Assessment 5: Leadership Aesthetics

This assessment focuses on the leadership role of Mark Zuckerberg in leading the business of social networking website Facebook. It analyzes the concepts of conversational leadership and seeing leadership in relation to Zuckerberg's leadership style. The assessment also discusses the growth and success of Facebook under Zuckerberg's transformative leadership.

Running head: ASSESSEMENT 5: LEADERSHIP AESTHETICS
ASSESSEMENT 5: LEADERSHIP AESTHETICS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ASSESSEMENT 5: LEADERSHIP AESTHETICS
Part A
Leadership Example
The leadership role of Mark Zuckerberg in leading the business of social networking
website Facebook has been selected for the study. The reason being that Facebook is currently
among the top few most recognizable brands in the entire world. As it is Mark Zuckerberg is also
an easily recognizable name, considering all the entrepreneurs that have reached the peak of
entrepreneurial success within just a decade. Zuckerberg is a transformational leader who
focuses on continuous change to improve the user experience of Facebook. Also, he has been
known to use three sub-styles at times which are democratic, autocratic and laissez-faire
leadership depending on the situational requirements. Facebook has benefited due to the
aggressive and encouraging style and continues to grow as one of the largest business enterprises
in the world. His transformative strategies have contributed to the continuously changing user
interfaces of Facebook. More than 1.52 billion users currently use Facebook as their most
preferred social networking site (Facebook Newsroom 2019). The company has been able to
grow in leaps and bound in the market as a result of the advertising revenues. The organizations
current revenue grew by 30% from the last year to almost 17 Billion US Dollars. Zuckerberg’s
effective leadership has ensured that about 7 million global advertisers are currently linked with
Facebook (Duffett 2015). The global reach of the brand has become exemplary.

2ASSESSEMENT 5: LEADERSHIP AESTHETICS
Analysis of leadership with block concepts
There are significant leadership concepts that can be related to the leadership styles that
are displayed by Mark Zuckerberg. The growth of the social networking site has depended
essentially on continuous innovation. Some of the innovative measures that have been utilized by
the organization have also received significant criticism for jeopardizing customer data security.
Two of the block concepts that can be used for further analysis of his leadership styles are
conversational leadership and seeing leadership. This two concepts that can be understood from
the block readings, very much affect the leadership aspects and styles that are displayed by Mark
Zuckerberg.
Conversational leadership concerns how the people within an organization speak with
each other. Leadership communications should be effective and simple, they should be engaging
and participatory and they should provide a sense of where the organization is planning to do in
the future (Smolović Jones 2018, pp66). Conversational leadership is not limited to these aspects
as it also concerns how fluidly and smoothly the leadership message can be put forward to the
target audiences, whether internal or external in nature. There are also many forms of
conversational aspects of leadership. It greatly depends on the effectiveness of the conversation,
the content on the conversation, the place where the conversation is being held and the technique
in which it is put through by the leader.
Conversational leadership is a very much relatable to how Zuckerberg uses his
leadership. He is an idealist that focuses on imagining the kind of success that can be achieved in
the future with a particular innovative approach. He engages as much as possible with his
immediate subordinates and the other teams. Facebook tries to provide a homely place for their

3ASSESSEMENT 5: LEADERSHIP AESTHETICS
employees. Through this the conversations that are continuously important for the transformative
leadership focused organization can take place with relative ease. Zuckerberg has displayed a
transformational style of leadership throughout (Vraga et al., 2015). His style has been effective
in improving motivation of the employees at Facebook. He ensures that the work environment
for the employees is as good as possible with game rooms, free lunches and a relaxed
environment for work (Why Mark Zuckerberg lets Facebook workers do things he disagrees
2019). He uses his conversational abilities to motivate and direct his employees. He is always
focused towards implementing new ideas. New ideas require to be communicated better and at
the right time. In Facebook this is done through the usage of effective conversation. In most
cases this is initiated and managed by the leadership of Mark Zuckerberg (Turner 2018). As
understood through the reading block the conversational leadership depends much on the quality
of the presentation. Hence too much complicated conversations cannot be fruitful enough. On the
other hand it is also advisable that the conversations are fluid. Unnecessary effort given to the
conversations can give the target audiences a feeling that the leadership is trying too hard
(Smolović Jones 2018, pp69). This leads to the ineffective management of the leadership roles.
What is important in case of Mark Zuckerberg is that he uses his conversational leadership
towards connecting with both the internal and the external target audiences of the Facebook
Company. Aesthetic leadership is concerned greatly with the application of leadership in the
most beautiful ways possible. Conversation leadership is an essential aspect of this leadership
which depends on how freely and effectively people interact within an organization and
information is passed from one level to another. In Facebook this is done under the effective and
efficient transformational leadership of Mark Zuckerberg (Flick 2016). It is important to note
that based on the continuous transformative framework, the company was abele to make the

