Autocratic Leadership

Martha Stewart has a rags and riches story where she has been able to establish herself as an international brand targeting women of multicultural backgrounds with her products and services. However there exist many people who love to hate Martha Stewart. Part of the reaction of people to Martha Stewart can be attributed to the fact that she has been able to attain a high level of recognition, popularity, wealth as well as success through her business ventures while being a woman. This has raised many strong opinions against her from the members of the other sex.
Aside form this the insider raiding allegation and the resultant conviction through trial where she was found to be guilty of insider trading have portrayed her in the negative light to people who have developed strong feelings against her. “Love her or hate her, Martha Stewart has risen from a simple start in Nutley, New Jersey, to a top college to super-stardom. She’s the power woman that people love to hate. And she’s the happy-homemaker extraordinaire that showed women everywhere that it’s cool to love crafting, cooking and catering.
She might have hit some serious bumps in the road (shout out to the cell block! ), but she’s picked herself up, dusted off, and risen back to the top. ” (‘About’, 2008) Aside from this the women’s right activities and feminists group have always been against Martha Stewart for the lifestyle which is promoted through her products and services. She promotes a lifestyle based on developing a home, renovating and decorating it while supporting the family through cooking and entertaining skills. This is the traditional role that has been attributed to women and feminists groups accuse her for promoting the typical chauvinistic role that is expected by men in the society.

The people who hate Martha also include the people who have worked with or under her in her business. Her style of aggressive management, as quoted in magazines and in articles, has put her employees off how tend to often comment against her as well. Conclusion Martha Stewart has become a house hold brand name and it is admirable how successfully the female behind the brand has been able to build an empire of enterprising businesses based on her basement run home making operations. Martha Stewart has emerged as a definite female leader in the corporate world with many seeing her as a mentor.
There exist some people however who think of Martha to be hypocritical, discriminating and too aggressive a leader fueling on her incarceration for insider trading. However despite this in 2007 Stewart has been able to rise to the occasion and reestablish herself as well as her brand as the leading enterprise in the home making industry overcoming her failure of the past few years.
References (2007), Autocratic leadership, retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://www. money-zine. com/Career-Development/Leadership-Skill/Autocratic-Leadership/Martha Stewart Biograophy, retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://www.woopidoo. com/biography/martha-stewart/index. htm (2008), Women in Leadership, retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://leadershiptrainingtutorials. com/index. php? q=Women_Leadership_roles Stewart, M. , (2005), The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as You Start, Grow, or Manage a Business, Rodale Books Weaver, R. , Five Essential Leadership Traits: The Story Of Martha Stewart From Kmart To Macy’s, retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://ezinearticles. com/? Five-Essential-Leadership-Traits:-The-Story-Of-Martha-Stewart-From-Kmart-To-Macys;id=461813 (2008).
About, Mad About Martha, retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://madaboutmartha. blogspot. com/2008/02/martha-stewart-surprise-cookies. html Hammer, S. , ; McNichol M. , Ripping up the rules of management, CNN Money, retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://money. cnn. com/galleries/2007/biz2/0705/gallery. contrarians. biz2/4. html (2006), Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s Martha Stewart Named One of FORTUNE’s 50 Most Powerful Women, Fortune 500, retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://money. cnn. com/2006/10/17/news/companies/martha_stewart. fortune/index. htm