Title

Introduction

A. Capture reader’s interest

B. Build case through logic

C. Topic sentence/thesis statement

What values, traits and abilities do you think are most important in a CEO to meet its
performance objectives, while simultaneously developing a resilient organization that can
respond to the challenges of sustainability? Why are resilience and sustainability important?

A. Change-Trust Relationship

1. Understanding that change is inevitable in business, employees must be able to see and
trust their CEO. Even if the employee does not have direct contact with the CEO, they
should have that change-trust with their CEO. This trait builds on resilient and
sustainable organizations.

2. “Trust, or the state of reduced uncertainty and undesirable conduct, favors the comfort of
a predictable, steady state. Resistance to change is implicit in the desire for certainty and
predictability (Management of Change and Trust).”

3. There is no greater example of a change-trust relationship and management as the

COVID-19 pandemic. “The moderator variables will be separated into two factors which
are (a)leader behaviors regarding managerial ability and ethics during the crisis, and (b)
leader behaviors regarding a positive working relationship of employees based on work
from home activity according to elements of trustworthy leaders (Savolainen &
Hä kkinen,2011)( Chen, & Sriphon. (2022).” The CEOs have to be both adaptable to the
changes of the world, in this case, during the COVID-19 pandemic. As well as being able
to keep calm for their employees. In uncertain times employees look to and trust their
CEOs to be a structure and strength that will keep their focus and ensure they will still be
employed and stable.

B. Resilience

1. Resilience is that strength that employees look for to build that change-trust relationship.
“Ecologists such as Holling (1973) and Perrings (2001) have defined it as the capacity to
absorb stress and shocks. Tinch (1998) notes characteristics such as stability,
persistence, resistance, nonvulnerability, and stochastic return time. (Resilience 2023).”
Keeping with the Covid-19 example, Lee & Johnson (2021) state, “The language and
behavior of organizational leaders, especially CEOs, are salient information cues that
managers refer to during crises.
 C. Sustainability

1. Sustainability is the ability to preserve and refine what the business currently does to
help impact the present and future of the business. This would show strongly in a
circular economy. A CEO needs to provide sustainability to help keep a long lasting
company moving in the right direction.

2. “The circular economy is not about just recycling the products. In a circular economy, the
manufacturer maintains ownership of the products, much like leasing a car. The model
looks more like this: make, use, reuse, remake and recycle. (Circular Economy 2023).”
This sustainability is shown well in the leasing program of a car company. A new car is
leased to a client for both months and miles. They pay this upfront or in monthly
installments. When the lease is up, the client will need a new lease or owned car and will
come back to the dealership to return the car and begin the process again. The leased
vehicle returns to the dealership to be sold again as certified pre-owned and still able to
make the company money.

Identify a CEO who has those values, traits and abilities. How have they played a role in the
company’s success?

A. Marvin Ellison

1. Marvin Ellison was previously the CEO of J.C Penny and is now Lowe’s CEO. According to
fortune, this, “makes him the only Black CEO to lead two different Fortune 500
companies. (Wahba, 2021).” Marvin Ellison worked from being a security guard at
Target to becoming the CEO of J.C Penny. Ellison took over from Mike Ullman. He also
pulled Home Depot out of their own crisis as he did for J.C. Penny.

2. “Too many CEOs in retail like to be the smartest person in the room,” says Home Depot
co-founder and former CEO and chairman Bernie Marcus. “Marvin’s not like that.” After
Ellison joined Home Depot in 2002, he promptly sought advice from Marcus, who had
recently retired. The two went on store visits three or four times a year to talk strategy
and culture. Home Depot soon went through its own crisis, enduring lagging sales and
plummeting morale under CEO Bob Nardelli. (Wahba, P. 2016).”

3. Ellison shows humility in this quote. Change-trust goes both ways. If the CEO isn’t the
smartest person in the room, they should know when to listen to those who have the
experience and knowledge and take it in without thinking it’s a criticism against their
leadership.

