Examining the Skills of Famous Business Leaders Research Paper

Examining the Skills of Famous Business Leaders - Research Paper Example This paper analyses the leadership style of these two individuals. Oprah Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko Mississippi on January 29, 1954 (Achievement, 2009). She started her career as a radio broadcaster. She showed early on in her career the ability to communicate with others and to captivate the attention of large audiences. In 1985 she started the talk show â€Å"The Oprah Winfrey Show† which soon became the nation’s top talk show nationwide. Oprah Winfrey’s leadership style can be categorized as a charismatic leader. Charismatic leaders are those leaders who by force of their abilities are capable of having a profound and extraordinary effect on their followers (Schermerhorn, et. al. 2003). Alan Greenspan was born on March 6, 1926. He majored in economics from the University of New York. Some of his professional accomplishment includes being the top economics consultant for the firm Townsend-Greenspan, advisor to President Nixon, and advisor in the Ford presidency (Answers, 2009). His greatest professional goal was becoming the president of the federal reserve from 1987-2006. Mr. Greenspan was a powerful figure in US political regime that was considered the most powerful financial leader during his tenured as head of Fed. His leadership style can be categorized as a transactional leadership. Transactional leadership behavior focuses on the accomplishment of tasks and good worker relationships in exchange for desirable rewards in the workplace (Leadingtoday, 2003). The leadership style of Oprah Winfrey is much different that the leadership style of Mr. Greenspan. Oprah utilized her outgoing personality to inspire others, while Alan utilize his legitimate power to dictate the economic policies the country would follow as far as monetary policy is concern. Greenspan had many people that disagreed with his decisions who became adversaries of his regime. Oprah utilized