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Class 2, Peer Review 2 Response
Class 2, Peer Review 2 Response
Name
Institutional Affiliation
As identified by the author, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were strategic leaders. They possessed the essential skills and competencies of strategic leaders to their responsibilities of getting the right people aboard, symbolic communication, knowing self and their enemies, and applying strategic awareness. On strategic awareness, both had vision clarity as anticipation as a skill to know what to expect during the war. On this note, both of these leaders knew that the building of the atomic bomb could result in decisive results, especially against the Soviet Union that was trying to bring down Britain and considering the United States too. FDR, as the author details, was considering building the atomic bomb but trying to provide only a few details to Churchill, while Churchill was hopeful about the practicality of the atomic bomb that would bring the efforts of the Soviet Union to a halt (Gowing, 1989). They then aligned their efforts to bring this dream to reality while saving their countries and improving their relations while at it.
Both FDR and Churchill were great communicators. FDR was considered one of the 20th century’s greatest orators, so much so that he had fireside chats that led to the mailroom requiring 69 more staff members once he got into presidency (Yu, 2005). I, therefore, agree with the author that FDR was a strong communicator since his self-confidence made it possible for him to be convincing while still managing to overcome adversity. Unlike FDR, Churchill had to learn to be a master of communication (Bean, 2009). He mastered it so well that he was able to inspire people just through his speech, making him a strong communicator. He used a lot of proverbial language in his communication while ensuring that he communicated as clearly and simply as possible, and then explaining statements that might have seemed difficult (Axelrod, 2000). Both leaders excelled at communication, just like the author points out.
I agree with the author regarding Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill having a good understanding of their enemies and a good understanding of self. This would explain why they formed an alliance against Nazi Germany and Japan. They aligned well so that Britain gain an ally to help keep Nazi Germany at bay, thus stopping the war from ravaging Britain and America gained by keeping the Nazis out of the U.S. borders at all costs (Feis, 2015). Their friendship made it possible for the leaders to correspond back and forth via letters and meetings through which they were able to plan against possible attacks from enemies. As the author mentions, the leaders were united against the Soviets and more so against Japan, for which they had an atomic bomb developed just in case it was needed (Reynolds, 2006). Their united front kept the enemies at bay.
Churchill and FDR, on top of making an impeccable team, had picked out effective and efficient people to be on their governing teams, as the author identifies. The people behind were mostly those in their cabinets as well as those who advised them on various matters (Leutze, 1975). The leaders’ communication and agreement on the building of the atomic bomb took place between each other’s complex teams. This made it possible for strategic decision making to be done and great progress to be made in the process, both in their nuclear alliance and cooperation on various other matters, including during the World War II (Mclain Smith, 2008). Working with their teams made governance smoother, on top of being strategic leaders with their successes and failures.
References
Axelrod, A. (2000). The quotable historian: words of wisdom from Winston Churchill, Barbara Tuchman, Edward Gibbon, Julius Caesar, David McCullough, and more. McGraw-Hill Companies.
Bean, L. A. M. (2009). Roosevelt, Churchill, and the Words of War: Their Speeches and Correspondence, November 1940-March 1941.
Feis, H. (2015). Churchill-Roosevelt-Stalin: The war they waged and the peace they sought. Princeton University Press.Gowing, M. (1989). Britain, America and the Bomb. In British Foreign Policy, 1945–56 (pp. 31-46). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Leutze, J. (1975). The Secret of the Churchill-Roosevelt Correspondence: September 1939—May 1940. Journal of Contemporary History, 10(3), 465-491.
Mclain sMitH, D. (2008). the Missing piece to Building Great teams. Reflections, 9(1).Reynolds, D. (2006). From World War to Cold War: Churchill, Roosevelt, and the international history of the 1940s. Oxford University Press on Demand.
Yu, L. (2005). The Great Communicator: How FDR’s radio speeches shaped American history. The History Teacher, 39(1), 89-106.
Class 2, Peer Response 2
Class 2, Peer Response 2
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Like the author has mentioned, different strategic leaders employ different ways and ideas of their leadership. A strategic leader is a person who is able to develop matching competencies top their organizational needs, one who is able to develop and lead people, shows effectiveness in networking, is strategic in process development, and forges the values and culture. This is unlike what the author previously thought regarding a person who stands out strong. As the author has stated, strategic leaders stand out uniquely from one to the other, with great diversity (Ireland & Hitt, 1999; Davies & Davies, 2004). For them to remain different and stand out from the crowd, they operate within a competitive landscape that encourages them to meet the needs of those that they serve while meeting the set goals. Not only these, but their personalities, strengths, and weaknesses also help them stand out which motivates them to become strategic leaders.
As the author identifies, a strategic leader possesses certain characteristics and qualities that makes them stand out. The author identifies the essential skills of a strategic leader as being paramount to ensuring effective leadership. These are anticipating, challenging, interpreting, deciding, alignment, and learning, all of which are important to a strategic leader. However, the author identifies anticipating, challenging, deciding, and learning as the most important. The author views these as the characteristics that the leader ought to possess. This enables them to be flexible to deal with any challenges while remaining persistent, be strategic and informed of how things are bound to change in future so that they are prepared in good time, and they have to be strategic in decision making (Schoemaker, Krupp, & Howland, 2013). They have to learn from past mistakes, their surroundings, and their team. The leader has to ensure that the essential skills or characteristics are all applied for effectiveness.
