An Assessment of the Strategic Leadership of Bill Gates

There is a great importance put on business leadership, this is directly due to how a business not only functions but in how fruitful the company can become. A great leader essentially can take a business plan that is weak yet turn it into a success, whereas a poor leader stands a higher chance of ruining the best of business plans. That is why it is essential to develop effective leadership throughout a companies entire management program at all levels. How does one develop or retain strong leadership? Companies must be focused on hiring strategies that encompass very specific parameters, building from within whilst creating a strong foundation for employee development and succession planning. Leadership is essential in any organization. The style and theory embraced determines whether the company will or will not achieve their goals. in all cases theory must be embraced, as a companies theory, style, and strategy is greatly dependent on the industry the company is in (Sadler, 2014). “The behavioral theory is one of the widely used theories of management. It suggests that leaders are made and not born. It gives room for training to install leadership traits in leaders at the expense of denying them a chance. There are various leadership styles embraced by companies (Cyert, & March, 2005).”  This paper takes a look at the management styles of two specific

Q: Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, was asked to come back as Chief Executive in 1997 when the business was making a loss. Jobs was appointed to provide a clearer vision for the business and to improve its profitability. How easy is it for a Chief Executive to change a struggling business into a more successful one? Justify your answer with reference to Apple and/or other organisations you know.

Apple is a company that everyone in the world knows about today, and most people own at least one Apple product, but Apple did not start out as a huge company. It started out with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak working on computers in the garage of Steve Jobs. Jobs and Wozniak

This paper will analyze the personal characteristics, behavioral approach, and leadership style of Steve Jobs. A leadership inclination is quality, which is considered necessary for all senior executives, and not just for the general director. One human resources specialist described the search for the head of the information department: Previously, specialized knowledge would have been in the first place, but now more attention is paid to leadership skills than technical ones. What kind of leadership are required experts differed on this issue, who called inspirational leadership, which authoritarian leadership is corresponding to the modern talents of leaders, responsible leadership, leadership as a combination of sincerity, respect

This paper deals with Microsoft’s way of doing business from many angels and perspectives. Starting from the Mission it was created with, its Business Objectives, its External and Internal Business Environment, the strategic choices made by the leaders which ultimately led to Microsoft being what it is today- a market leader in the computer space. The paper talks about the organizations financial performance over the past forty years in 5 yearly buckets. And analyses

Business leaders are responsible for creating and sufficient culture. There are two different types of cultures: 1) the compliance based culture. 2) The value based culture. First type is the compliance based culture is culture in which employees follow the rules, and orders without any doubt as an essential responsibility of ethics. While the value based culture focuses on some specific values rather than on some rules this makes it more elastic. Leadership is the process of inspiring and motivating people to reach specific goals of a company or an organization. To be a leader you should have the “ability to inspire, motivate, and influence others to reach a target goal”. There are two types of leader effective leader, and ethical leader. There is one difference between them which is the ways each leader use to influence, and motivate, to reach the goals of the company and to maximize wealth of the shareholders. Effective leader could achieve his or her goals in bad terms, like: threating; and duress. However; ethical leader could achievegoals through modeling ethical behavior, and to have a charisma. A strong business leader could have a deep impact on a corporate culture of a company. Culture could be found in the hierarchical structure, tempo of work, methods of problem solving, and incentives. Receptivity-listening, honesty,

Collins (2005) defines Level 5 hierarchy leadership as the manager in whom honest individual modesty mixes with strong expert willpower. Mr. Gates displays this type of leadership much in his individual life than in his career events. Bill Gates represents a critical segment not only in his earnings but of his net worth to philanthropic causes but as well motivates similar leaders to follow his path. Gates’ duty as a trailblazer of leaders is a thing that uplifts his reputation about leadership globally.

