Leadership of Bill Gates and Meg Whitman Essay

Introduction

Leadership in any organization is a valuable commodity. The most successful leaders in any firm are those that have learned to understand the different management styles and personalities. Leadership generally refers to the ability to lead the employees of a firm. Positive leadership is a gift for the firm. A good leader has a combination of the following things: traits, knowledge, values, beliefs, skills, ethics, power, and good communication. This study wants to analyze and compare the leaders by dint of:

• Traits, motives, and characteristics of leaders Behaviors, attitudes, and styles.
• Charismatic and transformational leadership.
• Motivation, teamwork, conflict, and communication.

For finding a good leader everyone should follow the above characteristics. Traits show the good personality of a leader, it is essential for being a good leader. He must have good motives and attitudes also. Style is also essential for a good leader. He must be a stylish person so that employees of the firm can follow him. A good leader also has some values. He must be a follower of ethics. A leader may be charismatic or transformational or both. The motivation power of the leader should be high and he also is self-motivated by himself. He can control the employees, make the task easier, and control the teamwork. Leaders should also be able to remove conflicts of employees about the firm. He should maintain a good communication system with all employees of the firm. This study group chooses Bill Gates as best.

Meg Whitman

Meg Whitman is the existing president and Chief Executive Officer of eBay auction website-based company. He joined as the president of the company in March 1998. When he joined the eBay auction website, it was a small company with 30 employees (eBay Inc., 23 January 2008). Mr. Meg Whitman graduated from Princeton University in Economics and received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1979. “With her expertise in brand building at top consumer companies, she helped this Internet pioneer evolve into an unmatched global ecommerce engine that continues to influence and reshape the way people trade, pay and communicate around the world” (Lal, 04 January 2008). “Whitman was worth an estimated $1.4 billion in 2007” (Miller, 20 September 2007). The Time Magazine shows that “[s]he is one of only seven women to have been repeatedly ranked among the world’s most influential people” (Lal, 04 January 2008). “Whitman starts her career in 1979 at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio. Then she worked eight years at Bain & Company’s San Francisco office, where she was a vice president. As this study discussed in previous that Whitman was in eBay from March 1998 to March 2008, eBay become larger and larger on her time. This study can also say that eBay got a great leader for reaching their target” (Wikipedia, 15 April 2008).

Now everyone should know the powerful characteristics of Whitman’s Leadership which are discussed below.

Traits, Motives, Attitudes, Styles

As everyone knows traits are the internal character sticks of a leader. That means leaders receive this automatically. Whitman follows six traits at eBay for leadership (The Innovation Index, 21 May 2007):

1. “Enable our customer; we do not direct. For example, eBay motors
2. It’s all about the customer experience.
3. Level of playing field as often as you can
4. Make size a business advantage
5. Disruptive ideas are vital – find them from inside and outside
6. Constant innovation within the company.”

As everyone knows traits are valuable things for being a good leader. Traits are almost god gifted, however, Whitman has the above characteristics as a trait. So this study can easily say that Whitman has the trait of leadership. This is why eBay reaches the top position within few days. On the time of Whitman, eBay innovated newly by following five principles and they are (The Innovation Index, 21 May 2007):

1. Innovation is a mindset. We strive to ensure that everyone in the company is focused on Innovation.
2. Innovation is in the DNA. We build new products with Innovation from the inside out.
3. Cannibalization does not scare us. We would rather cannibalize ourselves than someone else cannibalizing us.
4. Some people are gifted, disruptive innovators. We call them ‘Baby Tigers’. We make it a point to nurture them and give them the room to succeed.
5. There can only be so much structure to creating innovations. We are always open to new ideas and serendipitous finds.”

This study also says that Meg Whitman gives priority to Innovations. A great leader can only be liked that she can see new things in her firms. Whitman always tries to achieve the new product. Whitman follows seven lessons on leadership

1. take the fit person for the fit job at the proper time and who has the actual values. “I am unable to stress this enough”
2. should be Reorganized as early as possible and often. Transform alternate and lake of certainty into opportunity.
3. Hire ahead of the curve. As you select someone who has the experience and looked after larger businesses that is why he or she can be your helper to grow to that size.
4. emphasize. emphasize. emphasize. goal+ Strategy + Execution.
5. Mission-inspired. The business should be the difference for the customers, and all employee is to be passionate about this.
6. Get out and about enough. This is where new concepts that generate innovations of game-changing can happen.
7. Integrity will be all above. In any case, you say something or are preparing to make a decision, where if your any kinds of relatives were also present? Could you do that?

Charismatic leadership is almost similar to transformational leadership. A charismatic leader tends to believe in him or her. But she always gives inspiration to her team. Belief in her can create a risk for her and overall for the firm. The firm will destroy if the leader leaves the firm. So there is a long-term necessity for a charismatic leader as per this study. Meg Whitman gives a long time for eBay ten years. As per this study, Meg Whitman is a charismatic leader.

