Andrew Carnegie Ethical Leadership Analysis

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Recommended: Leadership Theories & Approaches (i.e. Transformational Leadership)

Visionary and ethical leadership are at the forefront of organizational success. The visionary leader can see where they want to be and blaze a trail to the finish line. Ethical leaders lead by knowing and doing what is right. The purpose of this essay is to showcase Andrew Carnegie’s visionary leadership while examining his struggle with ethical leadership. Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish immigrant who moved to New York in 1848 (Luke, n.d.). He worked his way up the ladder from a poor immigrant to a pivotal figure in history. This essay begins examining the visionary leadership characteristics of Carnegie. It showcases his vision, the path he took and the results of his dedication. Furthermore, several examples of Carnegies visionary leadership is tied into the SNCOA course fourteen curriculum. The next section focuses on Mr. Carnegies ethical leadership challenges. The section overviews the areas in which ethics were not considered. In addition, examples and comparisons of the absence are taken into account. The final section correlates the visionary leadership and lack of ethical leadership as it relates to my personal experience. Furthermore, this section reveals the impact and changes to my leadership style. We begin the essay with a look into Andrew Carnegie’s visionary leadership.
Visionary Leader
Andrew Carnegie created the American steel industry and has contributed more than anyone else to thrust America into the modern age through his visionary leadership (Solyak, 2014). Carnegie had his early start working for the rail road industry based out of New York. According to Solyak (2014), “Carnegie stunned his bosses by the many risks, daring ambition and rule breaking, bust always taking responsibility and ...

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...his transformational leadership style and how he used extrinsic rewards to motivate his people to follow his vision. In addition, Carnegie is a creator and a refiner. His methods were sound and he succeeded due to his influence and personal drive towards success. When it came to ethics, Carnegie was not at the top of his game. His relentless drive for perfection led him into many ethical traps and continued absence of intellectual traits, universal intellectual standards and hindrance in critical thinking. Finally we looked at how Carnegie’s display of transformational leadership and display of unethical leadership personally impacted my views on my own leadership. Visionary leaders balanced with ethical leadership are unstoppable. They create a successful and productive environment essential to driving the United States Air Force into a productive future.

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