On June 30, 2014 Microsoft had 86 billion dollars under its name with the employee count of 128,076 all over the globe. That’s why Microsoft was fast leading in sales. “In the company’s 1996 fiscal year, it topped $2 billion in net income for the first time” (Zachary, par. 4). This shows how Microsoft was a fast and profitable company due to its fast growth. This also shows how Microsoft was able to use its earnings to make their systems better. Gates is known for his business skills with his company Microsoft. Bill Gates can be relied upon to offer solutions to the current economic crisis. “That's why he has been so vocal lately about the best course of action in bringing jobs back to the United States” (Reisinger, par. 3). Bill Gates strives at the opportunities to help make jobs available to people who desperately need them. This helps the economy while helping people provide for their families. Bill Gates uses whatever he has to help people around the world. Bill Gates uses his own money into several different causes, including most recently the fight to help Haitians affected by the earthquake “Gates is sharing his

Leadership is “ critical in codifying and maintaining an organizations’ purpose, values, and vision. “ ( PM World Today Journal ). Having good leadership methods in place at an organization is vital in bringing success to a company. Steve Jobs is highly stimulated and has a strong idea of what he wants for Apple to achieve in upcoming periods. He is a transformational leader, and this, “ represents the most popular current view of leadership. This leader is characterised by a capacity to create a highly motivating and absorbing vision of the future, and has the capability to energise others to pursue the vision. “ ( Claremont McKenna College Journal ). Jobs has put in a huge effort to create a strong framework of control and direction, for example, “ Since returning to Apple, Steve has put as much energy into creating a strong management structure as he has into the products. “ ( www.ft.com ). This is highly effective leadership, trying to improve the design of the organisation in order to achieve more efficiency.

33). A study was conducted to review the effects of internal and external factors of attribution theory in organizations. The goal was to see how and why attribution had an effect on decisions made within organizations. Of course the internal factors are within the person and the external factors are factors in our environment. “Autocratic leaders are arbitrary, controlling, power-oriented, coercive, punitive and closed-minded” (Lopez, & Ensari, 2014, p. 21). They have a negative impact on employee job satisfaction as well because they are so structured and are not concerned with how employees feel in the work place. Employees want to feel that their leaders have some care and concern about their and their families’ well-being and the employees’ success with the organization. While employees see autocratic leaders as the so-called mean leader they have a total different view of the so-called charismatic leader. “The charismatic leader is viewed as a leader with strong qualities such as strategic vision, inspiration and unconventionality that lead the followers to strongly identify them” (Lopez, & Ensari, 2014, p. 21). It is almost like employees believe that an organization with autocratic leaders is doomed to failure because the leader has no personality and does not properly care for their employees feelings and emotions– which we know is not true – and conversely

a leader. All leaders possess unique qualities and traits that enable them to lead a group of

The leadership approach employed in an organization affects the vision, growth, and possible success of an organization (Malewska & Sajdak, 2014; Yukl, 2013). When organizational leaders employ strategic leadership, they consider various elements including internal and external factors that can affect performance, the influence leaders have on people and processes, situations that may alter a leader’s ability to affect performance, cultures within the organization, disaster planning, succession planning, and the role of role of executive teams (Malewska & Sajdak, 2014; Yukl, 2013). Two organizations that provide insight into strategic leadership are Costco and Nissan.

Many of the difficulties confronted by organizations stem from the refusal of its leaders to address issues in a timely basis. If instead of procrastinating, these leaders developed strategies for the future of the organization, many obstacles and challenges could be avoided, yet in my over thirty years of working closely with organizations and their leaders, I have found very few leaders who are strategic thinkers. Strategic leadership involves numerous activities, but begins with a leader who realizes the need to be proactive instead of reactive.

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.

Before coming to USAWC I think that my experience and knowledge gained during the twenty-five years of service is an important quality to possess. At one point I thought: “A few years until retirement, and probably no special secrets for me to discover during academic year. I can only confirm what I know, gained some new knowledge and meet a bunch of interesting people before returning home". Much to my surprise, already after the first reading and discussion at the seminar, made me realize that this will be more interesting than I had hoped.