Montgomery, Copley and Associates’ Leadership Model (Case 10.3) Essay

Betty Ford entered the role of First Lady in 1978 and quickly built a reputation based on openness and honesty. Her public persona was supported in large part by a transparent approach to her individual beliefs and personal circumstances. During her time in the White House, Mrs. Ford actively lobbied for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and worked to raise breast cancer awareness after being diagnosed with the disease within the first month of taking on her new role. A year after President Ford exited the White House, Mrs. Ford began a public battle against a 14 year addiction to painkillers which were used to ease the pain from arthritis as well as a pinched nerve and chronic neck spasms. While in a rehabilitation program at the Long Beach Naval Hospital, Mrs. Ford openly acknowledged and confronted a secondary addiction to alcohol. In 1982, Mrs. Ford opened the Betty Ford Center in an effort to assist addicts much like her self and their families in the recovery process. F urther activism related to addiction recovery earned Mrs. Ford the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Medal of Honor. This paper will discuss Mrs. Ford’s leadership position in the public eye and will provide an analysis of her chosen leadership style in relation to Montgomery, Copley and Associates’ Leadership Model. The paper will then identify a personal leadership experience in which I utilized elements of the Leadership Model to reach a positive outcome in a major life decision. Leadership Model Montgomery, Copley and Associates’ Leadership Model (see appendix) represents a leadership style that is centered on leading with heart. In this regard, at the core of the decision making process are the ethical principles, moral philos... ... on internal and external inspirations such as those depicted in Montgomery, Copley and Associates’ Leadership Model, they are able to make a difference in staff and the organization alike. Moreover, much like Mrs. Ford, they are able to develop a leadership approach which resonates with followers and contributes to their success. Works Cited Bandsuch, M., Pate, L., & Thies, J. (2008). Building stakeholder trust in business: An examination of principle-centered leadership and organizational transparency in corporate governance. Business and Society Review, 113(1), 99-127. Higgs, M., & Rowland, D. (2010). Emperors with clothes on: The role of self-awareness in developing effective change leadership. Journal of Change Management, 10(4), 369-385. Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership theory and practice (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.