4ASSESSEMENT 5: LEADERSHIP AESTHETICS
most important acquisitions. In 2014, Facebook acquired Whatsapp, the phone messaging
platform for 19 Billion Us Dollars. In the same year the Oculus VR, a video networking site was
acquired. One of the most important acquisitions was Instagram in 2012 for 1 Billion dollars.
The company has witnessed continuous growth over the years due to how effectively they have
implemented aspects such as conversational leadership (Facebook Newsroom 2019). Zuckerberg
acts as a motivational speaker for the employees of Facebook. This includes not just showing the
way but actually going the distance to show how the goals can be effectively achieved. There is a
significant link between the transformational leadership of Mark Zuckerberg and the
Conversational leadership concept of the wider subject of leadership aesthetics (WSJ 2019). The
leadership style of Zuckerberg does not consider traditional hierarchies, removes barriers, has a
significant vision and is fearless in implementation (Turner 2018). The leadership in Facebook is
very effective in determining the path the organization would take towards achieving the
significant goals. The conversational effectiveness of the leadership helps to overcome the issues
that may affect the employees and ultimately result in the organization People are central to
leadership aestheticism and this is a point that is given much importance in the leadership of
Facebook (Sutherland and Jelinek 2015). A type of grindcore conversational type is utilized in
Faceboo that focuses on equality and conflict. People are respected on the basis of their work
rather than their seniority or dressing sense in the office.
Another significant concept that can be utilized to understand the leadership of Mark
Zuckerberg is seeing leadership. Seeing leadership helps in determining the operational
effectiveness of leadership roles towards achieving better future successes for the organizations
(Smolović Jones 2018, pp81). Seeing and sensing leadership also creates a better possibility
towards understanding the leadership roles that are concerned. Seeing is an important functions

5ASSESSEMENT 5: LEADERSHIP AESTHETICS
as the leadership that looks right works right. Leadership roles are more about building effective
consensus among groups of people. Integrating them within the organizational framework to
work in coordination and cooperation towards the ultimate positive growth of the organization.
In Facebook this is an important factor as the way the leadership is viewed by the external and
internal audiences can go on to determine the effectiveness of the leadership towards achieving
the significant future goals (Vraga et al., 2015). The problem however is in relation to some of
the issues that have presently occurred in the external environment of facebook. The company
has been accused of using the data of the users without their consent. The problems became
much greater when it was also alleged that facebook has sold a large part of its customer data to
the advertisers for their usage. Lawsuits were filed against the organization that even required
Zuckerberg to appear on the court. This to a great extent harmed the image of leadership the
Zuckerberg had created till then. People started the doubt the integrity of the Facebook and the
policies. The sub-factor of bodily presence is very important determinant of the seeing leaders
(Flick 2016). The cases that were fought against the dissenting parties provided a very
uncomfortable picture of Zuckerberg. He was seen not to make any effective debates against
some of the charges that were brought against him. Zuckerberg throughout the course of the
various cases that were brought against him cut a very sorry figure. The body language was not
fit enough to be regarded as an effective way for a leader like him to present himself. Hence, this
was a source of significant problems if the leadership capabilities and the leadership oriented
values of Zuckerberg are being considered (WSJ 2019).
The body language of the leader during the trails were not good enough to prove him
innocent. As a result facebook’s role in unethical usage of data is still being investigated. It was
necessary that the leadership took a positive role towards helping the investigators (Opinion

