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Russell Simmons can be seen as an innovative because comes up with unique ideas that become perfect and successful. He has two parallel businesses which he started from very humble backgrounds. Def Jam is his creation that acts as a company that produces and records rap music. He has helped many aspiring urban youth to realize their dreams in the rap industry.
Again, Phat Farm is a clothing firm that incorporates the hip hop culture in designing the fashion elements. The clothes are worn by people of all age ranges even children and are very attractive but costly because they are designer clothes. Another reason why the clothes are expensive is because the business has branches in almost all suburbans in the United States.
Russell also came up with the idea of starting a charity foundation to help unfortunate children across the country. It is called the Rush Philanthropic Foundation which donates $350,000 annually to the under privileged children. Lastly, he was the first to design the limited edition of the Motorola cell phone where he customized it with his name. He has since then advised the company how to blend with the hip hop culture. Tommy Hilfiger said that Russell has the ability to change raw things into extremely nice finished items thus he is as innovative as the word describes.
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Leadership Style
Russell seems to follow the Laissez-faire type of leadership because he is free with all his employees and business partners. The case study suggests that he leaves his office door open at all times and people are allowed to enter and leave as they please. He lets people have freedom around him because they are people he trusts to do their work well. Above all, he is seen to also follow up their work by making the final decision about his businesses.
Leadership characteristics
He is a brilliant leader who allows his employees to work freely without torture or unnecessary stress that most bosses do. He is also very wary with the kind of investment deals he makes. This is because it is stated that he does not like venturing in businesses where can lose money, thus he is risk –averse. He is a wise leader because he follows his intuition to make the final decision in the business. No matter what people say he depends on his experience and knowledge to make a careful analysis of the situation. His wisdom is also depicted in the fact that he advises people to work hard in order to help the poor since they cannot help each other while in the same situation. He is also a considerate leader who is keen to help the less fortunate in the society by donating money to charity organizations. He believes in giving more than he can receive from other people hence a philanthropic leader.
Advice to Russell Simmons and his Archilles Heel
The necessary advice to Simmon is that he needs to expand the business to incorporate other cultures in the youth. Not all the urban youth are interested in rap so he can at least find a brand that does not discriminate those people who do not follow the hip-hop culture. He also lacks that cultural sensitivity that he accuses other people of. His Achilles heel lies in the fact that he is very proud. It is not wrong to be proud of one’s efforts but sometimes pride can blind a person. A person may not be ready to rectify his ways even if they are wrong.