Analysis of Leadership Approach and Leadership Challenge Facing by Anne M. Mulcahy

Introduction

When Mulcahy was named CEO of Xerox Corp. in 2001, many people were surprised. Immediately she was faced with crisis, the advisors urged her to declare bankruptcy to remedy the situation, but she didn’t agree to it. Instead, she chose the path that not many would have conceded. In fact, she said that,” Bankruptcy is never a win.” When she took over the corporation, she only had the intention to bring the corporation into a higher place and envisioned Xerox to be a high-tech player. She refused to cut back on research and development or field sales, despite shareholder petitions to shut down all R&D. Instead, she attacked Xerox's bloated infrastructure, sold off pieces of Fuji Xerox, the company's crown jewel, and farmed out manufacturing to Flextronics.

Confidence During Setbacks

Maintaining Focus on the Future

Shifting from expensive consumer printers, Mulcahy took a gamble and focused on the new technology of high end colour digital printers and consulting services. She realized that the world was changing, and Xerox needed to get ahead of the shift. “Companies disappear because they can’t reinvent themselves,” she said.

Encouraging Constructive Dissent

She didn’t back off when furious shareholders were throwing angry comments and threats at the company. Alternately, she prioritized in attempts to allay worries and fears. She also made a verbal promise to ‘fly anywhere to save any customer for Xerox’ “So rather than wasting a lot of time putting out fires,” she said, “we were actually focused on the source of the fuel leak, which really became critically important to fixing the real problems.”

What Steps Did She Take to Address This Challenge

I personally think that Mulcahy had handled the situation well and different from what other leaders would do. Many businesses would choose the easy way out and declare bankruptcy, but she didn’t do so. She took the initiative and set the visions so high up that no one believed that the corporation was able to achieve them. Evidently, she’d proven them wrong. She’d said that, she and her team took advantage of the crisis and she thought that they would’ve loved to do more than they did. I feel that if it would’ve been a different leader, the turnaround would not be as successful and effective. Mulcahy had dealt with the crisis efficiently.

What Does This Tell Us About Her Approach to Leadership?

Her strategy to deal with the critical situation was promoting honesty and confidence, in which are especially important in that case. She emphasized that in times that your business is struggling, you have to give the employees and customers a sense of direction and resolution. In exchange, Mulcahy would expect full effort and support from her executive team or any Xerox employee. “I gave people a choice to make: Either roll up your sleeves and go to work or leave Xerox.”

How Do Theories and Frameworks Help Us Understand Her Approach?

I believe that her leadership style was democratic because she took in consideration of her team’s decisions and made an effective choice in the end. By doing so, she was able to learn new perspectives to comprehend various flaws existed in different levels of the corporation. She also believed that her fellow employees should occasionally depend on their instincts with management skills instead of plain data and process because sometimes the numbers could be a hindrance to decision making.

She also performed relationship related leadership style where Mulcahy went to the top 100 executives personally and discussed the situations with them. She allowed them to share the worry and joy together which, I believe, created a sense of mutual respect and responsibility. She had made it clear about the acute crisis and had successfully prompted 98 out of 100 executives to stay. She didn’t back off when furious shareholders were throwing angry comments and threats at the company. Alternately, she prioritized in attempts to allay worries and fears. She also made a verbal promise to ‘fly anywhere to save any customer for Xerox’.