Executive Summary
The purpose of this assignment was to critically evaluate and analyse a business leader of the 21st century. For this particular study, the leadership of Bill Gates (Gates) will be discussed and his role in creating a company as big as Microsoft. Bill Gates, a visionary, was responsible for creating this company from the beginning (1975) and has since became one of the world 's wealthiest and richest man. Gates was well known for being extremely intelligent and discontinuing his studies at Harvard to pursue the Microsoft vision.
This paper seeks to evaluate the leadership concepts and theories whilst also discussing relevant contingency models in respect to the leader (Gates), followers and situations. The paper concludes with Gates being an inspiration and transformational leader in what was and what is still, one of the most dynamic industries in the world.
Table of Contents
Introduction 3
Bill Gates & Evaluation 4
Leadership Traits of Bill Gates 5
The Interactional Framework 5
Role Theory 5
Multiple-Influence Model 5
The Action - Observation-Reflection Model 5
Normative Decision Model 5
Situational Leadership Model 5
Leading Differently Then Bill Gates 11
Conclusion 11
References 13
Introduction
Leadership could be considered a process, not a position, so it is important to understand that all leaders vary in the way they will lead. Leadership can be loosely defined as "the process of influencing an organised group towards accomplishing it 's
The traditional concept of a leader, as being the directing chief at the top of a hierarchy, is now considered to be inadequate to truly lead a modern organisation. Leadership is concerned with people and so anyone, and indeed everybody, has the potential to demonstrate leadership qualities and behaviours.
According to dictionary.com leadership is defined as, the position or function of a leader, a person who guides or directs a group: Its synonyms include guidance, influence, control, direction and supervision. These are all qualifications that are needed to be an effective leader. All characteristics are not necessarily needed at the same time and do no need to be used for each subordinate. This paper will identify my personal leadership philosophy along with theories to support my leadership style.
Leadership, which is defined as “…The action of leading a group of people or an organization” is used in many different ways. Most people think being a leader is mostly about being the boss, having people work under you and just becoming successful, but it boils down to more than that. Leaders are those individuals that actually utilize their many abilities in leadership and administration to help make a better change for themselves, the people around them and the goal that needs to be achieved. Leadership is not an expertise that can essentially be grabbed from a book or article based on leadership but instead it is one of those initiative abilities that are increased through experience and understanding those real life situations.
According to Business Dictionary.com, leadership is defined as the individuals who are the leaders in an organization, regarded collectively. It also can be define as the activity of leading a group of people or an organization or the ability to do this. Leadership involves the establishing of a clear vision, sharing the vision with other so that they will follow willingly, providing the needed information, knowledge, and methods to realize the vision and coordinating and balancing the conflicts interests of all members and stakeholders.
In my opinion the term leadership is a very broad and various definitions are given by authors. One definition of leadership is that it is
Good leadership is a process of influencing ans encouraging people to work as a team with efficiency to achieve the organizational goals (Drouillard & Kleiner, 1996). Different leaders has different leadership styles, a good leadership style can be very efficiency for an organization which can develop and encourage employees. According to Darling and Leffel’s (2010) framework, this essay will discuss how Steve Ballmer as a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Microsoft, the leadership styles as both Creator and Connector made him such a successful leader of Microsoft. This essay will argue that Steve Ballmer has the leadership style as Creator and Connector, and he has the abilities to develop well, encourage people to towards the Microsoft to success.
Just over a few decades with Steve Ballmer, Microsoft has a new corporate leader at the helm. As Satya Nadella takes over the position that Mr. Ballmer once endured, his spirit took off with great confidence concerning his new role at the company (Microsoft, 2014). The next decade is likely to reveal the level of success his abilities bring to the future of the company and his own status as leader.
