Discuss about the Effects of Leadership and Management.
Leadership is a quality aspect, which has various facets to it. There exist different types or styles of leadership in the business world and it depends on which style suits best for a particular organization. Since the quality of leadership varies from person to person, multiple styles coexist in an organization, where a lot of hierarchy is involved. The outline of this study is to talk about the leadership style of Bill Gates, the founder and non-executive chairman of Microsoft, more than one leadership style compliments his personality (Rothaermel, 2015). Since most of the times leadership varies depending on the situation one handles, Bill Gates was such a kind of leader.
Gates exhibits both an authoritarian and democratic style in the sense that he preferred to maintain a total control on the entire functioning of his organization, which he built from scratch and incorporated it in the year 1981 (Schwalbe, 2015). He wanted his employees to be innovative and creative and present their ideas to him before the same would get implemented for attaining the objectives of the company. According to several of his contemporary leaders, the success of Microsoft would not have been possible if Gates only resorted to his authoritarian style of functioning, as Microsoft owes its success and fruit to its multifaceted ideas and opinions of its employees.
The managerial style and leadership style of Bill Gates was complementary to each other since both of his styles merged with ease while steering the organization to the pinnacle of success. His managerial style reflected his authoritarian approach, whereas his leadership style exhibited a more employee friendly approach or an accommodative one. Since emotional quotient plays a vital role in shaping the qualities of a leader, Gates was no exception. It was his emotional intelligence which helped him grow his company from an idea to a worldwide success component of daily use.
Microsoft owes its stupendous success to its highly successful and visionary leader in Bill Gates. Since he started writing programming codes from a very young age of 13 years, his penchant for the same propelled him into excelling into it in the future to come. After he founded Microsoft in1975, he decided to make it big as he went along the way acquiring several companies which had talented programmers at that time (Burke & Barron, 2014). It led to a significant breakthrough in the world of computing technology, when companies and governments started to realize that in order to make it big and stay afloat in the highly competitive market, then they have to embrace new and better technological offerings.
He constantly pursued what he liked and loved and strived to develop his ideas into reality and make the world a better place with the help of incorporating simpler and faster technology. His philosophy was to love the work that is interesting. According to his approach, money should not act as the sole motivator in working out a task but the important part of loving the work, whether the same generates any sort of interest was more crucial in determining the outcome of the performed task. He knew very well from the beginning that if he had to achieve the bigger thing, then he has to make sure that all his preliminary ideas and thoughts should be nourished properly by working day and night, setting his target customers in order to sell his product and service (Chhokar, Brodbeck & House, 2013). He put his passion and dedication to realize his broader goals. The following are some of the characteristics of the authoritarian leadership style:
On the other hand, Gates leadership strategy also reflected another side of the coin-the participative or the collaborative approach. After Microsoft gradually started establishing its footprint across the globe through its numerous product innovations, he realized that to achieve success and maintain the same, then he had to tweak his commanding strategy a bit in order to flourish amid stiff competition from new players in the market. He developed a more collaborative approach towards his employees by permitting them to think on their feet and present their ideas and objections to the table, which acted as a self motivation for them too. It affected the company to a great extent.
There could be several effects of an authoritarian style of leadership. Initially, when Microsoft was founded, Gates along with his friend and colleague Paul Allen steered the company through a number of innovations (Homer, 2014). When the company gradually grew into a substantial size, the effects of his autocratic leadership style started taking shape in the form of decision making and delegation of tasks. Competitiveness of Microsoft lay in its first mover advantage among its peers, who after them started taking shape in this technical field. Since there existed lesser number of competitors at that point of time, the number of challenges faced by Microsoft was not too high.
After it gradually started developing new codes for business development in developed nations, there was huge prospect staring in front of the company to go big across the globe. The said style was competitive enough in bringing success to the organization as Gates with his ability to foresee the future, its needs and aspirations was well ahead of its time. He implemented his own ideas into reality, putting to test the viability of those very ideas to gauge the future potential of the same, and upgrade those solutions to better suit according to the specific needs of its clients. In the backdrop of tremendous success in developed nations, Gates charted his new territory by tasting the waters of emerging and developing nations, where scope for improvement were huge in its own sense (Higgs & Dulewicz, 2016). It had its share of effects on the functioning of the company too. His imagination and foresight succeeded in bringing lot of laurels for the company as he greatly emphasized his own ideas upon his subordinates to fulfill their share of responsibilities. His vision became the vision of his employees and group heads. Quick decision making ability was the order of the day as Microsoft needed to adapt in a fast and efficient manner to the ever changing climate of global corporate requirements. He could take swift decisions in order to stay ahead of the competition and deliver the desired results in a time bound fashion.
Management oversight and keeping a close watch on the employees of the company are the hallmarks of the autocratic approach. Since the employees used to be under constant watch and oversight of the management, development of a cohesive atmosphere became evident through the years. It was easy to take any corrective action and thereby maintain the quality aspect of its deliverables by eliminating waste components.
