How Are Leaders Leading in the 21st Century - Essay Example

Leadership Style: How Are Leaders Leading in the 21st Century? Larry Page was born in 1973 to parents who were computer professionals; his mother was a programming teacher while his father was one of the forerunners of computer science and AI. Therefore, it came as no surprise that he developed an early interest in computer and later pursued computer engineering at Stanford University (Brandt, 2011). There, he met Sergey Brin and they worked together to on a startup search Engine Company that listed searches based on popularity, which they named Google. Although he was the founder along with Brin, he was forced to cede his CEO powers to Eric Schmidt in 2001 after investor decide that he was not “mature” enough to run the company (Manyika, 2008). This forced him into the peripheral and he worked on several Google products such as Android until when he once again took over the reins at Google with Schmidt stating on his twitter account that “adult supervision was no longer needed” (Carlson, 2014). Over the years, Google has acquired a reputation for being one of the best organizations to work for where everyone’s ideas are respected and even the junior employee can pitch ideas at the CEO or senior management. This open style of management is reflective of Larry’s transformational leadership techniques and philosophies. He recognizes that Google was created through innovation and he does not wish to make the mistake some many startups make after they become big; to discard open ended and dynamic start-up attitude in favor of the more compatible albeit stifling bureaucracy mode (Nisen, 2013). He has a set of rules which in summary require that; One should not get in the way of people is he is not an expert, one should never say no, period to an idea without showing the other person how to do it better. A manager should avoid bureaucracy whenever possible and finally his managers should never delegate something they can do themselves. In his own leadership, he embodies most of these rule and principles and they are partly why he conflicted with the investors in 2001. He believes that engineers are essential for the working of Google and that they should not have to report to non-engineers as it creates needless bureaucracy and sometimes confusion. He then had all the project managers fired and demanded that the Engineers report directly to the CEO. Google’s culture is based on simplification of roles and the promotion of creativity and innovations. These have been Page’s main driving forces since he was a young boy who wanted to become both an inventor and entrepreneur. He recognizes as does Google that great ideas are not good enough, one must also have the ability to commercialize than so they can make money for even bigger ones. Larry Page’s leadership style can be generally categorized as transformation; a transformational leader tends to follow a pattern of four steps. These consist of idealized influence, inspirational motivation intellectual stimulation and finally individualized considerations, in running Google, Page puts to practice these by setting an example for his employees and acting as a role model (Swift, 2011). When he took over Google for a second time, one of the first tasks he did was to send emails to all the managers so he could figure out what they were working on. He wants to engage them in conversation about what they are doing and give them a chance to express themselves and share insight with them. He encourages everyone to take an active part in decision making, some of Google’s employees have said that he is an introverted visionary; this because he inspires people to do more, to reach further and become better at what they do. He believes that bureaucracy is a major obstacle to creative energies and tries as hard as possible to root it from his organization. Ironically, he is contrasted to the late Steve Jobs who was considered a transactional leader, despite the former’s smooth public appearance and eloquence, Jobs was known to at times shout at and put his staff under pressure. Page on the other hand is not much of a peoples person but he is he is better at motivation and inspiration since he allows his staff much more slack and is more approachable from a technical perspective. This has significantly impacted the performance and growth of Google, with numerous small teams constituting of engineers and technical staff being assigned independent projects. They have direct access to him or other senior staff and a free reign to create and innovate; this way, Google has managed to launch several incredible and innovative products; a tribute to Page’s leadership style. As far as Ethics are concerned, Larry is considered by many to take issues very seriously whether they related to professional or personal life. His personal values have significantly affected the way his staffs conduct themselves especially in view of the enormous power they have over information. The data Google controls can be used for good or evil pursuits, ergo, it is critical that those charged with the task of being the world’s librarians should be highly ethical and responsible. He is a firm believer that problems and ideas should not be judged based on the short-term individual efforts but the long run impact on humanity in general. As such, his staffs are also motivated to ensure that whatever products are put out in the markets are for the good of humanity in both present and posterity. Their key motivation is not simply making money but changing the world and making it a better place, an ideal whose realization must be firmly rooted on solid ethics. Among page’s greatest strengths is the fact that he is a visionary capable of envisioning futuristic and fantastic ideas that most people would dismiss as too idealistic or unrealistic. These are what the staff at Google calls moonshots (Toobin, 2007), this has however made him incredibly good at launching huge risky project such as android; he argues that the bigger and more risky a venture is the less the completion and the higher the number of brilliant minds willing to work on it. A second strength is that he is very candid and intellectually honest, he does not waste time on sentiment nor does he make subjective decisions. This way he has managed to reduce bureaucracy and is a highly efficient manager since his employees can always trust him to express his real feelings and they can do the same for him without fear of reprisals. Finally, he is extremely brilliant and imaginative, his abilities as an engineer are phenomenal and they have enabled him to take part in many Google projects since he understands the technical bits unlike traditional non-technical managers. His poor interpersonal skills have however resulted to his being viewed as arrogant and antisocial especially in view of his aforementioned intellectual honesty and bluntness. Secondly, he is considered a control freak and in his desire to managed every aspect of his company he tends to offend many who works with him. Finally, like most geniuses, appears to care little about the Wall Street issues such and is more focused with innovation rather than business and financial management. His single defining quality is the fact that he is a visionary who is willing to take risks that others consider too dangerous. He does not balk at challenges and he believes that competition is irrelevant and only serves to increase mediocrity, according to him; a company should strive to make huge steps rather than simply work to stay ahead of the competition. This quality is the most decisive in his success as a CEO and inventor since he has managed to build up his company to phenomenal heights by competing with himself and encouraging his employees to better their best rather than chase after the competition. As aforementioned, Google encourages openness and communication both vertically and horizontally among the staff managers and even founders. Owing to the lucrativeness of their remuneration, it is not surprising that Google should attract many of the world’s greatest engineering minds. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that the autonomy and space for creativity and self-expression Google allows its employees is the main reason so many people want to work for Google. They are allowed to pursue their individual projects as long as they get approval from management and they are actually encouraged to think outside the box and “run with the ball”, so to speak. Communication is the key to the success of any company and Google embodies it in their frequent meetings where ideas are shared and brainstormed on by various team members. The transformation leadership generally exercised by the organization’s management ensures that employees have as much autonomy as possible, they have access to numerous amenities and they are allowed to dress casually to work or even work from home (Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt and Van Engen, 2003). The key thing that matters to the company is that everyone attend meetings on time and meets their production deadline, how they do it is not really an issue. References Brandt, R. L. (2011). The Google Guys: Inside the Brilliant Minds of Google Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Penguin. Carlson, N. (2014) The Untold Story Of Larry Pages Incredible Comeback. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/larry-page-the-untold-story-2014-4?page=1 Eagly, A. H., Johannesen-Schmidt, M. C., & Van Engen, M. L. (2003). Transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles: a meta-analysis comparing women and men. Psychological bulletin, 129(4), 569. Manyika, J. (2008). Google’s view on the future of business: An interview with CEO Eric Schmidt. McKinsey Quarterly, 1, 136-138. Nisen, M. (2013) Googles Larry Page Talks About His Management Philosophy. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/larry-page-management-secrets-2013-1 Swift, M. (2011, Jan 20). Googles larry page to become CEO. Oakland Tribune. Toobin, J. (2007). Google’s moon shot. The New Yorker, 82(48), 30-35. Read More