Leadership is generally referred to as being the course of social influence by one individual over another, or others; towards the accomplishment of a common task or goal. According to other definitions of leadership; the art of leading is the process of creating a means through which different people put in their efforts in making something extraordinary happen. According to other proponents of the definition of leadership; the art of leading is being capable to listen, observe and apply influence; skills and expertise as a stating point in promoting dialogue between various levels of decision making.
This is done so as to realize a course of action and transparency in the decision making process and expose or extract the values and visions of the different individuals, without having to impose yours on them (Wallace et.al. 23-134).
Bill Gates being a major shareholder of the Microsoft Company, the wealthiest individual in the world for a period of more than 10years between 1995 and 2009; and a major world investor, is fully indicative that he could only have flown this far through being an individual who can get things done. This in simple terms means that he is a good, effective efficient leader (Wallace et.al. 23-134).
The first predominant characteristic of Bill Gates which can be argues as the most obvious of all is that he is an authoritative leader. In general an authoritative leader can be used to refer to individuals who are professionals in their line of work; which enables them to clearly articulate and draw a line of vision, which in simple terms is the route to success or business breakthrough. Combined with the ability to focus and articulate the vision; is the ability to distinctively mobilize other people towards actualizing the goals and vision.
The case that allows this type of leaders to best perform or get recognized is the instance when the vision to be pursued is not very clear and definite. At this point, the other strength of these kinds of leaders is manifested; as despite the fact that the leader forms a part of the authority line, he is able to bend low to allow the members of staff or the group he is leading; to decide which approach is best used to pursue their goals (Wallace et.al. 23-134).
Some of the pros of this leadership attribute are that these leaders have the most positively felt impact on the work climate or the employee operating environment. In general terms; this style can be attributed to the effect of moving or pushing up the place of work in terms of quality and performance (Wallace et.al. 23-134).
Some of the disadvantages of this type of leaders are that in the case they find themselves in a ‘workgroup’ of experts; it becomes very difficult for them to adapt to the group and express their visualization of where the group should be taken to. The other disadvantage is that they rarely realize the need to use a different style, as opposed to their obvious one (Wallace et.al. 23-134).
The other distinctive leadership property about Gates is that he is the type of leader who will form the visionary or public face, of the institution whose success they are pursuing. Another leadership trait which is phenomenal about Bill Gates is that he is the type of leader that has the ability to highly inspire a group or the organization in general; towards having a lucid picture of the vision before them to be realized (Wallace et.al. 23-134).
In conclusion I can argue that the status of being a good leader highly depends on whether your strengths outweigh the disadvantages or vice versa; as from the Gates’ case it is clear that his strengths outweigh the weaknesses. This can be demonstrated from the fact that he pushed the Microsoft Company to having more than double, the number of employees they previously had.
Work cited
Wallace, James. & Erickson, J. “Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire”. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. (1993):23-134.