Work gets more streamlined by incorporating a one man policy as less filtering of information takes place. Due to absence of too much hierarchy in the organization, decision making becomes much more efficient after identifying the malfunctions in the process workflow. For example, if too much money gets allocated to a particular department, then some alternative method can be thought of to thwart any unnecessary spending. Microsoft adopted this approach to a great extent before it developed certain mandatory chain of commands, as the company expanded its operations far and wide.
Coupled with the authoritarian approach, Bill exhibited a collaborative approach while making decisive strategies (Gottschalk, 2016). Following and mixing a collaborative strategy works well for a company like Microsoft which is constantly in innovation and development mode. Division of labour is made possible through this approach and Microsoft also applied this method as it had to handle a large number of employees. Since a large task can be better performed through delegation of respective responsibilities among a certain number of persons, each person becomes more responsible in completing their task. The company established several chain of commands, delegated certain responsibilities based on product development, area of operations and streamlined the entire structure, so that effective decisions can be taken without any need for a repeated recourse to the head of the organization.
Since different persons have different abilities with respect to their thought process and implementation strategies, germination of new ideas takes place on a random basis, thereby helping the company implement the best solution available. Creativity and leadership skills of the employees increase as more and more ideas get generated through collaboration with each other (Brundrett & Rhodes, 2013).
Apparently both managerial and leadership skills connote similar interpretations, but there are subtle differences. Managerial skill can be classified as under:
On the other hand, leading can be classified as under:
The task of a manager is set within a specified boundary, within which he/she has to formulate goals and objectives of the organization. The vision of Gates was to set his goals and objectives in such a manner, that it compounds its outcome stepwise and propel it to another level.
Resources are the backbone of any organization. Since resources can be categorized into several forms-be it materials, labour, capital and others, proper allocation of them is critical in determining the success or failure of the organization’s objectives. Gates’ task as a manager was to identify the potential areas for development and then channelize adequate amount of capital to it for producing the requisite number of products and services. Since Microsoft’s core advantage lay in developing software for both personal and commercial usage, it has had the advantage of producing cutting edge technologies by hiring the right talent and nurturing their potential (Jeston & Nelis, 2014). He delivered a masterstroke by packaging both Windows operating system and internet explorer for its users (Cascio & Boudreau, 2016). Deputation of right resource to the right requirement calls for good judgmental power and ability to think on the feet. Any imbalance in resource allocation would be the perfect recipe for disaster but Gates had the right vision as to where the firm should focus on.
Before execution of any project, it is imperative for any company to set the right goals and objectives at the beginning of its financial year, so that employees get a clear perspective as to how to go about their work and complete the same in a timely manner.
The way to accomplish a given task determines how well the same would be executed on a daily basis, as productivity plays a crucial factor in achieving the desired outcome. Process or methodology of work needs to be smooth enough to avoid any hiccups or obstacles, which is why the objective of the supervisor would be to set the right tone for the same.
The task to be completed must be justified with proper reason and rationale as to how the same would be produced and who are the target audiences for the same. In this context, Microsoft’s target segments were mainly the individual users and corporate houses (Rowley, 2016). For instance, when Gates launched Windows operating system, its primary targets were business entities (Higgs & Dulewicz, 2016). His objective was to fill the gap between desire of the masses and fulfilling the same in an efficient manner. In this case, connectivity issue cropped up and this prompted Gates to partner several telecom companies for establishing broadband connection between multiple users so that data and information can be sent and exchanged over email.
Based on past experiences and events, Gates decided to venture into new economies through partnership route. This enabled the company to explore and groom different talents from different backgrounds to form an efficient talent pool and counter the emerging challenges from other software development companies (Denning & Denning, 2016).
Only after all the requisite information is gathered does a prudent and sound decision can be taken, without which the task would be futile in its own self. Proper collation of data is necessary to take the first step in deciding the target segment of its service. How much amount and in what proportion the same needs to be allocated in different departments is crucial for achieving the desired result.
Once a task gets completed, its results are compared to the set objectives for gauging the level of performance achieved. Based on this, proper decisions can be taken for broadening the scope for improvement. His policy was to learn from lessons of failure instead of celebrating the success of positives (Burke & Barron, 2014). Microsoft’s policy was to constantly build upon its said objectives and procedures and this is upheld for every department across all regions for expanding its business network.
While it can be said both leading and managerial characteristics are two sides of the same coin, the former presents a wider picture of a leader, who leads his team by example in whichever condition a company is into. The main role a leader plays is inculcating a sense of belonging among its employees through inspiring activities of their leader itself. When employees are inspired, they get that much motivated to accomplish a set task with ease and confidence.
Through proper vision and commitment, Gates was able to replicate his success philosophy in all parts of the world as technology met the growing need of individual and organizations alike in eliminating and reducing difficulties in completing a work or carrying out a transaction (Johnson, 2014). Since the time Gates set out doing what he wanted to do, he has had a natural affinity of becoming a global leader and be counted as one of the greatest in the 21st century, who transformed the way businesses are conducted nationally or internationally.
Emotional intelligence is a vital component of effective leadership and very few possess this quality who formulates strategies which result in success at the end in a continuous manner.
Self awareness:
When one is self aware, then it becomes very easy in understanding the pulse of the customers with respect to their needs and aspirations. It determines the strengths and weaknesses of a leader (Stoshikj, Kryvinska & Strauss, 2014).
