MBA Leadership: Analyzing Yvon Chouinard's Business Leadership

This essay explores the leadership style of Yvon Chouinard, the executive of Patagonia, focusing on his emphasis on teamwork, independence, and a positive work environment. It discusses how his jovial and flexible nature, along with his democratic spirit, shaped the company's culture and dec...Read More

Running head: LEADERSHIP IN BUSINESS
Leadership in Business
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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LEADERSHIP IN BUSINESS
Answer 1)
Yvon Chouinard was a mountain climber in the era of 1960 who ascended on the
peaks across the world. Yvon Chouinard laid stress on the aspect of teamwork along with
camaraderie as the the executive of Patagonia. The nature of Yvon Chouinard laid stress on
the element of independence that can help in the effective delivery of performance of the
individuals in the company (Shapiro and Stefkovich 2016). The nature of Yvon Chouinard
was jovial and he felt that a cheerful environment would provide encouragement to the
employees of Patagonia. He gave opportunities to the employees that they would be able to
dress based on their own volition and surf in the event of the conditions of the beach being
good. The employees of the company are allowed to enjoy the company-sponsored ski and
take part in the climbing trips that can rejuvenate the mind of the employees in Patagonia.
The company has a cafeteria that is instrumental in serving high quality along with healthy
food. The personality of Yvon Chouinard is flexible and it was revealed in the fact that so
many privileges were provided to the employees of Patagonia. The nature of Yvon Chouinard
was friendly and he stressed on the aspect of democratic spirit within the company. The
decisions of the company are made unanimously and the employees along with the employer
come forward for taking vital decisions in the company (Jaques 2017). The decisions of the
company are not based on any kind of compromise that highlights the open culture that exists
in the company. He stressed on the value of collaboration that can help in the communication
of the ideas within the company. The employees at Patagonia work within open rooms that
does not have any doors or separations. It shows that he stressed on the value of building
relationships that can help in the growth of the organization. Chouinard did not have any
reserved parking spot for personal use that shows the value of respect that he used to provide
to the employees in the organization.
Answer 2)

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According to me, it will be possible to become a leader when one deals with certain
situations in life. Being faced with critical situations can teach an individual important
lessons like time management and critical thinking skills. It can help an individual in
knowing about his weakness or strength that can help an individual in becoming a successful
leader. The confrontation with a difficult situation can teach an individual important lessons
that can help in their professional growth (Bennett, Segerberg and Knüpfer 2018). Leadership
is indicative of a complex collection of the attributes that includes personality traits along
with the communication skills. Facing the situations can help in sharpening the decision-
making skills in a leader that can help the leader in effective managing the team. I think that
one can become an effective leader when one has to deal with challenges- internal and
external. A leader has to face opposition from the community along with interpersonal
problems when he is working for an organization (Iqbal, Anwar and Haider 2015). The
success of the leader is dependent on the fact whether he is dealing with the constant crisis
that he has to face while working in an organization. The confrontation with the situations
can help a leader in sharpening his problem-solving skills that can help in growth of an
organization.
There are various skills that can help a person in successfully evolving as a leader. A
leader should be people-oriented and staying in contact with that of team dynamics can help
him in becoming a great leader in an organization. A leader should think about the feeling of
the other team members that can help in gaining the trust of the people. A leader should have
the people-skills that can greatly help in his career progression. A leader should be capable of
making hard decisions that can help him in being provided with a direction that can help him
in guiding the employees (Nanjundeswaraswamy and Swamy 2014). A good leader should
have problem-solving skills that can help him in dealing with a situation of crisis. A leader
should have strategic skills that can help him in carrying a team in the forward direction. A

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great leader should possess communication skills that can help him in communicating the
goal of the organization to the employees.
Answer 3)
The factors that one should take into account so that one can become a leader like
Yvon Chouinard are teamwork along with camaraderie. These factors can help the employees
feel themselves to be a vital part of an organization that can increasing their productivity in
the organization. The employees should be given the privilege of dressing based on their
whims and they should be provided with the opportunity of enjoying skiing and going for
trips that can augment their performance in the company. Yvon Couinard by pursuing the
hand-on directive approach helped in bringing changes to the products of Patagonia so that it
can help in driving environmental mission. Being aware of the environment can help a person
to be a leader like Yvon Chouinard. He should travel throughout the world so that he can
become aware of the environmental conditions that can help an individual in the process of
emerging as a successful leader (Keohane 2014). A great leader should be able to take into
account the changing environmental situations that can prove to be a cause of his success.
The hiring of the employees who can challenge the authority can prove to be an important
step that can help an individual in being successful as a leader. A situation when an employee
challenges bad decision put forward by the management can greatly help in the development
of an organization (Amanchukwu, Stanley and Ololube 2015). A situation in an organisation
when the decisions made are based on consensus can prove to be crucial for people to
become a leader of the stature of Yvon Chouinard. An individual should be imbibed with the
ability of communicating idea to other people that can help him in evolving as successful
leader.
Answer 4)

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LEADERSHIP IN BUSINESS
According to me, it is possible to apply the leadership practice of Yvon Chouinard in
the competitive world of the present age. The leadership practices of Yvon Chouinard can
provide an organization with a competitive advantage that can greatly help the organization
in making profits. It is of crucial importance to apply the leadership principles of Yvon
Chouinard that can help an organization in succeeding in the long run. Sustainability is an
important issue in the present age and it can prove to be an important factor in driving the
success of an organization. The employees in an organization have the knowledge and the
ideas and it is important that due respect should be provided to the opinion of the employees
that can help an organization to flourish (Peterlin, Pearse and Dimovski 2015). An
organization should be able to evolve as best democracy in which decisions should be made
based on consensus. I think that it is important to communicate idea by talking directly
instead of communicating it with the help of e-mail. According to me, it is possible to work
within open room in the present age that can help the employees to facilitate conversation and
communicate idea in the organization. Yvon Chouinard does not have reserved parking space
or any special perk that makes the other employees feel themselves to be at par with the
owner of company. They can hence conceive themselves to be valuable asset for the
organization that can boost their performance in the organization (McCann and Sweet 2014).
I completely agree with Chouinard that finding balance between management problem and
maintaining philosophy is important that can be a cause for the success of an organization. I
think that is crucial in the globalized world of today to find the balance that can create a
workforce suited for the changes taking place in the world.
Answer 5)
According to me, the advantages of following Yvon Chouinard’s approach is that the
democratic approach can help in empowering the employees that can help in the growth of
the organization. The employees would think of themselves to be important part of company

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that can maximise their performance in the organization. The democratic approach can help
the leader in solving complex issues and it can help in encouraging innovation in Patagonia
(Suriyankietkaew and Avery 2016). The democratic approach can help in ensuring that the
team members are working well with the other individuals that can help the employees to
work together in case of a critical situation. The leadership approach of Yvon Chouinard can
prove to be more time-consuming and it cause the employees to procrastinate (Mujtaba and
Cavico 2016). Democratic leadership can prove to be indecisive at times and in the case of
crisis situations, leaders have to be directive that can cause a rift in the relationship between a
leader and an employee in an organization. The democratic leaders help in building an
environment where the individuals expect that their idea would be implemented. There can be
different solutions in relation to a particular project and the democratic leader may have to
invest time for apologizing to the employees whose ideas were discarded while implementing
a project (Lukoschek et al. 2018).

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