Cisco Systems, Inc. was founded in 1984 by a small group of computer scientists from Stanford University. Since the company's inception, Cisco engineers have been leaders in the development of Internet Protocol (IP)-based networking technologies. This tradition of IP innovation continues with industry-leading products in the core areas of routing and switching, as well as advanced technologies in areas such as home networking, IP telephony, optics, network security, storage networking, and wireless LAN. Cisco hardware, software, and service offerings are used to create Internet solutions that allow individuals, companies, and countries to increase productivity, improve customer satisfaction and strengthen competitive advantage. Today, Cisco has more than 34,000 employees worldwide.
Explore the site in detail to prepare a two-page report indicating your responses to the following questions. Describe the Cisco Executive Thought Leadership strategy. Based on your analysis of the site, what would you consider Cisco CEO John Chambers' leadership style to be? Which types of persuasive appeals and tactics would work best at a company like Cisco?
Internet Exercise
Leadership is a topic that has been debated for centuries. Who is a leader? Is it traits that make a leader or the situation? Can people be trained to be leaders? Leaders need followers but why do they follow? There have been many quotes that express famous people's perspective on leadership. For a look at some of these insights on leadership, you may want go to http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadqot.html to broaden your understanding of leadership.
Warren Bennis, management scholar and guru, differentiates between leaders and managers: He argues that "Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people who do the right things." As you look back on the chapter, think about what this quote means for you and those you manage or will manage.
The purpose of the exercise is for you to find out more about your own leadership characteristics and skills. While we don't always know when we will be placed in a situation where leadership is demanded, taking this assessment may help you to know more about yourself and how you might react in such a situation. The brave men and women who stepped up on 9/11 were thrust into a leadership position during one of the most horrific domestic situations possible—what strengths do you think they possessed to be able to react so swiftly and confidently? Go to http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/survlead.html. Here is the Leadership Characteristics and Skills Survey. It is designed to provide you with feedback about your level of preference or comfort with leadership characteristics and skills. If you have never been a manager/leader, try to estimate how difficult the position would be for you. Please follow the directions, take the self-assessment and score the exercise by totaling the score in all 5 columns for your final score. Then scroll to the Scoring page for an explanation. This assessment is primarily a training tool.
Questions for Discussion
How did you feel about the score and what it reflected about your progress in becoming a leader? Describe and explain.
Given the questions asked by the survey, do you think that leaders are born, can be trained or react to the context of an event? Explain and relate your explanation to the 9/11 tragedy.
Do you think there are differences between men and women when it comes to leadership issues and strengths? Explain.
