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The essence of leadership is the ability to motivate people. The first principle that a leader must know is what motivates their employees. Teachers must know what motivates their students. Money alone does not motivate people, it must be coupled with additional factors such as: praise, recognition, high self-esteem, status, self-fulfillment and other emotional and physical factors. There are many qualities that make a good leader and many methods to motivating those under you. This paper will focus on the leadership qualities of Honorable Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense (SecDef), who in my eyes has demonstrated the qualities of an effective leader. This paper encompasses the four basic management processes: organizing, leading, planning, and controlling1. Finally, I will highlight an important aspect of his management style affectionately called “Rumsfeld’s Rules.” Mr. Rumsfeld, at the spry age of 70, currently manages the largest corporation in the free world, the Department of Defense (DoD). The DoD is comprised of 1.37 million Active Duty personnel; 1.28 million Ready and Stand-by Reserves; 669,000 civilian employees, and has an annual budget of 312 billion dollars2. This is not the first time he has served in the position either; under President Ford, where at the age of 43, he was the youngest defense secretary (and still is the youngest to serve in this position). Organizing: determining what needs to be done, how it will be done, and who is to do it. His recent reorganization of the Pentagon highlights his management prowess of keeping the chain of command and span of control simple. For example, his alignment of the service Secretaries (Air Force, Army, and Navy) is now setup like division vice presidents of a corporation. Therefore, when major decisions confront his office, he convenes them as a corporate review board. This simplistic design ultimately reduces the bureaucracy left in place by the previous administration. Leading: directing and motivating all involved parties and resolving conflict. His leadership/management skills have been defined by the press and fellow workers as: organized, decisive, efficient, a good judge of talent, and an excellent delegator. As SecDef, his listening skills are renowned. For example, he set up an office adjacent to his own where enlisted personnel can brief him on what is going on in the trenches. He consistently gathers opinions from front-line supervisors before briefing congressional committees, thus keeping him in touch with the field. Instead of relying on graphs and charts to find out the climate of the workforce, he uses face-to-face chats to demonstrate he is a leader that listens to everyone’s opinion. In addition, as a leader, he has shown exceptional executive instincts and innovative talents that have manifested itself in whatever position he has taken.
Approximate Word count = 1757
Approximate Pages = 7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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