Leadership Behavior: A Comparative Analysis of CEO and President Roles

This essay provides a detailed analysis of leadership behavior, focusing on the contrasting roles of CEOs of multinational corporations and Presidents of countries. The paper begins by defining the multifaceted nature of leadership in the 21st century, emphasizing qualities such as integrity, communication skills, and adaptability. It then explores the specific responsibilities and leadership styles of CEOs, highlighting the importance of strategic planning, effective communication, and the ability to balance short-term and long-term goals while considering employee interests. The essay contrasts this with the leadership of Presidents, who serve as the embodiment of inspiration and are responsible for crisis management, integrity, and the integration of national visions. The paper argues that while the core traits of a leader remain constant, the context significantly influences their implementation and style, leading to a nuanced understanding of effective leadership in different settings.

Running head: LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOR
Leadership behavior
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Introduction
The role of leader is versatile and multilayered. A leader of the 21st century poses
qualities like integrity, commitment, passion and knowledge about the employees. A leader is the
visionary who is a vision of things along with a good communication skill (Arnold et al., 2015).
It is also significant to note that the leader of the new generation has to be inclusive and diverse
in their approach. This paper will be analyzing the role of the leaders by choosing two leaders
from two different contexts.
CEO of a multinational company and the leadership behavior
The role of a CEO is relevant to understand since leadership behavior changes with the
change of situations and circumstances. The CEO of a multinational company has multiplicity of
responsibilities and one of the crucial aspects of the same is the fulfillment of the long-term goals
of company. Multinational companies are faced with challenges in the global platform which
requires critical analysis of situations and implementation of strategic plans (Carstina et al.,
2017). The role of the CEO as a leader includes effective and meaningful communication on
behalf of the company. Good communication skills constitute the key aspect of the proper
management of the workplace. In case of issues arising out of the complexities of managing
work, communication is the key (Nawaz et al., 2016). Another relevant aspect of the CEO as a
leader is to take account of short-term and long-term goals of the company by relating it to the
interests of the employees of the company (Maaroufi et al., 2017). This is particularly important
for the leader to implement company’s vision and mission with the short and long term goals.
The role of the CEO also includes the overall management of the work of the managers and this

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requires the analytical and critical skills as leaders. There are inherent differences between the
role of the leader and the CEO. The quality embedded in the character of the leader includes a
more complex phenomenon. This is to be argued that the role of the leader than of a CEO is
different and more complex in nature. The leadership behavior includes the role of the visionary,
the cheerleader, the role mode and the decision maker. In situations of complexity, the role of
the CEO changes from the strict decision maker to the cheerleader who works as the of
motivation for the employees of the organization. Another important aspect of the leader is the
role model. It is to be noted that employees look upto someone like a guardian who can guide the
employees in the right manner in situations of difficulty (Asrar-ul-Haq et al., 2016). The
company at the global platform faces that threatens the existence of the same, in such situations,
the company requires the guidance of the CEO who can perform the role of a leader by setting
the examples of a role model. The CEO of a company requires developing skills which can set
them as examples and it is crucial to make the initial move so as to establish him/her as the
source of inspiration and motivation for the people. However what is different here is the role
played by the CEO as the decision maker. It is equally important to make effective and
impactful decisions in situations of difficulty.
Even though the meaning of leadership might refer different things to different people,
however in business it is crucial to remember to note leadership will blossom form the way
he/she has defined leadership to the self. This is interesting to consider the fact that the role of
the CEO as the leader is such that can convince and include visions of the people and the
employees with the company (Wijewantha et al., 2016). For example, there are leaders like Tim
Cook of Apple or Marry T.Barra of the General Motors. It has been observed that the role played
by Tim Cook of Apple has been the source of their success as this has been highlighted that the

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style of leadership impacts the success of the company. The democratic style of leadership has
been successful in driving the company towards success since this style not only takes into
consideration of the interest of the employees, rather also of the shareholders of the company
(Posner et al., 2016). Hence it could be argued that the role of a leader as the CEO requires the
ability to learn faster, a strong communication skill, building relationship with the employees of
the organization, developing understating with the management and the functioning with the
assessment of the risk associated with the decisions.
President and the leadership behavior
The share of responsibility for the President, Prime Minister or the people with power
and authority requires the understanding of nature of duty. It is crucial to consider the fact that
the Head of the state or the country is burdened with multiplicity of responsibilities. The nature
of leadership for the CEO of a company is different from the nature of leadership style of the
President. He/She is the embodiment of inspiration and motivation for the people of a nation.
President of a country is not only the legal and constitutional head of the country; they are the
source of trust of the people. The leadership behavior of the President is determined by the
nature of situations. It is crucial to have vision for the country’s future that will drive the people
of the country to aspire for the future. It is equally essential to have communication skill for the
leader in order to cater to the people by enhancing their awareness (Northouse, 2017). The role
of the President as the leader becomes significant in terms of the crisis management; people
aspire to get guidance from the leader in terms of effective management of every crisis situation.
Moreover the president as leader requires having integrity in character which serves as the source
of constant motivation for the people. It is crucial to consider the fact that role of the President

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has changed over time the changing nature of responsibilities. In case of the CEO of a
multinational company, issues arising are centred on the employees or the market forces.
However, in case of the head of the state, the nature of challenges and situations are completely
different hence the role played by them is also complex and difficult in nature. Along with the
management of the political, administrative and policy decision, the role of the President is more
complex. The role of the President requires a decision maker since in most of the situation of
national and international importance it is him/her who takes the decision. Hence the role of the
President in this regard is to integrate the vision of the people with that of the nation. It is also
crucial to understand that he undertake the complex decisions of the military and the armed
expedition of the country hence the President do not exercise the administrative or policy
decisions, they also remain accountable for the decisions undertaken. Hence sense of
responsibility with accountability makes the President a true leader. As Maxwell mentions, “A
leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way”. Hence the President as the
leader not only shows the ways to the people, he/she walks the way in order to become source of
inspiration for them (Özbağ, 2017). The leadership behavior of the President ranges from
delegating the responsibility to the people. It is based on the belief that completion of duty is not
the sole responsibility of the leader instead it is delegation is the key to successful functioning. It
is also crucial for the leader to work for the people by promoting their interest since it helps to
builds confidence in people about their capabilities (Stewart et al., 2017). At situation of
innovation, the leader should promote creativity among the people and inspire them in all their
endeavours (Bergman, 2016).

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Hence it is essential to consider the fact that leadership behavior of the President and the
CEO of a multinational company is different in nature due to the nature of their responsibilities.
However the leader requires having qualities that can drive people towards new endeavours.
Conclusion
In conclusion it can be argued that the impact of context changes the way leadership
behavior is exercised. While the traits of a true leader are common in all situations, their
implementation and style might differ with the demands of the situation. While leaders adapt to
the challenges of the new situation, it is essential to remember that the style of leadership
changes. Some of the world leaders have experimented with different and management styles, it
is not to rule out the fact that there are certain values common to all the successful leaders. The
leader of 21st century has to be the visionary who can analyze the situation in order to mitigate
the challenges in the best possible way.

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