“Transformational leaders are highly visible, and spend a lot of time communicating. A person with this leadership style is a true leader who inspires his or her team constantly with a shared vision of the future. They do not necessarily lead from the front, as they tend to delegate responsibility amongst their team. While their enthusiasm is often infectious, they generally need to be supported by “details people”. the transformational leaders look after initiatives that add value.”(Mind Tools, n.d.).

Motivation, Teamwork, Conflict, and Communication

Meg Whitman is a self-motivated leader. She is a confident woman. Motivating herself and her employees she makes eBay supreme. So, when she joined eBay it was a normal firm, but with her expert knowledge and experience, a normal firm reaches in apex. So the study can say that Meg Whitman is a motivating leader. Teamwork means that work aggregately. Whitman completes her teamwork. There weren’t any serious conflicts among the employees of eBay at the time of Whitman. This study also proves that she is a good leader and teammate. The communication style of Whitman is really good. She contacts the entire employee of her firm personally. There wasn’t any chance of a communication gap.

Bill Gates

“Bill Gates (52) is the chief executive officer of Microsoft Corporation and he was the world’s biggest wealth holder few days ago. He Born on Oct. 28, 1955. He discovered his interest in software and began programming computers at age 13. Gates attended public elementary school and the private Lakeside School In 1973. Gates entered into Harvard University as a freshman where he developed a version of the programming language BASIC for the first microcomputer – the MITS Altair.” (Microsoft, 30 July 2007)

He was a drop-out student at Harvard University. But his dream was “a computer on every desk and in every home” (Microsoft’s Tradition of Innovation, 25 October 2002). Gates was married on Jan. 1, 1994, to Melinda French Gates. They have three children. Gates is an avid reader and enjoys playing golf and bridge” (Microsoft, 30 July 2007). “Gates give up his study to devote energies for Microsoft Corporation, a company he had begun in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen” (Soichiro, April 2006). They began developing software for personal computers. Under Gates Leadership Microsoft Corporation is going on successfully. Here this study will discuss the leadership of Bill Gates.

Traits, Motives, Attitudes, Styles

Traits are the internal characteristics of a leader. The leader who has the traits we can call him a trait leader. Bill Gates has some traits which make him a good leader. However, traits include the following qualities mainly (Wiki answers, 2008):

• Confidence in yourself and the people you are leading.
• Strength; how you are considered strong depends on who/what you are leading.
• Communication; being a good speaker and a good listener is important in leadership

Bill Gates’s motives were really good than others this is why he can establish Microsoft Corporation. He is a leader who changes the computer software. He creates new software for us and makes the use of computers easier. His attitude was fully different from other leaders. He is always a stylish person who is interested to receive innovations.

Charismatic and Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership inspires followers to trust the leader, perform a behavior that contributes to the achievement of organizational goals, and perform at a high level. Bill Gates creates belief in his employees that trust on him for achieving the goal and he also said that on yourself, finally, they reached the target. Transformational leadership occurs when a leader transforms, or changes, his or her followers, in three important ways that together result in followers trusting the leader, performing behaviors that contribute to the achievement of organizational goals, and being motivated to perform at a high level (Careerindia.com, n.d.):

1. “Transformational leaders increase subordinates’ awareness of the importance of their tasks and the importance of performing them well.
2. Transformational leaders make subordinates aware of their needs for personal growth, development, and accomplishment.
3. Transformational leaders motivate their subordinates to work for the good of the organization rather than exclusively for their gain or benefit.”

According to this study, Bill Gates awareness of his employees about their work and he suggests that no work is smaller. He is also aware of the subordinates about their requirements and to fulfill them. Bill Gates teaches his employees that organization is more important than your gain or profit.

Transformational leaders are charismatic leaders. So Bill Gates has the vision of how good things could be in an Organization that contrasts with how things currently are. Bill Gates communicates this vision to their followers and, through their excitement and enthusiasm, induces their followers to enthusiastically support his vision. As we know that Bill Gates has high levels of self-confidence and self-esteem, which further encourage his followers to respect and admire him. “Leadership is dynamic relationship based on mutual influence and common purpose between leaders and collaborations in which both are moved to higher levels of motivation and moral development as they affect real, intended change.

