California State University San Bernardino Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration Department of Management Name:Section: Evaluation of: (hanging indent APA citation) Topic/Keywords: (5 words or phrases used to describe the ARTICLE) Problem/Purpose:(How does the author describe the reason for writing the article?) Methods: Sample andPopulation: (How many people from what segments of society; how are they described?) Data Collection: (How did the author get the information from the people who responded to the research?) Data Analysis: (Once the author had the information how did they make sense of it? Interpret it?) Findings or Recommendations: (what were the results of the research and what are your thoughts on the article?) Running Head: LEBRON JAMES 1 LeBron James "I Promise" School Interview & Tour, Akron OH 3 LEBRON JAMES Shenhao Sun California State University San Bernardino 5/10/2019 Personal History On 30th December in the year 1984, LeBron James was born in Akron, Ohio. His father is Anthony McClelland and the mother is Gloria Marie James. His father was not involved in LeBron’s life that much as he had an extensive criminal record. Life was often a struggle for his family as he was growing up whereby they moved from apartment to apartment in Akron’s seedier neighborhoods while his mother had the struggle of finding work which was steady. After his mother came into the realization that LeBron would be better off in a family environment which was most stable, she allowed LeBron to move in with Frank Walker’s family who was a coach of a local youth football. Frank Walker introduced LeBron to basketball at the age of nine years. In the fifth grade, LeBron started playing organized basketball. He later played the Amateur Athletic Union basket basketball which was for the Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars. With his friends, LeBron led the team to winning various titles on a national and local level. This group of friends dubbed themselves as the “Fab Four” where they promised to attend high school together a move which stirred local controversy as the chose St. Vincent-St. Mary High School which was a private Catholic School with most of the students attending being white students. At high school football team, he played wide receiver. He also got recruited by some programs one of them being Notre Dame. Employment Background LeBron’s impressive record made him get picked first in the NBA draft in 2003. The Cleveland Cavaliers signed James who was a powerful young forward where he proved to be of value to the then-struggling franchise as it had ended in eighth place in the Eastern conference the previous season. It was during the 2003-04 season that he made history of becoming the first Cavalier franchise member to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He was also the youngest player to receive such an honor at the age of 20 years. In addition, James at this time was averaging each game 20 poi.

1. California State University San Bernardino
Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration
Department of Management
Name:Section:
Evaluation of: (hanging indent APA citation)
Topic/Keywords: (5 words or phrases used to describe the
ARTICLE)
Problem/Purpose:(How does the author describe the reason for
writing the article?)
Methods:
Sample andPopulation: (How many people from what segments
of society; how are they described?)
Data Collection: (How did the author get the information from
the people who responded to the research?)
Data Analysis: (Once the author had the information how did
they make sense of it? Interpret it?)
Findings or Recommendations: (what were the results of the
research and what are your thoughts on the article?)

2. Running Head: LEBRON JAMES
1
LeBron James "I Promise" School Interview & Tour, Akron OH
3
LEBRON JAMES
Shenhao Sun
California State University
San Bernardino
5/10/2019
Personal History
On 30th December in the year 1984, LeBron James was born in
Akron, Ohio. His father is Anthony McClelland and the mother
is Gloria Marie James. His father was not involved in LeBron’s
life that much as he had an extensive criminal record. Life was
often a struggle for his family as he was growing up whereby
they moved from apartment to apartment in Akron’s seedier
neighborhoods while his mother had the struggle of finding
work which was steady. After his mother came into the
realization that LeBron would be better off in a family
environment which was most stable, she allowed LeBron to
move in with Frank Walker’s family who was a coach of a local
youth football. Frank Walker introduced LeBron to basketball at
the age of nine years.
In the fifth grade, LeBron started playing organized basketball.
He later played the Amateur Athletic Union basket basketball
which was for the Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars. With his
friends, LeBron led the team to winning various titles on a