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2019). This would have made sure that a good image was created for the organization that could
have been used to garner more support for them. If leadership aesthetics are considered body
language of the leaders are important in determining how much their leadership would actually
affect their followers (Smolović Jones 2018, pp84). Face becomes an important factor while
assessing the aesthetic values of leadership. In case of facebook, it was seen that the demeanor
that Zuckerberg had previously kept in regard to his appearance was not kept after he faced the
trial for the accusations that were laid on his organization (Flick 2016). This greatly hampered
the aestheticism of Zuckerberg’s leadership if the present conditions are considered. Confidence
is an essential attribute that most people would like to see when they see the leader. In Facebook
the aspect of seeing is an important factor that has affected the image of the leader. This
previously was not a matter of concern but at the present times tends to determine the
ineffectiveness of the organization to control its unethical behaviors. Visual presentations of
leadership is important as through this the world tend to find the intent of the leader to lead the
organization (Smolović Jones 2018, pp82). Considering Mark Zuckerberg in Facebook, this
quality was greatly present previously. To some extent it is still present within him. However, the
leadership effectiveness need to be improved still if there has to be any chance of Zuckerberg
gaining positive view from both the essential internal and the external audiences at Facebook
(Flick 2016). It is important to remember that as a leadership trait he has to improve the seeing
aspect of leadership. The channels, mediums and disposition of conducting leadership roles need
to be enhanced.

7ASSESSEMENT 5: LEADERSHIP AESTHETICS
Recommendations for further leadership development
It was found upon essential understanding of the leadership factors that guide Mark
Zuckerberg in Facebook are essential in determining the effectiveness of the organizational
growth processes in the present and the future. As identified a significant issue was related to the
concept of how leadership is seen (Smolović Jones 2018, pp49). This is an important factor
given the present conditions that are affecting facebook. As identified above the company is
facing lawsuits that can hamper its growth in the years to come. One important positive side is
that Facebook has still managed to grow and kept on with the rate of positive growth. The
organization should focus more on improving its leadership if it wants to continue with its
positive growth path even in the future. An important factor to consider would be to change the
physical disposition of Mark Zuckerberg.
The company in the recent past have faced crisis situations due to the fact that
Zuckergberg has been unable to keep a good image in public. The company needs to be
motivated and undertake more positive leadership oriented activities. Zuckerberg should enhance
the aspects of his character that help to project him as an efficient leader. The leader needs to be
strong at this point in time as this can greatly help him to fight against the issues that have
affected the organization of facebook presently (Smolović Jones 2018, pp90). There needs to be
a more courageous attitude while fighting the lawsuits that have been brought against Facebook.
This would help to secure the place of Zuckerberg among the highest levels of leadership.

8ASSESSEMENT 5: LEADERSHIP AESTHETICS
References
Carroll, B. and Smolović Jones, O., 2018. Mapping the aesthetics of leadership development
through participant perspectives. Management Learning, 49(2), pp.187-203.
Clarke, C., 2018. Readings Block 4: Leadership aesthetics. Milton Keynes: The Open University
Duffett, R.G., 2015. Facebook advertising’s influence on intention-to-purchase and purchase
amongst Millennials. Internet Research, 25(4), pp.498-526.Facebook Newsroom,
2019. Company Info | Facebook Newsroom. [online] Newsroom.fb.com. Available at:
<https://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/>.
Flick, C., 2016. Informed consent and the Facebook emotional manipulation study. Research
Ethics, 12(1), pp.14-28.
Jacklin-Jarvis, C., 2018. Readings Block 3: Leadership aesthetics. Milton Keynes: The Open
University
Opinion, 2019. Opinion | It’s Time to Break Up Facebook. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at:
<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/09/opinion/sunday/chris-hughes-facebook-zuckerberg.html>
Sherriff, C., 2018. Readings Block 2: Leadership aesthetics. Milton Keynes: The Open
University
Smolović Jones, O., 2018. Readings Block 6: Leadership aesthetics. Milton Keynes: The Open
University.
Sutherland, I. and Jelinek, J., 2015. From experiential learning to aesthetic knowing: The arts in
leadership development. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 17(3), pp.289-306.

