In the world, the demeanor of people determines their view of the world, and the
potential for good that there is. Some of the best people in the world, and eventually
being some of the best leaders, believe that every
...
In the world, the demeanor of people determines their view of the world, and the
potential for good that there is. Some of the best people in the world, and eventually
being some of the best leaders, believe that everyone has the potential to make a
difference. It is for this reason; it is sometimes difficult to find the perfect person for the
job. What makes it even harder for this assignment is that we must narrow it down to a
specific field of study. It is for this reason that I chose to analyze one of the best leaders
I could find, Christopher Luxon. Mr. Luxon is the former chief executive officer (CEO) of
Air New Zealand. Before coming to Air New Zealand, Christopher gained a master’s
degree from the University of Canterbury. After a while, Mr. Luxon got the privilege of
being the CEO of Air New Zealand for 7 years, announcing his leaving of the company
exactly 7 years from the day of his appointment as the CEO. Although he is no longer
CEO, he still has a seat on the board for the company, as an MP. The points that make
Chris Luxon such an influential leader is that he was a supportive leader, and through
some of the hardest times, he was able to work with his employees to keep the
company profitable through the global financial crisis. For this all, Christopher Luxon
was a leader of commitment, and allowed his employees to flourish in every way
possible within the company, which allowed everyone feel as an equal in the company.
In the world of aviation, we all tend to think about all the aircraft that there are,
and how cool, it would be to fly one. Well, on the other side, specifically management,
we have them trying to make sure everyone is doing the right thing, and the company is
not going down the drain. With all the tasks that there are, Christopher Luxon was still
able to keep commitment to his people. So, for this, we are going to discuss his
commitment to his employees, customers, and others. Commitment is technically
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defined as “the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc.” (Oxford
Dictionary), which is a big task for anyone trying to run a multisided business. The idea
of commitment used in this example is that of, promising things to the people, and
following through, as well as, putting his all into the company and the people, trying to
stay committed to everyone and everything, for the best of people. With all the research,
employees spoke very highly on Mr. Luxon, and discussed his long days working to
keep the company going, expanding their destinations, employee wellness, and the
overall desire to make everyone involved in the company. But the most influential point
that Luxon strived for during his journey at the airline is gender diversity. According to
the IATA, he wanted, by the end of his journey in the airline, to have a greater diversity
of genders, so that the idea of aviation as a mans job, can be put to rest, and bring out
the woman workforce. In the end, he stated “It is important that women are seen and
heard in our industry and in our forum” (IATA). This is how the trait of commitment, is
used to describe by Mr. Christopher Luxon.
Now, with all of his empowerment to bring women into the workforce, and get rid
of the stereotype of aviation as a man’s career, we can now investigate the next trait,
allowing his employees to flourish and advance in the company. This trait, in my opinion,
is a crucially important, and rare trait to find within many companies. Having this trait
makes me believe that Mr. Luxon stands out in the industry. This trait is as it says,
allowing the employees within a company to get promoted, gain new experience, and
potentially work up-to becoming part of corporate. This is exactly how Chris Luxon ran
the company, and he wanted it to be this way. He made sure this was possible by being
out in the workplaces of the company, speaking with employees, and allowing
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employees first choice at positions that could lead to advancement. It was stated by
Elliott Ford in his LinkedIn article that “Under Chris’s leadership, Air NZ’s customercentricity, commercial focus, and highly engaged culture have led and kept the Airline
right at the very top of world rankings and profitability in the hyper-competitive
environment of international air travel” (LinkedIn). With all of the fact’s states, this is why
Mr. Luxon is noticed for his leadership allowing flourishment of employees.
Now that we have learned about the leadership and the traits that Christopher
Luxon has, we can now look at a situation the company had, and how they came out of
it. The situation I am discussing in this is referenced to as the “Global Financial Crisis”,
and made a lot of companies go under, or get close to going bankrupt. With this
situation, Mr. Luxon, and the leadership at Air New Zealand chose to instead of
furloughing employees or having to get rid of some routes, to rather take a salary freeze
for the company, with some of the employees even taking a low salary to help during
this time. The reported times of this occurring was up to 12 months but was likely
occurring longer. In the end of the crisis, the company reported profits during this time,
and allowed all employees and corporate affiliates to get back to the normal salary and
keep their jobs. It was not just a stance taken by Luxon, but the entire corporate team at
Air New Zealand. This whole endeavor allowed them to see the cost cutting areas within
the company, but also allow them to see how small details can be fixed to benefit the
company. This is the area in which I found that a dilemma came, and the leadership of
Luxon allowed them to power through.
With the moral dilemma behind them, and able to power through, and benefit the
company, we can see the leadership’s viewpoints. Now, let us investigate the authority,
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responsibility and accountability found within the company. Specifically, for Christopher
Luxon, he loves the company he worked for, and had the desire to make a profit for the
company, but at the same time, build the respect and happiness of the employees. His
goal was to make every employee an equal, not inferior to him. With this, he was able to
take opinions, different views, and situations occurring, and turn them into ways to make
them better. The authority that Luxon presented was that he was able to see where
issues were going on, but not reprimanding people for issues, but rather find ways to
make the job easier and more efficient. The people of the company could suggest ideas
to him or their employer and know that it will be a considered idea. With the idea of
responsibility, he took issues, as I said, not as an single person issue, but as a team
issue. He worked with everyone to take some responsibility for the good and bad of the
company. But, with the good, he allowed the employees to be the forefront of the good
and get recognition, not him. He knew through the company, it was the employees that
make the company run, so they deserve recognition, and he did not want the attention.
When it comes for the bad, he takes the blame, and wants to get the issues fixed. The
employees are not to blamed, by his thought, and everyone can work together to find a
solution. Finally, the accountability really ties together with the authority and
responsibility, in the aspect that he is always there for the employees and feel
accountable to make sure there are no issues preventing them from doing their best.
This is how the use of ARA is shown within his leadership.
In the end, Christopher Luxon brought commitment and the desire to allow his
employees to flourish within the company, to this industry, which hopefully can keep his
legacy going as times advances. During his term at Air New Zealand, he wanted to
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change the face of the aviation industry and remove the gender role biases that have
been shown throughout all the different industries around us. When a leader takes the
time to listen to employees, and has the desire to make everyone satisfied, you are able
to make a business profit, and have the backing of the employees. With all of the
knowledge of Christopher Luxon, I am able to go forward, and know that, when I listen
and have consideration for others, I will be able to learn new things and potentially
make an impact on the world.
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