3. national and local level. This group of friends dubbed
themselves as the “Fab Four” where they promised to attend
high school together a move which stirred local controversy as
the chose St. Vincent-St. Mary High School which was a private
Catholic School with most of the students attending being white
students. At high school football team, he played wide receiver.
He also got recruited by some programs one of them being
Notre Dame.
Employment Background
LeBron’s impressive record made him get picked first in the
NBA draft in 2003. The Cleveland Cavaliers signed James who
was a powerful young forward where he proved to be of value to
the then-struggling franchise as it had ended in eighth place in
the Eastern conference the previous season. It was during the
2003-04 season that he made history of becoming the first
Cavalier franchise member to win the NBA Rookie of the Year
Award. He was also the youngest player to receive such an
honor at the age of 20 years. In addition, James at this time was
averaging each game 20 points which put him the company of
the likes of Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan.
LeBron James helped his team beat the Washington Wizards in
2006 the first round of playoff action. Even when his team was
not ranked at the top, he received continuous recognition
because of his abilities. In June 2nd, 2007, he led the Cleveland
to the finals of NBA but swept by Spurs in four games. In May
6th, 2009, he won his first ever NBA MVP Award after
averaging 7.9 rebounds, 30.0 points, and 7.2 assists per game
and the next year he announced of him joining the Miami Heat
which was after he became a free agent.
LeBron’s fans in Cleveland were not pleased by his decision

4. whereby many considered it as a betrayal to his hometown. The
2011-12 season saw major success for the Miami Heat and
James also. He had finally earned himself a first title after
Miami Heat defeated Oklahoma City Thunder in the finals of
NBA. In 2014, he announced to return to the Cleveland
Cavaliers in free agency. He led the Cavaliers to the finals of
NBA thus becoming the first player in nearly over 50 years to
reach the championship round in 5 consecutive seasons. In
2018, he announced to be moving to his next chapter of his
career through signing with the Los Angeles Lakers, which was
a storied franchise counting Bryant, Magic Johnson and Abdul-
Jabbar among its all-time greats.
Leadership style
Leadership style is the approach and manner of implementing
plans, providing directions, and motivating people (Burr. 2016).
Leadership styles include the total pattern of implicit and
explicit actions performed by leaders (Yahaya. 2016).
Leadership is not something of one going alone that’s why great
teams prevail and succeed when they evolve and grow together.
The leadership style practiced by James was a participative
leadership also referred to as democratic leadership.
He actually willed his leadership a group, or team, of different-
minded teammates that equally aspired to will their ways
towards championship winning. The style of leadership thus
became participative one as it involves the leader including
others in the decision making process which involves the
determination of what to do and how to do it (Anderson. 2017).
Using participative style of leadership does not show signs of
weakness but signs of strength that others will respect.

5. LeBron James taught transformation things about leadership and
teamwork which include; spacing and alignment, self-trust and
situational awareness, and lastly patience and reinvention.
Spacing and alignment allows leaders and also teams in the
exploration of endless possibilities centered on their own
personal capabilities and strengths (Cashman. 2017). Self-trust
and situational awareness is the most powerful force which is
capable of strengthening one’s situational awareness as a leader
giving on clarity and understanding to know one’s teammates
and the team’s capability, what to expect and what not to expect
(Iqbal. 2015). Patience and reinvention was ones of the
LeBron’s skills of being able to be patient and also taught on
never stopping to refine one’s methods (Shih. 2016).
References
Anderson, M. H., & Sun, P. Y. (2017). Reviewing leadership
styles: Overlaps and the need for a new
‘full‐range’theory. International Journal of Management
Reviews, 19(1), 76-96.
Burr, M. W. (2016). Organizational conflict management
systems in small business.
Cashman, K. (2017). Leadership from the inside out: Becoming
a leader for life. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Iqbal, N., Anwar, S., & Haider, N. (2015). Effect of leadership
style on employee performance. Arabian Journal of Business
and Management Review, 5(5), 1-6.
Shih, W., & Pierce, J. E. (2016). Learning from Adversity:
Advice from Library Leaders.
Yahaya, R., & Ebrahim, F. (2016). Leadership styles and
organizational commitment: literature review. Journal of
Management Development, 35(2), 190-216.