4. Even more so, Ellison shows the resilience of a CEO who has taken on a struggling
company. This resilience gives employees trust in the change to come. An interview with
Business Source Ultimate states, “Ellison, who will succeed retiring Lowe's CEO Robert
Niblock, is familiar with the home improvement retail industry. Twelve of his 30-plus
years in the retail industry, between 2002 to 2014, were spent at Home Depot. (He was
executive vice president of U.S. stores during the last six years of his tenure there.)

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 Before that, he spent 15 years at Target (TGT)."Working closely with Lowe's board,
management team and the more than 310,000 talented employees, I believe we will not
just compete, but win in today's complex retail environment," said Ellison in the Lowe's
press release. LOW, E. (2018).” In this interview, he shows what employees may need at
that moment, a pillar of strength without seeming like a new overlord or tyrant. He
exudes confidence that this change is a good thing.

What are the major barriers to being an effective CEO?

A. Share and distributed leadership could be a barrier depending on the CEO. “With this
approach, the focus is on the process by which leaders enable others to share responsibility
for leadership functions. This model assumes that distributed leadership and power sharing
are inevitable in organizations, and the organizations cannot be understood by focusing
solely on the decisions and actions of individual leaders. (Shared and Distributed
Leadership 2023).” While this style can help decrease the workload, the work ethic and
attention to detail may not be the same as the CEO had envisioned, making it more difficult
to have to redo the work that had been delegated.

B. Another Barrier could be indecisiveness. “Indecisiveness is the in ability or failure to make a

decision when faced with conflicting factors. (Managing Ambivalence 2023).” While
indecisiveness is a barrier, ambivalence is not. Being open to change and not making a
decision are two different structures, and a CEO must be aware of which of the two they
currently embodying. “ Ambivalence is created when a decision maker remains open to
information, leaving them vulnerability to discovering that their decision is incorrect. A
leader should retain the ability to keep an open mind to new information during the
decision-making process, as the situation might change and influence the appropriate
direction to take. (Managing Ambivalence 2023).” As a CEO, it may be difficult to decern
which type of strategic leadership style is currently at play depending on the decisions
before them.

Which theory or theories of leadership do you feel are relevant to your situation at work?

C. Working for an automotive manufacturer, the leadership theories that would be relevant
are a blend of the three: administrative, adaptive and enabling.

1. Administrative leadership theory is when the work is coordinated from the head down.
“Involves actions and decisions by formal leaders who are responsible for planning and
coordinating activities for the organization. (Complexity Theory of Leadership).” The
business plan is determined by the corporate office and divided up by the regions. The
regions work to break the business plan into manageable sales amounts per month, and
the field representatives relay this information to the actual dealers with their personal
goals.

2. Adaptive leadership theory is when the staff comes together with different areas of
expertise to solve a common problem. “Adaptive leadership occurs when people with
different knowledge, beliefs, and preferences interact in an attempt to solve problems

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 and resolve conflicts. (Complexity Theory of Leadership).” For Kia, each region is divided
into three parts: Finance, Sales, and Services. On the sales side, there are four
departments: Dealer Development, Marketing, Distribution, and Sales. These four are led
by managers who have history and knowledge within these areas and are brought
together to not only create the best business plan for the year but help make sure the
target and goals are met within their field.

3. Enabling leadership is when the lines of communication work both ways. “Enabling
leadership facilitates the process by increasing the interdependence among people,
supporting the value of dissent and debate, increasing access to necessary information
and resources, and helping to get innovative ideas implemented in the organization.”
While we are considered the Eastern region, each of our 161 current dealerships are
owned by individuals who want to be successful and profitable. They have their own
ways of getting to the final goal. It is the field representative’s job to be in between the
interdependence and the independence of the dealer.

Describe an instance when you demonstrated leadership.