The author goes ahead to identify the importance of the leader bringing the idea of courageously making decisions and coupling it with challenging the ideas of others that they think may or may not work for the organization they run. This ensures that the decision has a firm foundation. Anticipation plays a significant role in the strategic leader’s run within the organization. With good research and a good understanding of the system of the organization, the strategic leader is able to become an effective visionary of how things may turn out in the future of the organization. This way, they are able to plan ahead, while still managing to deal with upcoming issues, as the author points out. Effective decision making and the challenging aspect are applied in this case too (Schoemaker, Krupp, & Howland, 2013). Together with the team, the leader is able to receive various options of solutions to issues that may have sprung up. This will be informed by how knowledgeable the leader is of the subject as well as to the period leading up to decision making so that there may be solid grounds upon which to make the decision. Despite the uncertainty, the strategic leader should be able to wade through the mud and consider the company’s high stakes to make a decision. The flexibility in decision making is made easier by an active and informed team working with the leader for utmost effectiveness.
References
Davies, B. J., & Davies*, B. (2004). Strategic leadership. School leadership & management, 24(1), 29-38.
Ireland, R. D., & Hitt, M. A. (1999). Achieving and maintaining strategic competitiveness in the 21st century: The role of strategic leadership. Academy of Management Perspectives, 13(1), 43-57.
Schoemaker, P. J., Krupp, S., & Howland, S. (2013). Strategic leadership: The essential skills. Harvard business review, 91(1), 131-134.
My Reading and Writing Experience
Student’s Name
Professor
Course
Date
My Reading and Writing Experience
Since I was a small kid, I can comfortably state that I have always had great interest and awareness regarding reading and writing. As a kid, I had a smooth experience of learning because of the eminence of teaching and support that I was receiving from my family members particularly my father. I can remember well my father reading and interpreting some bedtime stories to me as a small kid, and I can attribute this to where my reading and writing experience originated from. At some times he could come home with some newspapers and other publications like magazines and ask me to read out the content for the whole family. I struggled, but with time my reading habit and skills were significantly improving.
It was during the early education that I achieved to sharpen my skills of writing and reading and this played a significant role in my life. Therefore, all the support that I received provided a good ground for me in learning first the reading and writing basics of the English language. The support made my learning to seem more manageable, and thus I had enough time to relish reading and writing outside my school work as well as handling the tasks that were set in front of me.
My school library was stocked with many books, and I never imagined setting my foot there possibly because of shyness. One day I decided to visit the library during my free time. Inside the library, I felt in a different world because of how the place was terrific. There was a serene environment, and everybody was busy with their stuff, some reading while others were writing. My attention was caught by the book entitled “Harry Potter” on one of the shelves. The book looked nice as it was well decorated by having an attractive cover page. I decided to read the first pages of the book before the library time was over.
The story was about a young boy named Harry Potter who lived with his wand-wielding friends at the time of witchcraft and wizardry. The book had an epic story such that I could not control myself from further reading. Suddenly I had the voice of the librarian, “Hey you there! The library time is already up, and you are the only one left in the library.” I looked around, and it was true, all the other students had already left. As I walked outside, I felt like I can write a whole book and I started seeing myself differently. From that day I developed the habit of going to the library since I realized that was where I fitted most. I became a great fan of the “Harry Potter” series after reading that first book. I also managed to read other fascinating books such as “The Hobbit,” “The Book Thief” as well as “The Outsiders.” These books opened my mind by increasing my reading habit up to a point where my friends regarded me as a bookworm.
Therefore reading became my hobby and hence the more books I read, the more my skills improved. When I became old enough to be able to read fluently without much struggle, I would read a storybook and then put my mental pictures from what I had learned into writing. I thus found the novice of writing as well as reading to be enjoyable as I grew. However, I was not the fastest reader nor the best writer and currently, I am still not. I prefer reading the words in a sentence at a moderate rate to read and still understand the context by just reading the writing once. Therefore my experience in reading made me believe reading as one of the significant features of education as it provides a substantial platform for all the other knowledge to be absorbed. When individuals learn to adore reading, they will hence find it simpler to enjoy all the learning.
However, I feel that my interest, as well as my desire to write, grew once I reached middle school. There before I used to read a lot with some little writing but in middle school, we were required to write some stories for a test. Our English teacher was so encouraging, and she supported us where necessary. Her proficiency in the language made to see her as my mentor. I used to go to her for assistance, and she would give me some topics and articles to write about where she later corrected me where I was wrong. She demanded a one hundred percent score from me in her subject and most of the time I gave out my best my emerging to be the top student. She encouraged me to keep reading as she saw I had a great passion for it. Presently I enjoy writing a lot since it consents me to express my feelings, establish my beautiful thoughts and to study information. Consequently, writing helps me to get my beliefs as well as opinions out in the open.
Overall, it is vivid that writing and reading come in hand in hand since, without writing, there would exist no reason to read. I consider both as my enjoyable aspect in all my school years as I enjoy both writing and reading at a personal level. Also, I tend to be very obsessive about literacy since I regard both writing and reading as the basis of learning as well as finding oneself. My journey about literacy started while I was young and I have seen the best coming from it. Reading and writing are my talents, and I feel like I can read and write forever.