Today’s hyper-competitive and globalized world, the distinction between a good father and a good leader has become more pronounced than ever. As businesses navigate an era of rapid digital transformation, economic volatility, and global market shifts, the demand for individuals who can seamlessly blend managerial efficiency with visionary leadership has never been greater. According to a 2023 McKinsey & Company report, over 77% of executives believe that leadership gaps in organizations are one of the biggest barriers to success. This statistic underscores the reality that while many business professionals excel as managers, only a few emerge as transformative leaders capable of guiding organizations through uncertainty.
A contemporary example of this dynamic is Elon Musk, a figure synonymous with innovation and disruption. As the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter (now X), Musk exemplifies strong leadership, pushing boundaries in artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, and space exploration. However, his management style has often been criticized as overly demanding and chaotic, raising questions about his ability to balance structured managerial processes with his bold, risk-taking leadership. Interestingly, Musk recently made headlines when he brought his son, X Æ A-12, to the White House for high-profile meetings with U.S. officials. This rare moment not only showcased his role as a father but also reignited debates about the intersection of personal values and professional leadership. It raises the question—can someone be a great leader in business yet struggle in personal leadership roles, or vice versa?
This essay explores the nuanced differences between leadership and management, arguing that while many businesspeople excel in operational efficiency, they often struggle with visionary leadership. The ability to balance strong leadership with effective management is critical, as research suggests that companies with effective leadership outperform their competitors by 15% in profitability (Harvard Business Review, 2023). However, not every successful businessperson is naturally equipped to lead and inspire, just as not every father is inherently a great leader in the professional sphere. By examining leadership theories, real-world case studies, and contrasting examples, this discussion will highlight why leadership and management are complementary yet distinct skills, each essential for sustained success in both business and family life.
In this paper, leadership theories have been applied to my father’s current role in a business setting where he is a successful businessman and good manager while lacking strong leadership skills. Apart from this, he is a good father since he has strong fatherhood abilities and successfully manages business and family matters (Kotter).
My father as a leader and Leadership literature:
Vision sets the direction and destination for reaching the next higher level. My father manages the household work and the business by applying simple principles of good management without setting the direction for the business to reach the next higher level. However, He is able to motivate us at home but remains unable to motivate employees at the workplace, as he does not set challenging goals for himself and his workers as a strong leader. My father, however, sometimes makes visionary statements at the business to impress the subordinates and workers, but his vision often lacks clarity. For instance, he can look at CEO Jan Carlzon’s vision of making Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) the best airline in the world for frequent business travelers. He targeted business travelers since they travel more consistently than other market segments and are generally willing to pay higher fares (Kotter).
My father’s Mood: vs Leader Mood:
My father behaves happily with all of us at home. He remains enthusiastic when we go outside playing and watching movies on weekends and holidays. He loves our whole family and treats all of us (two brothers and one sister) equally without any prejudice. When he remains happy with their family, he leaves and returns home smiling. However, in contrast, his Mood at the workplace does not foster a good relationship with line managers or workers. Because he always seems so down on them.
He seldom smiles and often looks as though the whole business is going to collapse despite the fact that everything is going smoothly under his supervision and management. Moreover, he does not joke with subordinates and his managers. Over the years, my father has developed himself as a downbeat leader at the workplace, while he is upbeat at home. Hence, in order to be a successful businessman, he needs to become upbeat in a business setting as well since the research shows that subordinates prefer to work hard when their leaders are happy and enthusiastic. Moreover, the effectiveness of a leader depends upon what kind of mood he has. The business motivates its workers and managers (Jennifer M. George).
My father as a leader and Decision-making:
My father, as a good father, makes participative decision-making at home, taking input from all members of the family. Whenever he thinks of purchasing a new car, we decide on the color, brand, and type. However, he sometimes makes autocratic decisions when it comes to holiday activities.
Conversely, in the business setting, my father solely relies on his own gut feeling and information to make decisions. He does not realize that good decisions may help his business achieve its goals, and bad decisions may hinder goal attainment. He becomes autocratic at the business while ignoring the fact that subordinates’ participation in decision-making and problem-solving can enhance his leadership. Thus, he often faces bad decisions and little support from workers and management to achieve those goals. In order to become a good leader, he should remember that workers will accept a decision that affects them or requires their support. Additionally, he may be able to force is worker’s and managers’ growth and development and achieve high productivity and job satisfaction through their active participation (Bernard M. Bass).
He also needs to delegate his power and authority to his middle managers and supervisors who handle different departments so that they can make effective decisions according to the situation and market circumstances.
My father as leader and Trait Theory:
My father tries to resolve issues at home by making assertive choices and using his creative skills. However, sometimes, he seeks input from other family members at home when we are going to purchase groceries and go shopping. Sometimes, disputes arise between him and my mother, but he deals with them tactfully and diplomatically. He also uses his persuasive skills to convince us to watch movies of his own choice (Bernard M. Bass).
However, at business, he does not seem to have the natural traits of assertiveness, cooperation, decisiveness, and dependability since he is often unable to motivate his employees to achieve the targets. Most of the time, he looks at the negative side of everything and does not take an assertive approach to thinking about his employees’ points of view. That is why my father, as a leader, cannot use the creative skills of his employees for productivity use and innovation. Moreover, he often loses emotional control when dealing with unexpected results from his business and the performance of his employees. Additionally, the lack of the right combination of charisma and emotional intelligence abilities often lead my father towards low performance at the workplace. The lack of inhered traits of leadership, so far, has proved a hindrance for my father to develop a successful business person as well as a strong leader in the business setting (Fullan)
My Father as a Leader and Contingency Theories:
My father often makes good situational decisions at home. For instance, last weekend, we planned to spend the holidays in Dubai. At the eleventh hour, one of my brothers lost his mobile; it seemed impossible to contact my uncle, who was also going with us since all the contacts were saved on his mobile. At that time, everyone was screwed up; how r, fortunately, my father called the mobile phone operating company by using his situational handling skills and got the contacts back on his cell.
In contrast to family life, the business life of my father did not prove to be so successful, as a strong leader can act according to the situation, followers’ needs, and psychology.
He usually sticks with the hard and fast rules of autocracy and centralized decision-making to lead his employees and solve unexpected and routine problems at the business. This often leads to failure and loss of valuable resources for my fa her’s company. Hence, he should try to prepare himself for the situational leader’s leadership style to fulfill the situational requirements successfully. Moreover, he should adopt different approaches to leadership in accordance with various business situations and changing market conditions (Jennifer M. George).
By applying Fiedler’s least co-worker theory, he can handle repeated disputes between employees and management since he will be able to have a strong relationship with them. If he becomes a high LPC leader, his increased support for employees will win their confidence. Additionally, he will change from being task-oriented to relationship-oriented (Jennifer M. George).
Conclusion:
In short, this essay emphasizes the balance between management efficiency and visionary leadership. While my father excels as a manager, he struggles as a leader, much like Elon Musk, whose innovation drives Tesla and SpaceX but lacks structured management. His recent White House visit with his son, sparked debates on balancing personal and professional leadership.
With 77% of executives citing leadership gaps as a major challenge (McKinsey, 2023), adopting transformational leadership, strategic vision, and emotional intelligence is crucial. My father, like many managers, must refine these skills to engage employees and drive innovation.
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