9ASSESSEMENT 5: LEADERSHIP AESTHETICS
Turner, F., 2018. The arts at Facebook: An aesthetic infrastructure for surveillance
capitalism. Poetics, 67, pp.53-62.
Vraga, E.K., Anderson, A.A., Kotcher, J.E. and Maibach, E.W., 2015. Issue-specific
engagement: How Facebook contributes to opinion leadership and efficacy on energy and
climate issues. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 12(2), pp.200-218.
Why Mark Zuckerberg lets Facebook workers do things he disagrees, 2019. Why Mark
Zuckerberg lets Facebook workers do things he disagrees with. [online] CNBC. Available at:
<https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/29/why-mark-zuckerberg-lets-facebook-workers-do-things-he-
disagrees-with.html>
Winchester, N., 2018. Readings Block 5: Leadership aesthetics. Milton Keynes: The Open
University
WSJ, Z., 2019. Zuckerberg adopts aggressive style at Facebook: WSJ. [online] CNBC. Available
at: <https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/11/19/zuckerberg-adopts-aggressive-style-at-facebook-
wsj.html>

10ASSESSEMENT 5: LEADERSHIP AESTHETICS
Part B
Task 1: Covering letter
To whom it may concern
Dear Sir,
This letter is in regards to the advertisement of your organization that you have provided in the
job websites. Through this I was informed that your organization requires assistant managers to
assist in the effective management of the inventory operations. I am a student of management
and I am looking forward towards enhancing my career in leadership roles that can ensure fair
growth for me as well as improve my future growth prospects in the industry. Your organization
is an FMCG company which I strongly believe that I would be effective in serving. Throughout
my management studies I have understood the most important concepts that are connected
with FMCG inventory management among other essential subjects. I would like to put forward
my candidature for the advertised post of your organization. Some of my most important skills
that I have been able to gain beyond my technical knowledge involve self-management, team
working, problem solving and effective communication (Winchester 2018, pp48). I believe in
leadership traits and the key traits that I know that a leader should possess are intelligence,
self-confidence, determination of goals, drive, integrity and sociability. This would help me to
improve my self-management factors. Another important concept of leadership that I have
learnt through my educational endeavors is collective leadership. Shared leadership is
according to me very important for leadership in the present corporate environments. This
would help me to work effectively with the people that I would manage in your inventory
operations in given an opportunity. I am also aware of the relational contexts of leadership. This
can help me to serve my purpose in the organization better as in this case it would help me to
establish better communication and better teamwork among everything else. Personality
factors like individual traits, psychology, socialization and other factors are important. The
identity factors in relationship concepts are social experiences, sociology, and society and world
view (Clarke, C., 2018 pp54). Having known, understood and developed essential capabilities
concerning the mentioned activities, I have also focused on learning the ethical values of
leadership. I understand that all leadership is not good and in any leadership role like the one I
am vying for in your organization, ethical values become very important. I strongly believe I
would be able to abide by the ethical standards of your organization. As a leader I would like to
utilize aesthetic leadership. According to me this is a significant form of leadership approach
that can result in the greater benefit of everyone involved in the leadership oriented processes.
I would like to utilize conversational leadership to establish an optimally effective leadership
position in your organization (Jacklin-Jarvis 2018, pp91). I would always focus towards creating
individual and group goals within the teams that I manage that are aligned with the growth
agenda and greater goals of your organization. I am an efficient communicator and had been
part of many debates in my academic life. The majority of these debates I have won. In college I
managed sports teams. The course I undertook helped me to become effective in the roles of
leadership. I understood aspects of leadership such as conversational leadership and seeing

11ASSESSEMENT 5: LEADERSHIP AESTHETICS
leadership. Now I understand that leadership is a holistic process that keeps on continuing with
time and changing as per the requirements of the situations. Understanding the most
important concepts that are connected with FMCG inventory management among other
essential subjects can help be to perform better in your esteemed organization. I learnt some of
my most important skills that I have for being able to gain knowledge beyond technical
knowledge. I was the captain of the volleyball team and learnt essential lessons about team
management as I led my college team to success in many volleyball competition. My problem
solving skills were tested in my internships. I was engaged with an auditing firm as an intern and
learnt essential lessons in problem solving. I have been able to gain knowledge and at the same
time learnt about implementing them in various situations. My academic life had taught me
about utilizing my learning towards improving my ground level performances. In all I always
focused on becoming an effective leader (Sherriff 2018, pp16). My life goal was to lead myself
as well as others towards success. I considered leadership to be an essential responsibility. It
was to be taken with all essential techniques that can help individuals as well as organizations
grow and develop. All the concepts that I mentioned in the letter are the ones in which I have
been able to gain significant levels of knowledge. I can use this to serve the leadership role
required in your esteemed organization. Additionally, through my role in your organization I
would be able to further develop my leadership skills to optimal levels (Jacklin-Jarvis 2018, pp64).
I believe I am a strongly eligible candidate for the required job role. Please accept my proposal
for being a part of your reputed company.
Yours faithfully
Name…….

