Affecting

Affecting Change: Leadership in Action “Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals” and in many cases, strong leadership is sought out to help keep an organization on top (University of Phoenix, 2010, ¶ 1). A strong leader should posses the following five virtues; intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage, and sternness in or order to lead an organization and to manage a successful group of individuals (University of Phoenix, 2010). An effective leader also has the power to make the necessary changes that will influence the organization and direct it towards growth. In reviewing the Leadership in Action simulation, I have been hired to work for Smith & Falmouth (S&F) by Irene Seagraves, Online CEO, and I am faced with the challenge of leading a group of ‘unwilling’ employees to achieve aggressive targets (University of Phoenix, 2010). By taking on this challenge I will “learn how to adopt a leadership style to deal with challenges effectively” and also lead the teams towards the target goals by using the knowledge I have gained by analyzing the group structure and dynamics (University of Phoenix, 2010, ¶ 4). Smith & Falmouth Overview “S&F is a mid-size tele-shopping and mail order network with operations in the US and Canada” (University of Phoenix, 2010, ¶ 5). Six months ago S&F started an e-tailing division known as S&F Online and the division is considered a crucial part to the organization’s growth strategy over the next three years (University of Phoenix, 2010). Since marketing is a major driver Irene managed to move fast and put together a web development team, a logistic team, and a marketing manager that would help coordinate marketing and logistic operations with the parent company (University of Phoenix, 2010).