Leadership Skills of Businessmen - Essay Example

Title: Leadership Skills Introduction Leadership is significant for the success of organizations as well as motivation of employees to maintain productivity. The ability of an organization to retain experienced employees is based on the leadership style applied by the top management. The leader needs to be knowledgeable and able to communicate effectively with the subordinates so that he/she can offer the necessary guidance effectively. He/she needs to be respectful and understanding to ensure that contentment is maintained among the employees in an organization. This essay is a critique of the leadership style of three current leaders in commercial business organizations. It compares and contrasts the leadership style of Richard Branson who founded the Virgin brand, Bill Gates who founded the Microsoft brand and Larry Ellison who founded the Oracle Corporation. The paper also presents an analysis of the effects that regional cultural values, and the stage of industrial development in each region, has on the leadership style of each of the leaders. Sir Richard Branson Branson (born in 1950) is one of the renowned British investors who is continuously in quest of new business prospects and is also known to love challenges in business. His charismatic leadership is significant in attracting followers. He is popular for his allure and elegance, which are admired by many people. His self-belief is also a major factor for his success in business. The Charismatic Leader gathers followers through personality and charm, rather than any form of external power or authority. As Conger & Kanungo (1998) observe, charismatic leaders are encouraging to their subordinates and try to pay attention to all their subordinates, moreover, they try to make each person to feel important and appreciated. Members of the virgin group adore Branson for the reason that in spite of his riches, he is able to interact freely with his subordinates while continuously promoting the realization of a shared vision. He has been capable of spearheading the establishment of a brand that is recognized globally. The virgin brand covers more than 200 companies marketing their commodities under it with close to 50,000 employees (Sosik, 2000). The reputation of Branson is a major competence for the Virgin brand. He is understood to employ a wide range of methods in the management style of the Virgin group while avoiding bureaucracy in all the operations. According to Reynolds (2000), Branson is a powerful thinker who encourages participatory decision making but likes making original judgments himself. He is a socially independent leader who is task oriented. He takes personal initiatives for the purpose of marketing the brand name, such as participating in speed boating and the risky hot air balloons while displaying the brand name, which is a significant marketing strategy. Branson’s situational leadership has enabled him to develop substantially high and achievable goals for the Virgin group. He has been in the fore front in taking accountability for the tasks that are required for the accomplishment of the set goals. He offers assistance to his subordinates depending on need. The employees in the Virgin group are encouraged to be creative due to the encouraging nature of Branson who does not adhere to particular procedures that may reduce flexibility in the workplace. Reynolds (2000) observes that Branson encourages the employees to feel relaxed when airing their views regarding their work. This is an important strategy that helps in motivating employees to be inventive and has been core to the success of the Virgin Group. He is a level 5 leader in Jim Collins leadership hierarchy (Collins, 2001). He is determined to promote and accomplish his vision while on the other hand remains modest in his relationship with the subordinates. His success is the success of the Virgin group. His self esteem helps in maintaining confidence in utilizing emerging business opportunities, taking risks for the success of the organization while encouraging others to be inventive and ensuring that hard work is rewarded appropriately. He demonstrates humility while dealing with the subordinates and helps them to realize their potential to accomplish a common goal. He is a philanthropic leader who offers support to charitable organizations such as; “Students Valley Center”, “the elders” and “Children with Aids” among others. Bill Gates Gates (born in 1955) is the richest man in the globe and is among the high-ranking persons in terms of influence. His Microsoft brand is among the most successful globally, with virtually every person having a computer using one or more of the Microsoft products. Like Branson, Gates is a task oriented leader who participates in organizational activities (Baker, 1998). Software development is a task that requires inventive minds, which have been fundamental to the success of Microsoft Corporation. Moreover, Gates shares visionary leadership with Branson. Both are renowned for their vision concerning the brands that they have founded. Gates has consistently been in the fore front in the quest for the development of new software to suit the needs of businesses and other areas of computer applications since the inception of the Microsoft Corporation in 1975. He also likes to make original judgments, although according to Goett (1999), he occasionally seeks the assistance of experienced