Self regulation:
Leaders who self regulate themselves stand a better chance of inspiring their employees, who in turn becomes focused towards accomplishing their set task. These types of leaders tend to boost the employees’ morale by encouraging them to place their ideas and thoughts into perspective and perform the task in efficient manner. Flexibility in this context raises the bar for accountability. Gates exhibited this quality when he wanted his employees to develop the Windows platform through encouragement of new ideas from them (Higgs & Dulewicz, 2016).
Motivation:
Leaders who are self motivated tend to solve problems in a much more constructive way compared to ones who lack self motivation. This technique helps in formulating better strategies while countering any bad or ineffective decisions of the company (Cascio & Boudreau, 2016). They are able to motivate others in performing their tasks to the best of their abilities. These types of leaders project an optimistic approach while encountering challenges and solving them with determination in their mind. Bill motivated his subordinates to develop a search engine to change the way users search for content (Higgs & Dulewicz, 2016).
Empathy:
Having an empathetic outlook towards the employees puts the leader in an advantageous position in securing the trust and confidence of its workforce. When a leader puts himself/herself in others shoes, then he/she is able to grasp the issues faced by the respective employee much better as compared to leaders who are harsh and too much autocratic in nature. This attitude bodes well for any company and Bill Gates was particularly involved in making product and policy decisions based on this approach, as it helped him in gauging people’s perspectives in a practical manner (McCann, 2015).
Social aptitude:
Leaders who are gifted with this quality hardly falter in resolving social and community disputes as they are better equipped to handle challenges with emotional intelligence as a tool. It helps in resolving conflicts in a smart and systematic fashion and it is pertinent to mention in this aspect that Microsoft has successfully achieved in breaking ice in several communities where it has entered to bring technological revolution on a large scale. When Gates ventured into India in the early 1990s to revolutionize the way businesses are conducted, he faced certain challenges, which he overcame with his emotional convincing power as to how the same can drastically change the ground level of doing business (Johnson, 2014).
Methodology:
Since leadership is all about providing the right guidance and path coupled with inspiration and influence, effective leaders have the required attributes while facing any workload related issue, stress, discipline and many others. Maintaining a high quality leader-subordinate relation depends greatly on emotional intelligence aspect (Sultan, 2013). The success of Microsoft is largely attributed to the emotional leadership qualities of its visionary leader Bill Gates.
Conclusion:
Based on the above deliberations, it can be concluded that leadership has many facets which when realized, produces great results in determining the outcome of an organization. Bill Gates’ leadership is par excellence with regard to his visionary leadership of his company, which has achieved great success since its inception more than 40 years back. His ability to think on his feet earned him the epithet as the most apt leader of a global multinational of the 21st century. His mixing of managerial and leadership skills has been considered as one of the best in the industry since he possesses the requisite characteristics of a leader of his proportions. Microsoft’s success lay in its employees’ ability to innovate new and better solutions not only for its home country but also for the entire mankind across all regions, which have reaped the benefits of its technological prowess. Gates has been able to transcend several barriers with his authoritarian power, wherever and whenever it was required and also with his flexible attitude towards his workforce by permitting those to develop newer and better strategies while pushing the horizon of its operations. His emotional attachment with the company helped him uncover the raw potential of human talent in bringing technological changes across all spectrums of communities. Integration of technology with emotional intelligence played a crucial role in establishing Microsoft what it is today. Gates’ strength and ability in transforming his thoughts and ideas into reality reflected his impeccable and true leadership ability, which helped him establish a true global enterprise, tasked with easing consumer’s issues and better their lives through technological empowerment. The company achieved unparralled success in its field through constant innovation and proper investment strategies and exploiting the hidden potential of its employees through right delegation of responsibilities and inculcation of creative analysis through a participative and collaborative approach in a sound and efficient fashion. Exhibition of a true visionary leader in Bill Gates propelled Microsoft in becoming the largest software development company in the world.
References:
Brundrett, M., & Rhodes, C. (2013). Researching educational leadership and management: Methods and approaches. SAGE.
Burke, R., & Barron, S. (2014). Project management leadership: building creative teams. John Wiley & Sons.
Cascio, W. F., & Boudreau, J. W. (2016). The search for global competence: From international HR to talent management. Journal of World Business, 51(1), 103-114.
Chhokar, J. S., Brodbeck, F. C., & House, R. J. (Eds.). (2013). Culture and leadership across the world: The GLOBE book of in-depth studies of 25 societies. Routledge.
Denning, S., & Denning, S. (2016). How to make the whole organization “Agile”. Strategy & Leadership, 44(4), 10-17.
Gottschalk, P. (2016). Investigation and prevention of financial crime: Knowledge management, intelligence strategy and executive leadership. CRC Press.
Higgs, M., & Dulewicz, V. (2016). Developments in leadership thinking. In Leading with Emotional Intelligence (pp. 75-103). Springer International Publishing.
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Jeston, J., & Nelis, J. (2014). Business process management. Routledge.
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Rowley, A. (2016). Leadership therapy: Inside the mind of Microsoft. Springer.
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