Will America Survive Global Changes?

I don’t see anything being sustained over a long period. Take resources for example, no matter how many new resources we’ll find as a substitute for another, we will eventually exhaust them as well. When we look at the eventual change over of leadership in the government, we can even see how leadership can’t be sustained. This will be problem because the government has done little to prepare for the change over of leadership in the country. (Green, Roberts., 2011, p. 4).

America is in a somewhat scary and unpredictable state right now. It seems that we are facing more dangers, both foreign and domestic, than ever before. Terrorism is at an all time high, we have an economy that appears to be faltering, and a national debt unlike we’ve ever witnessed before. It is undeniable that America needs quality and capable leaders. Perhaps our nation got to this point simply because we haven’t done a good enough job of developing leaders. Perhaps we as Americans have forgot what true leadership is. One of the most important aspects of leadership is the ability for one to put aside his or her personal wants and desires and do what is best for the organization or nation. It is not an effort to gain power but an effort to help (Green, Roberts, 2011, p. 5). These are the type of leaders that our nation desperately needs

I definitely think that we are in peril times as a country and economy right now. Our country has been prosperous for so long, and I truly feel that in order to continue this prosperity we are going to have to amend the ways of our ‘traditional leadership’. It is obvious that something isn’t working, and the economy and business world is shifting right out from under the United States. Andres Edwards states, “The concern for our longevity represents a maturing of our kind…into it’s fullest stature – one worthy of being sustained.” (Edwards, 14). As a country (and businessmen/women of this country), we must step up to the plate – to our fullest potential – and do our best to help our country with the changing economy, jobs, and leadership.
Edwards, A. (2005). The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift. Gabriola Island, Canada: New Society Publishers

There is a shift in the workplace atmosphere. Instead of leaders focusing on the team as a whole, they are focused on themselves. Instead of trying to advance the company, the new generation of leaders tends to focus more on advancing their career. This is different from the generation prior, where the leaders were focused on being leaders to their team. The new generation poses a threat to the sustainability of the economy. The government has spent little time in the development of future leadership. (Green, Roberts, 2011, p. 6) If the new generation leaders aren’t trained properly, how will they know how to effectively run a business? If they are only focused on their career, how will the economy survive?
Green, D. D., & Roberts, G. (2011). Impending danger: The federal handbook for rethinking leadership in the 21st century. Deer Park, NY: Linus Publications, Inc.

The standard of an effective leader is to provide purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish a unified corporate goal. In most companies this goal is profit maximization. The status quo of classical sustainability is that it requires more financial costs to operate “green” and lowers market competitiveness. The divergence from this thought is that sustainability = innovation in terms of reusable byproducts of manufacture leading to increasing profitability or maximizing efficiency actually reduces operating costs. An example from Nidmolu is FedEx, which deploys a fleet of 700 aircraft and 44,000 motorized vehicles that consume 4 million gallons of fuel a day. Despite the global slowdown, the company is replacing old aircraft with Boeing 757s as part of its Fuel Sense program, although it will postpone ordering new ones until 2010. This will reduce the company’s fuel consumption by 36% while increasing capacity by 20%. Following some other pioneers, FedEx recently turned its energy-saving expertise into a stand-alone consulting business that, it hopes, will become a profit center.
Nidumolu, R., Prahalad, C. K., & Rangaswami, M. R. (2009). WHY SUSTAINABILITY IS NOW THE KEY DRIVER OF INNOVATION. (cover story). Harvard Business Review, 87(9), 56-64. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Traditional leadership is rightfully vigilant to squandering profits, and wary of redirecting a company’s sector to an environmental focus. Many leaders see the potential in sustainability, but have no prospective ideas. Lubin and Esty see the road map as “already drawn out.” They classify the movement towards sustainability as a “mega-trend” that typically grows out of financial crisis or threat of conflict over resources. An example would be the cold war, with similar geopolitical turmoil and uncertainty, which launched the space race and provided rapid developments in microelectronics.
An example of a winner in sustainability is GE’s ecoimagination product line, which has generated tens of billions of dollars in revenue and positioned the company as a leader in rapidly growing market segments such as high efficiency appliances, energy infrastructure, and jet engines. Clorox’s Greenworks line of eco-friendly cleaning products has also been successful by reframing the public’s perception of the company, while also generating billions of dollars in sales. By managing this new “mega-trend” correctly, as successful companies have managed past equivalents, seemingly insurmountable uncertainty is strong ground for profitability.
Lubin, D., & Esty, D. (2010). The Sustainability Imperative. Harvard Business Review, (May 2010), 1-9.

The world is been changing very fast. Every minute something is found or developed and we need to keep improving ourselves. Nowadays, to be a good leader it is crucial to be willing to learn and change. Many problems that we had in the past do not exist anymore or we know how to handle it. I believe many problems that do not exist will still come and the new leaders need to be aware of the actual problem and common good in order to be able to resolve them. Bad leaderships defined as being unwilling or unable to control personal desires such as seeking for power stead of common good. (Green, Roberts, 2011, p. 5).
Green, D. D., & Roberts, G. (2011). Impending danger: The federal handbook for rethinking leadership in the 21st century. Deer Park, NY: Linus Publications, Inc.

