Leadership Analysis of Bill Gates - Research Paper Example

Leadership Analysis of Bill Gates @ Microsoft The paper will include a brief analysis of Bill Gates, his personal life and the effect of his personal life experiences on his leadership style at Microsoft. . Examining the Personal Characteristics and Formative Experiences of Bill Gates To start off directly, I’d like to refer to Bill Gate as a Type I person (Pink). Bill Gates clearly is intrinsically motivated and possesses the power to innovate. He has a highly creative mind and his personality delineates persistence and determination. Bill Gates original name is William Gates III. Since he belonged to a very well educated family, education was embedded in his genes. He did not want to confine himself to just reading or getting a degree. He wanted to educate himself and to learn (Bellis). In his quest to educate himself, he started finding opportunities and interests in various fields. In 7th Grade he was given exposure to digital computers which sparked the love of technology within him. He had the opportunity to work on various computer based product thus his interest was triggered by experience. Thus along with Paul Allen and other such friends, Bill Gates created various programs. It is important to note that this computer based work was affecting the groups’ home works and other learning assignments assigned by the school (Microsoft). The “Drive” to fulfill the need of pursuing the interest in computers made Gates put in extra effort to learn about it. The rebellious side of Gates was first discovered in 1968 when CCC (Computer Centre Corporation) opened up in Washington, Seattle. The corporation was perceived by Gates and his friends as an opportunity to explore more around the area and enhance upon their skills. However their extra interest caused trouble to the corporation. While their exploration of the new machine they managed to crash it several times regardless of the rules provided by CCC. However, later CCC realized the talent in the group and in exchange of giving them unlimited access to computers CCC demanded a continuous bug and security check of the machines to ensure effective functionality. Hence his career started then onwards (Microsoft). Almost all of us know about Bill Gates career so we are going to focus on his qualities first. Bill Gates possesses talent and love for technology. He believes in the power of hard work and the miracles intelligence can do. He believes in having passion for whatever you do, for that is the ultimate key to success. He believes in the power of innovation and last but not the least, he believes in taking risks. Highlighted formative experiences of Bill Gates delineate all his personal qualities. He was enrolled in one of the best institutions of the world i.e. Harvard, he chose to leave it to start his own company which is now known to us as Microsoft, a huge risk but an even enormous innovation that offered innumerous returns to him and benefits to the society as a whole. Link of Personal Characteristics and Experiences to Outcomes in Career and Leadership Style As examined in the section above, Gates is clearly a type I person (Pink), he loves to take challenges, he needs to have freedom in making his own decisions, he has an extremely creative mind needless to add that he takes a proactive approach towards meeting challenges and is open to taking risks if the return is worth it. When he started educating himself according to his own interest, there was no obstacle in his mental development. His mind developed fostering faith in his abilities through his hands on experience and theoretical self gained knowledge. This faith enabled Gates to take decisions on his own without being affected by family or peer pressure. As Jean Nidetch quotes, “Choice not chance determines your destiny”. For Bill Gates it was clearly choice that determined his destiny. Bill Gates had a strong decision making power which was influenced by his internal personality traits and fostered by his knowledge and hands on experience. Many such leaders have founded organizations but we don’t recall all of them. Why? Because they haven’t been consistent in maintaining their success while Gates has been consistent in maintaining his success and not only maintaining he has been building up on his success. What’s important to note here is Bill Gates couldn’t have achieved it had it not been for his team i.e. the exceptional group of employees that it has. The employees at Microsoft stay loyal to the company and Gates not only that people are constantly looking for opportunities to work in the organization. Why is that? It’s all because of the leadership of Gates and the leadership legacy left for all the other managers there. The personal characteristics of Gates molded him into a charismatic, democratic and people oriented leader. He offered direction and support to all the employees. He focused on employee development because he believed that the team altogether can maintain and build the name of Microsoft. Gates directed and supported his employees by motivating them intrinsically and extrinsically. Extrinsically by giving them handsome salaries and intrinsically by giving them an opportunity to add more to their personal worth by developing their professional personality and skills. Gates provided a working environment that nurtured the minds of his employees thus providing them an opportunity to develop their minds. The design of the work structure and the type of leadership at Microsoft triggered the thinking process in the minds of the employees which provided us with flawless softwares that have made our daily life a lot easier thus making Gates one of the most effective leader and one of the richest people. One of the most essential qualities of Gates is persistence and hard work. If you want to achieve something, you can but only if you work hard to achieve it. You never know success might be a millimeter away from where you stop trying. So how to handle that? Don’t stop trying. This is what Gates’ life has taught us. Works Cited Bellis, Mary. Bill Gates - Biography & History of the Microsoft Chairman. n.d. Article). 2 February 2012. (http://inventors.about.com/od/gstartinventors/a/Bill_Gates.htm Microsoft. Bill Gates Biography - Wealth Inside Story. n.d. Article. 10 February 2012. (http://www.billgatesmicrosoft.com/biography.htm) Pink, Daniel H. Drive: The Surprising Truth that Motivates Us. USA : Penguin Group USA Incorporated, 2011. Book. Robbins, Stephen P. and Timothy A. Judge. Organizational Behavior. Prentice Hall, 2012. Book. Read More