Effective Leadership through the Perspective of Darwin Smith

ASSIGNMENT 1: LEADERSHIP
NAME:
ID:
LECTURER:
INSTITUTION:

Leadership: Assignment 1 2
Executive summary
Effective leadership is crucial to the success of an organization in achieving its goals and
objectives. This report discusses effective leadership through the perspective of Darwin Smith,
the then CEO of Kimberly-Clark was an exceptional leader whose leadership was a level five.
Throughout his years in the firm, he has illustrated a perfect example of the leadership style and
qualities that should be emulated to achieve growth and success of an organization. Darwin
turned this company from its bad situation to a great historic success through effective
leadership. The report will discuss the leadership qualities that he possessed which played a
major role in the success of the firm. The nature of the leadership will also be discussed in the
paper introducing a clear picture of his personalities. Are leaders born or made, this statement
will be debated through the leadership perspective of Darwin where a conclusion will be made
that will justify the final conclusion. Finally, the paper will elaborate and justify if the leadership
qualities portrayed by Darwin can be possessed by leaders today.

Leadership: Assignment 1 3
Table of Contents
Leadership: Assignment 1...............................................................................................................3
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Darwin Smith qualities as a Leader.............................................................................................4
Leaders are made not born: Darwin Smith..................................................................................7
Level 5 leadership........................................................................................................................8
level 5 leadership skills..............................................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................15

Leadership: Assignment 1 4
Leadership: Assignment 1
Introduction
The success, growth, and development of an organization is high determined by the role played
by its leaders. the development of an organizations vision, mission, goals, and objectives are
made possible through leadership. However, leaders who portray effective leadership in their key
roles will be influential in maintaining the quality standards that define their brand reputation.
This means that the culture of the organizations is also defined by leadership in the long run. The
leadership behavior and competence have reliable association with association adequacy and
execution (Bolman and Deal 2014). The authoritative culture additionally assumes critical job in
creating and forming the initiative style. Leaders are involved in influencing the employees and
the supporting staff towards the goals and objectives of the firm. Moreover, effective leaders do
not only influence their employees but impact their performance and increase it to the highest
potential with available tools and methods at their disposal which in the long run improves
product service delivery and overall performance of the organization. Additionally, high ranking
leaders such as executives or senior board members should always mirror the goals and
objectives of the firm regardless of the situations and organization is facing (Bolden 2016,p 156).
In relation to this context Darwin Smith, the then CEO of Kimberly-Clark was an exceptional
leader whose leadership was a level five. Throughout his years in the firm, he has illustrated a
perfect example of the leadership style and qualities that should be emulated to achieve growth
and success of an organization (Ciulla 2017). Darwin Smith was able to transform the
organization which when he took over it had already gained numerous loses in the markets that
saw its value drop be 36%. Darwin turned this company from its bad situation to a great historic