4. I worked for a fleet management company called Element. I was in the department that
handled the renewal of registrations for our vehicles within all 50 states of the US. We
have begun to bring the renewal process in-house, to build revenue and make the
process more efficient. I was selected to begin this process with the state of
Pennsylvania. Almost a year later, the “in-house renewal” department had gained five
more employees and 13 states total. I had handed over the process of Pennsylvania to
the newer colleagues and was now tasked with California. My workload had doubled, but
I was used to it, having to do four states total during Covid lockdowns. While my
manager was away dealing with a family issue, one of the employees quit leaving three
states on the table. Automatically I brought the team together as coworkers and stated
that the three states’ set of renewals could not pile up since we did thousands of
renewals a month in each state. I delegated the smaller volume states among my
coworkers and took one to make it fair. I wanted to make sure people didn’t think I was
giving orders or trying to step into my boss’s shoes. I wanted to make sure they knew
that and asked if anyone had other opinions or if the workload would be too much for
someone to handle. No one objected. I worked with the company we used to have the
credentials shifted from the employee who left to the three of us who gained the ex-
employees states. I emailed my boss to explain what I had done as soon as we concluded
the meeting. He was impressed, and I stressed that I didn’t want to step on toes or cross
lines but wanted to make sure the work was completed since it was easy to fall behind.
He was very impressed with my initiative to step up and help lead the group when our
leader couldn’t. He praised this as one of the finest moments in my year-end review. I
personally saw this moment of leadership as a teamwork construct. I had no authority to
tell my coworkers what to do, but I was able to deduce clear and logical reasoning that
they agreed with. As a leader, it is important to not only understand the people that work
for you but, when possible, give them a moment to voice their opinion. If I was the

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 manager of that department and this happened to me, I would have done it the same way
and taken others’ opinions into question as well.

Conclusion

A. Restate topic

B. Summarize three main points

C. Revisit introduction or tie all ideas together

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 References

James K.C. Chen, & Thitima Sriphon. (2022). The Relationships among Authentic Leadership,
Social Exchange Relationships, and Trust in Organizations during COVID-19 Pandemic.
Advances in Decision Sciences, 26(1).
https://doi-org.ezproxy.umgc.edu/10.47654/v26y2022i1p31-68

Kim, J., Lee, H. W., Gao, H., & Johnson, R. E. (2021). When CEOs are all about themselves:
Perceived CEO narcissism and middle managers’ workplace behaviors amid the COVID-
19 pandemic. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(9), 1283–1298. https://doi-
org.ezproxy.umgc.edu/10.1037/apl0000965

LOW, E. (2018, May 22). Surprise! J.C. Penney’s CEO Found A New Job -- At Lowe’s.
Investors Business Daily, 1.

The University of Maryland Global Campus. (n.d.). Complexity Theory of Leadership. Learning
Topic Complexity Theory of Leadership. Retrieved from
https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/mba/2218-mba670/learning-topic-list/
complexity-theoryofleadership.html?ou=722287

The University of Maryland Global Campus. (n.d.). Management of Change and Trust. Retrieved
from https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/mba/2218-mba670/learning-
topic-list/management-of-changeandtrust.html?ou=722287

The University of Maryland Global Campus. (n.d.). Managing Ambivalence. Learning Topic
Managing Ambivalence. Retrieved from
https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/mba/2218-mba670/learning-topic-
list/managing-ambivalence.html?ou=722287

The University of Maryland Global Campus. (n.d.). Resilience. Learning Topic Resilience.
Retrieved from https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/mba/2218-mba670/
learning-topic-list/resilience.html?ou=722287

The University of Maryland Global Campus. (n.d.). Shared and Distributed Leadership.
Learning Topic Shared and Distributed Leadership. Retrieved from
https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/mba/2218-mba670/learning-topic-list/
shared-and-distributedleadership.html?ou=722287

The University of Maryland. (n.d.). Circular Economy. Learning Topic Circular Economy.
Retrieved from https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/scor/uncurated/mba/2218-mba670/
learning-topic-list/circular-economy.html?ou=722287

Wahba, P. (2016). The Man Who’s Re-(Re-Re-)Inventing J.C. Penney. (cover story). Fortune,
173(3), 76–86.

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Wahba, P. (2021, February 26). Only 19: The lack of black CEOS in the history of the fortune
500. Fortune. Retrieved January 23, 2023, from https://fortune.com/longform/fortune-500-
black-ceos-business-history/

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