12ASSESSEMENT 5: LEADERSHIP AESTHETICS
Appendix
Video link: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/11/19/zuckerberg-adopts-aggressive-style-at-
facebook-wsj.html
Article Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/29/why-mark-zuckerberg-lets-facebook-workers-
do-things-he-disagrees-with.html

13ASSESSEMENT 5: LEADERSHIP AESTHETICS
Task 2: Curriculum Vitae
Name…………..
Contact details…………
Email id…………
Address………………
Educational qualification………….
Personal Skills: Effective communication, team-worker, hardworking, focused, motivated
outlook, ethical, risk taker
Professional Skills: analytical skills, Leadership skills, task oriented, relationship development
skills, self-management, effective in working within deadlines, efficient work coordinator.
Description of Academic experience gained
The course on leadership and management has helped me to understand about the
multifaceted nature of management. Moreover, learning about leadership throughout the
curse has helped me to enhance my learning of the entire organizational processes. Before I
entered into the course, I was aware of only the leading and management functionalities of
leadership. However, being in the course helped me to understand how those areas can be
effectively addressed to manage and lead people better. Through my academic life I have been
able to greatly improve my standards of learning and applying leadership concepts. I became a
more trusted person among my friends as I developed essential knowledge about management,
leadership, organization and everything connected with the same. My skills for application of
leadership helped me to stand apart from many of my classmates. I was able to help many of
my peers towards understanding management functions better. My friends treated me with
respect as a result of this. My teachers began to trust me more. More and more I became an
effective and efficient leader even before joining any organization.
Description of Overall knowledge acquired
As a result of studying the module I am now better prepared to take on challenges of
the corporate life. I am far more determined to take on corporate leadership roles than I was at
the beginning of the module. The most important fact is that now I know the various areas of
leadership such as coordination, shared leadership, motivated leadership, ethical leadership
dimensions, conversational leadership, seeing and sensing of leadership and management of
people. I now tend to look at leadership from various different perspectives. I have gained more
confidence to manage any leadership roles that are given to me. My analytical skills have
improved and now I understand business situations better. I now have knowledge enough to
understand that leadership is essentially a large responsibility for leading followers towards
individual as well as group success. I tend to understand the needs of people more than before.
I have led small groups of people in my internships. I have even led group studies that were

14ASSESSEMENT 5: LEADERSHIP AESTHETICS
part of the modules. I have influenced people to learn and perform better. I have now
understood that just any form of effective leadership is not good enough and in any leadership
role like the role i am vying for in my organizational endeavor, ethical values become very
important. I strongly believe I would be able to abide by the ethical standards of your
organization. As a leader I would like to utilize aesthetic leadership. According to me this is a
significant form of leadership approach that can result in the greater benefit of everyone
involved in the leadership oriented processes. I would like to utilize conversational leadership
to establish an optimally effective leadership position in your organization. I would always focus
towards creating individual and group goals within the teams that I manage that are aligned
with the growth agenda and greater goals of your organization. I am an efficient communicator
and had been part of many debates in my academic life.
Feedback
I did my internship in an organization in a lower designation manager role. My manager
was impressed by my ability to grasp work quickly. My manager gave me feedback in regards to
improving my communication abilities and body language. I was unable to perform up to the
standards required primarily. However, with time I became of the best performers in the
internship role and received positive feedbacks from my manager and his peers and seniors. My
manager’s feedbacks were effective in pointing out my strengths and weaknesses. The
feedback I received from the academic seniors were greatly positive and gave me a new path to
move forward in life. I wish to use these feedbacks to endure greater struggles to achieve
greater goals in the future.