Motivation, Teamwork, Conflict, and Communication

Motivation is the common method of encouraging employees that are followed by every great leader. Bill Gates is also a self-motivated leader like Meg Whitman. He has great confidence that with work we change ourselves. If he didn’t have this he couldn’t build Microsoft Corporation. As per this study, we can see that Bill Gates initially motivated himself and his friend Paul Allen, and then he motivated his employees. A confident woman. Motivating herself and her employees she makes eBay supreme. Bill Gates – Five Tips for Greater Success (April 07, 2008) states that

“Bill Gates – Five Tips for Greater Success

1. Track “problem Trends” early – at the first sign of sagging numbers, lack of performance, product slumps, etc. immediately seek to find the problem and address the issue early.
2. Read books and magazines that are outside your industry and usual reading patterns. This is a great way to keep a broad perspective and come up with new ideas.
3. Take two retreats annually – Get out of the office and away from your day-to-day routine to develop longer-term strategies.
4. At the end of each day, take a moment to reflect on what was effective and what was not.
5. Have fun – For Bill, you can see he has a great sense of humor – check out this hilarious video mocking his time in retirement featuring cameos by Brian Williams, Steve Ballmer, Matthew McConaughey, Jay-Z, Bono, Steven Spielberg, George Clooney, Jon Stewart, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, and Al Gore… From the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, during his last keynote address.”

Now a day Microsoft Corporation is a famous organization. Bill Gates and his team make this possible. There was good teamwork between Gates and his employees. Bill Gates always tries to remove conflict from his firm. Communication is a great commodity for improving anything. Gates always maintains good communication with his team. He maintains communication worldwide.

Conclusion

This study discussed the Leadership of Bill Gates and Meg Whitman. Both of them are successful in their professional life. The leadership pattern of them is similar in some cases and dissimilar in some cases. Similarities are that they were Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of their organization or they are the President. They are almost similar in traits. Whitman is an innovative leader, she always gives priority to innovations. On the other hand, Gates is also an innovative leader; he invents new software for us. As this study discussed the charismatic transformational leader, both Whitman and Gates are highly visible and spend a lot of time communicating. Both of them tend to believe in themself. They always give inspiration to their team. Today Microsoft Corporation and eBay are big organizations, it is a result of teamwork. Gates and Whitman both motivate their employees for working hard to get maximum results.

They also have some dissimilarity that Bill Gates is the dreamer or founder of the Microsoft Corporation but Whitman was appointed as a Chief Executive Officer. Whitman is highly qualified. She gets a Bachelor of Economics from Princeton University and MBA from Harvard Business School. Gates entered Harvard University but he was dropped out. On the topic of innovation, Whitman was more innovative than Gates. Bill Gates is richer than Whitman. Gates was the richest of the world a few days ago but Whitman has only a net worth of $1.4 billion.

This study discussed the two successful leaders of the world. They are galaxies in the current world. They are Meg Whitman and Bill Gates. Meg Whitman was the president and Chief Executive Officer of eBay. Whitman starts her career in 1979 at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was eBay from March 1998 to March 2008. Ms. Whitman joined eBay when it was a small auction website with 30 employees and revenues of more than $4 million. Improvement of Microsoft and eBay comes with the help of these two leaders. Their leadership of was positive for the organization. Sometimes their leadership was similar and sometimes was dissimilar in different points of view. Both have the traits of leadership. The motivation power of Whitman is also very good. She made good teamwork under her control. Bill Gates is a great leader also. His leadership shows that he is a Trait leader. Bill Gates has some traits which make him a good leader. However, Gates the following traits for leading:

Bill Gates’s motives were really good than others this is why he can establish Microsoft Corporation. He is a leader who changes the computer software. He creates new software for us and makes the use of computers easier. He is a person who is interested to receive innovations. There is a combination of charismatic and transformational leadership in Gates. He is a man who is highly confident in him. His teamwork is also good and that’s why Microsoft Corporation is in today’s situation. He also maintains good communication with his employees all over the world.

References

Bill Gates – Five Tips for Greater Success (2008) SuccessCo. Web.

Careerindia.com (n.d.). Transformational Leadership. Web.

eBay Inc. (2008). Q4 2007 Earnings Call Transcript. Web.

eBay Inc. (2008). Q4 2007 Earnings Call Transcript. Web.

Lal, Neeta. (2008). “Corporate Queens”, Khaleej Times Online. Web.

Microsoft, (2007) Bill Gates Chairman, Press-pass-information for journalist, Web.

Microsoft’s Tradition of Innovation. (2002). Microsoft. Web.

Miller, Matthew. (2007). #361 Margaret Whitman. The Forbes 400. Forbes.com. Web.

Mind Tools, (n.d.). Leadership styles, Web.

Soichiro Honda, (2006). Web.

The Innovation Index. ( 2007), Innovation and Leadership lessons from Meg Whitman, eBay CEO and President, and top Innovator. Creativity And Innovation Driving Business. Web.

Wiki answers (2008). What are leadership trait? Web.

Wikipedia. (2008). Meg Whitman, Wikipedia, Web.