respect among peers is a good way to relieve power
struggles.

Caroline: Oh yeah, that's right. In animal farm, Snowball uses these techniques to establish an
environment based on equality. He even sets up meetings every sunday for the animals to express
their opinions and allow their voices to be heard.
Alvaro: That is a great example of quality leadership, and a respected leader. In that book,
Snowball was an excellent leader, and Napoleon was a corrupt dictator that abused the animals
for his own good and the rest of the pigs.
Caroline: So by creating a culture of respect, establishing specific roles, and shared decision
making could solve the corruption that poisons many people in positions of power?
Alvaro: That's right, leadership is about leading a group of people or an organization.
Connor: So now we understand what a leader is and what a leader can do to be helpful and what
they can do to be harmful.
Caroline: When leaders abuse their power we can see how it negatively affects their society and
when a leader uses their power for good we can see how it positively affects their society.
Connor: In essence, leadership is a person who holds a position of power in an institution or a
group of people.
Alvaro: Yeah, and there are many different types of leadership. Some establish an environment
based on respect and equality, some represent freedom, and some can be corrupt and evil.
Caroline: Even in modern society we can see examples of these styles of leadership.
Alvaro: Right, so now that we understand what leadership is I think we have a question for the
listeners.
Connor: And what is that?
Alvaro: What can you do to be a better leader? How can you help the environment around you?

Connor: With everything that I learned from today's podcast, I can guarantee you that I will be a
type of leader that thinks of the people before myself. And I hope others feel that way too.
Caroline: I agree. I believe that a person in a position of power has the responsibility to be fair
and equal to all of their peers.
Alvaro: Me too. And I hope everyone keeps this question in mind next time they find themselves
in a position of power.
Caroline: (Excited) Thanks for joining us today! Tune in next week for more podcasts from
ACC!
Connor:(Excited) Bye!
Alvaro: (Excited) Bye!

Work Cited:
Maner, John K., and Charleene R. Case. "The Essential Tension between Leadership and Power."
Http://www.apa.org. 2016 American Psychological Association, Oct. 2013. Web. 05 May 2016.

"'Putin Is Corrupt' Says US Treasury." BBC News. BBC, 25 Jan. 2016. Web. 05 May 2016.

Germano, Michael A. "Library Worklife:." Leadership Style and Organizational Impact . ALAAPA,
June 2010. Web. 05 May 2016.