By Isaac Cammeron
Jordan Belfort was at the “Wolf of Wall Street” who took junk stocks entering into the gold that lined his pockets. His company Stratton Oakmont bilked millions out of retirees and the wealthy before being shut down by the FBI. How did he do this? Jordan did this using charismatic leadership and transactional leadership. “Weber (1947) described charisma as a personality characteristic that gives a person super agreement or exceptional powers and is reserved for a few, is of divine origin, and results in a person being treated as a leader” (as cited by Northouse p.188, 2013). Jordan learned early on that if he was to become profitable in the Wall Street business he would have to inspire others to join him and cutting corners. In the movie, he took a bunch of misfits can transformed them into boiler room shysters through inspirational motivation. That motivation was not just the monetary benefits that his thousand plus employees would receive but the shared vision of wealth beyond any scope they could ever imagine. Inspirational motivation is factor two our transformational leadership factors. Northouse p. 193 (2013) explains that it is the communication of high standards and expectations of followers to become part of and committed to a shared vision. Even though his practices were immoral he was able to inspire entire group of people to follow his practices willingly and happily.
After Jordan’s arrest, he served his time in federal prison he went on to become a public speaker and share this vision but in a different way. In the pay public speaker Jordan now illustrates how misguided ideals can corrupt proper practices (Kolhatkar, 2013).
References
Kolhatkar, S. (2013, November 7). Jordan Belfort, the Real Wolf of Wall Street. Bloomberg Business Week. Retrieved April 29, 2014, from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-07/jordan-belfort-the-real- wolf-of-wall-street
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.