The federal government has spent little time or resources in the development of future leadership (Green, Roberts, 2011, p. 6). The issue of sustaining leadership is a major problem in many of today’s organizations not just the federal government. The problem is that many leaders today lack the insight to leave a legacy of succession for the future of the company. However, this should not be the case. Instead, it is a leader’s responsibility to lead the organization with the future in mind not just the current situation. The lack of sustainability should be major factor that today’s leaders should have learned from recent economic crisis. If not we will continued to see major corporations crumble without leaders who are commitment to the future growth and success of the organizations in which they lead.
Green, D. D., & Roberts, G. (2011). Impending danger: The federal handbook for rethinking leadership in the 21st century. Deer Park, NY: Linus Publications, Inc.
Maxwell, J. C. (1998). The 21 irrefutable laws of leadership. Nashville,TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

Traditional leadership styles are becoming a thing of the past. In order for companies to maintain market growth company executives must implore new methods of not only business but leadership styles in order to maximum share holder’s investments. With the current market situation companies cannot continue to allow past principles / ideas to dictate the course of business. Organizations that are able to break from traditional roles will be better positioned to sustain market success. Over the past decade companies have tried time and time to grow / sustain market share through company mergers, acquisitions and other approaches. As noted in the Harvard Business review companies who implore these techniques often find themselves destroying more value than creating. So how do companies succeed in this 21st century? The answer is in those companies that continue to generate growth through new ideas. Organizations who are able to shape the market through new business ideas, technologies will be better equipped to sustain and stimulate growth for decades to come.
Reference:
Laurie , D, Doz, Y, & Sheer, C. (2006, May 1). Creating new growth platforms. Harvard Business Review, Retrieved from http://hbr.org/2006/05/creating-new-growth-platforms/ar/1

Sustainability is the capacity to endure. This can be seen in many systems. You mention the Gulf coast and the BP oil spil. Undoubtedly this has had an affect on that area’s ecology. However, one only needs to look at the area of Prince William Sound Alaska where the Exxon Valdese ran aground – the largest oil spill in US waters to see the sustainability of the ecology/environment in that area is resilient. I have to think that other areas mentioned above, with regard sustainability, have to be that resilient as well – at least I hope they are.
Today, leaders must take into account the social and ecological ramifications of their decisions, not just their economic bottom line.

Well, really there is no such thing as traditional leadership; it is always evolving to match the next disruptive change. Leadership styles and management thought has changed dramatically throughout the years adopting practices that more appropriately meet the needs of businesses as business evolves. Currently, however, instead of a disruptive change that has hit the market, it seems that a series of disruptive changes have occurred leaving the business world spinning. In order to grow and adapt to these changes we will create new business models and leaders with styles we never thought about will emerge. It must happen and will happen in business and education as well. The saying that necessity is the mother of invention is so true. ” Life has a unique way of revealing to us areas that we could use some work and that is a good and healthy thing. The trick is to recognize those things when they occur.” (Boudreau, 2011) Creativity and adaptability are the keys. Stakeholders matter, not just the shareholders interests in an organization. The United States is lagging behind in this perspective and it is hurting us because job creation and sustainability should be just as important to a company as creating wealth for its shareholders. The world has known that we should be more energy efficient and create better products but would not until they were forced to do it by the consumers.
Leadership Today, Frank Boudreau
http://frankboudreau.net/

In today’s volatile business environment, executive level management must look into every fold of the organization to find viable candidates to take their business into the future. Leadership development will no longer follow the “traditional” path of employees working in an organization for years and years and inheriting leadership roles every so often until they are at the top. To ensure sustainable leadership, companies must recognize that the ones who want to be the next generation of leaders do not always stand out among the crowd. They quietly let their performance do their campaigning for them and look for ways to advance such as furthering their education or learning as much as they can about everything they can in the organization. Leaders must be aware of the value of the organization’s human capital and be willing to empower those that want to lead into the future.

Traditional leadership is often thought of as the ability to move masses or to get things rightly done. However, the concept of sustainability includes these characteristics while at the same time demands consciousness of the long lasting impact that these actions have on the environment and societies. As Andres R. Edwards(2005) points out, “The Sustainability Revolution presents an alternative that supports economic viability and healthy ecosystems by modifying consumption patterns and implementing a more equitable social framework” (p. 3). These practices are not only eco-friendly, the also affect the bottom line in a positive way. By applying these fundamentals of sustainability, corporations can enjoy federal incentives such as “the federal Energy Efficient Builder Tax Credit available to offset some of the cost of some green building upgrades” (NAA, 2011). The hope now is that these corporate initiatives become more widespread in the near future.
Edwards, A. (2005). The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift. Gabriola Island, Canada: New Society Publishers
National Apartment Association(NAA). (2011). Advantages of Going Green.

1. KEEP 200 WORDS INITIALBusiness is always evolving to match the next disruptive change. Leadership styles and management thought has changed, adopting practices that more appropriately meet the needs of businesses as business evolves. Instead of a disruptive change that has hit the market, it seems that a series of disruptive changes have occurred leaving the business world spinning. We will grow, adapt, and create new business models and leaders and styles we never thought about will emerge. It must happen and will happen in business and education as well. “Life has a unique way of revealing to us areas that we could use some work and that is a good and healthy thing. The trick is to recognize those things when they occur.” (Boudreau, 2011) Creativity and adaptability are the keys. Stakeholders matter, not just the shareholders interests in an organization. We are lagging behind in this perspective and it is hurting us because job creation and sustainability should be just as important to a company as creating wealth for its shareholders. We know that we should be more energy efficient and create better products but would not until they were forced to do it by the consumers.
Boudreau, Frank, Leadership Today, http://frankboudreau.net/