managers for organizational restructuring when need arises. Like Branson, he too is philanthropic, and supports charitable organizations such as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, On the other hand, Gates demonstrates authoritarian leadership although he does not use harsh threats to the employees. He demands their adherence to what he thinks is right for the organization and unlike Branson; he understands that the power of influence is important to ensure that the objectives he has set for the organization are met (Baker, 1998). He is known to use coercion to ensure that his subordinates work hard to accomplish the organizations mission. Bate et al. (2003) argues that expertise is a factor that makes other people to rely on the leader especially when they do not have the knowledge and experience in regard to organizational activities. The greater the skills and know-how possessed by the leader regarding the organizational activities the more the power and dominance he/she commands. Gates possesses great skills in software development and has mastered the subject, which puts him in a position whereby he can only offer unquestionable directions to the subordinates. Branson’s leadership style is based on referent power that is focused on establishing close inter-personal relationships with the subordinates, whereby they become loyal to the leader for the purpose of maintaining the highly valued friendship. In other words, Gates has been successful in logically persuading the subordinates to be loyal and has been capable of convincing them regarding the need to accomplish the organizational objectives. In contrast, Branson allows the subordinates to own the objectives of the Virgin group. This means that they take part in the development of the objectives rather than being persuaded to accept objectives that have already been developed. However even though Gates persuades the employees to accomplish particular objectives that have already been set, they are usually beneficial to all. It all depends on his power in knowledge since he is capable of identifying solutions to problems that the employees may encounter while in the process of undertaking tasks in the workplace (Goett, 1999). In other words, the employees are obliged to comply or else they may be unable to accomplish tasks effectively. In contrast to Branson, Gates demonstrates level 4 leadership, which according to Collins (2001), consists of efficient leaders who are highly committed to accomplish a particular goal. The leader is focused on compelling the subordinates to pursue a particular vision that he feels is fundamental to the success of the organization. The leader expects high commitment among the subordinates and sets performance standards that the employees are expected to accomplish. Gates is a highly skilled leader who ensures that his subordinates understand the significance of accomplishing organizational objectives with the highest level of commitment. The success of the organization is attributed to Gates. This is evidenced by the fact that whenever the name Microsoft Corporation is mentioned, people associate its greatness to the success of Bill Gates. Larry Ellison Ellison (born in 1944) founded the Oracle Corporation which has maintained profitability in a highly competitive market. He is renowned for his determination and self motivation that has enabled him to spearhead the organization to the present status. Like Branson and Gates, Ellison is a visionary leader who believes in competence and utilizing any available opportunity no matter how challenging it is (Matthew& Larry, 2004). He is a transformational leader who encourages people to share his vision for them to be successful. The expertise of Ellison is similar to that of Gates, and he has mastered his subject more than any of his subordinates. His overconfidence allows him to develop ideas that people view as unworthy, and transform them in to highly profitable ventures, which increases the confidence of his subordinates in regard to his persuasion for them to follow his track. According to Alldredge et al. (2003), followers usually develop trust in a leader whom they feel is capable of accomplishing objectives especially when there seems to be possibilities of difficulties in the implementation of the strategic plan. Ellison is always focused on leading a highly qualified and intelligent group under him. In contrast with the other two leaders, he is an overachiever who always fears failure in his attempts to accomplish his objectives. Bate et al. (2003) argues that such leaders are usually confident while working with people whom they tend think are more experienced and knowledgeable, and who are in a capacity to help the leader to accomplish his vision. Other than the leader exercising control in regard to the implementation of organizational activities, he/she largely depends on the expertise of the subordinates. However, he motivates them and ensures that they feel contented in the workplace. Like Branson, he is focused on promoting strong interpersonal relations in the workplace, which are significant in developing teamwork. Moreover, Ellison focuses on employees who are informed regarding the company’s products and ensures that they develop passion for the industry. He is a people oriented leader who believes in building the capacity of the subordinates to prepare them for the organizational tasks. He believes that once the employees