Part of looking at leadership from a critical perspective includes looking at leadership discourse. Having looked at the different types of leadership discourse, the most appropriate choice for Steve Jobs as a controller is Iron Cage. Iron Cage leadership is about getting the most production
The Webster Dictionary defines leadership as an office or position, the capacity to lead, the act or an instance of leading (Merriam-Webster, 2011). Leader is defined as; a person who directs a military force or unit, a person who has commanding authority or influence (Merriam-Webster, 2011). The Army defines leadership as the process of influencing people by
Bill Gates is one of the most visionary leaders of our time. He created in his mind the idea of the greatness of computerized systems and that vision even though far at that time transformed in our present. He foresaw that computers will be an essential part not only in future business but in the lives of Americans. His efforts and strategic planning delivered him the opportunities to develop different operating systems including Windows. Windows Software has been an essential key in his financial success because this software took the market by storm providing customers the opportunity to multitask and leave behind the systems that were operated only on a command based entry. His revenues after the expansion of his company has made him been ranked by Forbes as the richest man on earth for the last thirteen years. During the years he served as chairman of Microsoft he established new ways to deal efficiently with human resources issues; like for the hiring process he stated in the past that he prefers intelligence over experience in an employee because they are easier to train and to adapt to the world of Microsoft.
Bill Gates' approach to planning, implementing and managing strategic-level initiatives throughout Microsoft Corporation and the long-term effects of his leadership strategies on the culture of the company is the subject of this analysis. Using the model on effective strategic leadership found in the text (Hitt, Ireland, Hoskisson, 2013) each of its dimensions are also used for assessing Bill gate's leadership style and effectiveness. As the model shows that the factors of effectively managing the firm's resource portfolios, sustaining an effective organizational culture and emphasizing ethical practices form the foundation of effective strategic leadership, these three foundational elements form the basis of the analysis. Determining strategic direction and establishing balanced organizational controls are also essential for guiding organizations to above-average performance and profitability (Hitt, Ireland, Hoskisson, 2013). Based on this framework and the insights gained, an assessment is also made of Microsoft's ability to sustain an effective, productive organizational culture. Inclusive in this analysis is also an assessment of Bill Gates' strategic leadership style, with two suggestions of how Gates and his predecessors at Microsoft could create higher levels of strategic entrepreneurship throughout the company. This analysis concludes with the identification and discussion of two strategic
“Leadership is the capacity to develop a vision that motivates others to move with a passion towards a common goal. Therefore, leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent” (Democracy, 2014). Apple CEO Tim Cook will predictably be compared to his antecedent Steve Jobs, but in one way, he 's greatly more like Bill Gates -- he has encouraged philanthropy at Apple (Stone, 2014). Under his leadership, Apple has become a much more socially aware company, working to enhance conditions in foreign factories and planning to reduce pollution caused by data centers and the devices themselves. In contrast to Tim’s leadership, a successful legend spread out at Microsoft Company where leader Bill Gates has many leadership qualities. One of the most important attributes is his capability to analyze, interpret, and be competent. His methodical intelligence is mentioned in his biography that corroborate of his abilities by scoring 1790 on an 1800 Harvard entrance exam (Stone, 2014). The excellent skills and mentality that Bill Gates has develop places him with to be one of the most powerful transformational leaders who motivate the crowds of whom he shares his vision.
Leadership is a difficult word to define and according to the Miriam-Webster Dictionary leadership is the “office or position of a leader” (Miriam-Webster, 2010). This definition is definitely not one that I would ascribe to when discussing leadership. My definition of leadership is “the ability someone has to motivate and empower others to achieve a goal.” Some may add to this definition, others may discard it altogether and have a completely different definition. In the end, leadership takes on many different forms depending on who is doing the defining and we end up asking ourselves, what is leadership and why do we care?
Microsoft would not have grown in recognition and revenue if Gates stuck solely to an autocratic leadership style. Although autocratic leadership was one of Gates’ dominant leadership traits, he adapted a contingency approach to how he led his company and inspired his employees. The major idea of the contingency-approach is that the leader must adapt to the environmental changes. A contingency-approach to leadership stands as shifting behavior to properly handle situational,
The theories applied to Steve Jobs have opened my mind to realise how important effective leadership styles are to organisations. A lesson learnt from Steve’s leadership qualities is that a leader can adapt different style of leadership and this makes a leader more effective and efficient. The late Apple boss was a master of employing various strategies to adapt to differing scenarios and situations. Steve Jobs did not exhibit a single rhetorical style, but rather altered it depending on the situation and yet still managed to deliver a constant message to support his company’s