Team Project Week 5 PDF

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Week 5 Team Project Jodi Croce Using Chapter 11, determine the primary means of communication used by this Leader. Was this Leader an effective communicator? Musk is a high profile individual. He does press conferences, interviews and other types of media to communicate to the public about his latest projects. Within his companies he is physically accessible to anyone who wants to come and talk with him. He has an open door policy that allows his employees to speak to him directly about any question or concern that they may have. He is driven by intellectual stimulus and works with information that breaks down barriers. On the internet you can find examples of Musk’s emails to his employees. They are motivating and empowering his employees to continue to push the boundaries of innovation. He also addresses his employees personally. In an interview with Musk’s former head of talent acquisition, Dolly Singh described the scene immediately following the failure of the Falcon 1 rocket launch. She noted that Musk went right past the media and addressed his employees first. He stated failure is a part of rocket science, that he was prepared for it and had the funding needed to attempt two more launches and that they needed to pick themselves up and get back to work. He made a vow to personally never give up. “I think most of us would have followed him into the gates of hell carrying suntan oil after that,” (Eyserman, 2017). “But Musk isn't a compelling speaker because he makes us think the future will be amazing. It's because he talks about the present. More specifically, Musk uses the present tense four times as much as the average communicator, according to Noah Zandan, the founder and CEO of Quantified communications,” (Schwartz, 2016). Zandan is a Wall Street analysist who looks at the effectiveness of communication styles. He describes Musk as a visionary communicator. As someone who can makes the invention of “lightweight energy-efficient cars [that have not been invented yet] sound like solutions for now, not tomorrow,” (Schwartz, 2016). Musk is a straight talker and he expects the same from his employees. He does not agree with the approach of including individual managers as the liaison between department employees. He feels that it is incredibly inefficient for one employee to speak with their manager about a topic that they need to speak with another department about, just to have the manager speak with that employees manager, who then speaks with the employee and the answer comes back thru the same chain. “A better way, Musk wrote [in a memo to Tesla employees], is to speak to

whomever you need, whenever you need, however it best serves the company,” (Kane, 2017). He embraces informal channels of communication. Tesla, SpaceX and Solar City are on the cutting edge of innovation. How does Musk protect his inventions from competitors? In the case of Tesla, and the creation of electric vehicles, the answer is simple, he doesn’t. “If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal. Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology,” (Musk, 2014). Everything about Musk is hands on. The way he innovates, the way he builds and the way he communicates are done in ways different than what we have become accustomed to. Yet time and time again he has proven that his way is the best for creative innovations. “If diverging from the traditional chain of command doesn’t work on clearing up communication, perhaps we should wait for Musk’s next project – he raised $27 million with the aim of linking human brains with computers,” (Kane, 2017). References 1. Schwartz, Ariel. 2016 February 24. There’s on simple reason why Elon Musk is so convincing. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/why-elon-musk-is-such-agreat-communicator-2016-2. 2. Kane, Libby. 2017 August 30. In internal Tesla memo, Elon Musk says the way most companies communicate is ‘incredibly dumb’. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-elon-musk-how-to-communicate-2017-8 3. Eysermans, Benjamin. 2017 April 11. How does Elon Musk motivate his employees? In his biography, it is said he encourages his employees to do the impossible. What is the art and science behind this strategy? Does he motivate employees individually or is there something else? Retrieved from: https://www.quora.com/How-does-Elon-Muskmotivate-his-employees-In-his-biography-it-is-said-he-encourages-his-employees-to-dothe-impossible-What-is-the-art-and-science-behind-this-strategy-Does-he-motivateemployees-individually-or-is-there-something-else. 4. Musk, Elon CEO. 2014 June 12. All Our Patent Are Belong To You. Retrieved from https://www.tesla.com/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong-you...