are empowered and contented in the workplace, they are able to accomplish much than they would if they were subjected to substantial control. Ellison, like Branson tends to be participative in the organizational activities and encourages the participation of the subordinates in decision making. His people oriented leadership makes him focus on engaging employees with unquestionable integrity, and those who demonstrate ethical behavior in the workplace. Alldredge et al. (2003) argues that leaders who use such an approach for selecting their subordinates highly value trusted individuals and tend to delegate work to the people that they feel are in a capacity to accomplish targets without messing when they are not under supervision. Ellison avoids authoritarian leadership such as that of Gates. Rather, he focuses on competence as the fundamental factor to the success of Oracle. In essence, when proficiency in organizational activities is combined with ethics in the workplace, there are high possibilities of accomplishing organizational goals (Matthew& Larry, 2004). Effect of Culture and Industrialization on Leadership Style Leadership style is highly influenced by the cultural values of the region where the leader implements his objectives Bate et al. (2003). Branson is one of the leaders who are in charge of a group that operates across different cultures. He understands that cultural diversity has its own advantages, and tries as much as possible to be like every other person. In other words, his leadership has to take in to consideration of all the cultures that are represented by the organization’s clients as well as the subordinates. The Virgin group operates in 26 countries, which compels Branson to adopt a leadership style that is encouraging to all. On the other hand, the level of industrialization calls for an innovative workforce that is capable of coping with the ever rising competition from organizations offering similar products. For this reason, the employees need to be supported for them to maintain inventiveness. Bill Gates on the other hand is the founder of a multinational organization whose products are used in virtually all countries globally. The regional culture affects his leadership style in the sense that he wants to fulfill the demand of the changing culture in the global perspective in regard to the use of computers. His vision of making computers easy to use and to access for all is driven by the fact that people are tending to value computers in the modern workplaces, homes and businesses than before. Conversely, even though Microsoft Corporation has established strongly in the market, there is competition that is always a threat due to the high level of industrialization (Baker, 1998). More companies offering similar products are emerging and therefore he has to be focused on maintaining high competence by directing the employees in the most appropriate way that he feels is right. For Ellison, the regional culture affects his leadership style in the sense that many people are getting educated and acquiring experience and diverse knowledge in his field of interest. He tends to believe that these people have the desired knowledge for the success of the company that he founded. In essence, the people bring in new knowledge in the company, thereby improving its productivity. On the other hand, motivating the employees to be inventive helps the organization to be competitive in the rapidly developing computer industry (Matthew& Larry, 2004). Such leadership is required to help in retaining employees at a time when new firms are emerging, requiring skilled employees. Conclusion Branson is a charismatic leader who tends to establish strong workplace relations that are significant for teamwork. The three leaders share visionary leadership qualities and have been successful in promoting a shared vision among their subordinates. Branson and Ellison are understood to be focused on establishing close links with their subordinates, helping and motivating them to be inventive. On the other hand, Gates demonstrates authoritarian leadership while dealing with his subordinates. However, this leadership style is mainly due to his skills and capabilities that he has acquired in his subject, which makes the subordinates to depend on him. He explains to them the need to accomplish the organizational objectives. Both Gates and Branson are task oriented while Ellison is highly reliant on the skills of his employees. Ellison, unlike Branson and Gates tends to fear failure, which is the reason why he focuses on engaging highly capable individuals in the organization. Gates tends to make independent decisions while Ellison and Branson encourage participatory decision making in the workplace. Both Gates and Branson are philanthropic with each supporting charitable organizations. All the three leaders are focused on utilizing any available opportunity to expand their business. The changing cultures and high level of industrialization has largely affected the leadership styles of the three leaders. References Alldredge, M., Johnson, C., Stoltzfuz, J., & Vicere, A. (2003). Leadership development at 3M: New process, new techniques, new growth. Human Resource Planning, 26, 3, p 45. Baker, S. (1998). What every business should learn from Microsoft. Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 19, pp 36-42. Bate, P., Khan, R., & Pye, A. (2000). 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