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Introduction
The Great Man Theory roots back to the early 19th century as populist leaders and the press of the time observed that leaders and their followers were profoundly differentiated through styles of leadership, personality, and mannerism (Snyder, 2013). Born in 1955, William Howard Gates grew much interest in computer technology at a tender age while attending his elementary school. From a humble beginning, Bill Gates had mastered unique qualities that characterize a competent leader.
While positive traits such as friendliness, initiative, intelligence and fastidiousness are typical of Bill Gates leadership acumen, being in possession of these qualities alone does not necessarily add up to a successful leader. Given these leadership overtones, it could be exceedingly easy to contextualize Bill Gates amongst the numerous leadership paradigms and styles that researchers and academicians put forward over the years (Snyder, 2013).
Researchers have argued that studying Bill Gates leadership acumen can never be complete without tracing his roots as a child with impressive family background since the modest upbringing was at the centerpiece of his making. Gates’ father, William Gates Sr. has been documented to have been a thorough and rapid thinker, while Mary Gates is reported to have been intelligent and determined. Scholars and researchers have argued that these parentage aspects have contributed greatly to Bill Gates leadership making (Snyder, 2013).
In his childhood and youth, Gates was encouraged and guided by his parent to think freely, act optimally, and speak openly. For Bill Gates, the floodgates of innovation have been usually open. In reciprocation, Gates would find an opportunity to appreciate the abundance of which life offers.
He chose to consider self-discovery to transform the people around him and the world by extension. His youth was a modicum of personal pilgrimage to the top as a global business leader who has endeavored to beckon world attention around his effective organizational leadership acumen and team skills.
Bill Gates’ Leadership Approaches
Effective leadership instruction has been a success factor of Bill Gates tenure at the Microsoft Company. Bill Gates’ leadership played off purposefully in scheduling commitment at the top of his priority. One sure way Bill Gates used to achieve these endeavors was his dallying with the present-day managerial skills that have become widespread all over the world. These entail performance management on one hand, and balanced scorecard method on the other.
To achieve the best out of the two, Bill Gates explored a dichotomy of both to align his characteristic leadership with the company core values. Bill Gates is a modicum of a leader who plied these routes and delivered his team to success. Establishing and building upon these leadership traits at a tender age, Bill Gates ended up transforming the Microsoft world in a way no one could ever had imagined (Mwita, 2010). In the end, Microsoft has emerged as the world leading torch illuminating software technology and internet provider solutions.
The Balanced Scorecard (BCS)
Forwarded as a strategic planning tool, Bill Gates applied this management tool so extensively at the Microsoft Company, that it almost became characteristic of his leadership style. The balanced Scorecard is a tried, tested, and trusted leadership approach that has yielded impressive results in the corporate world, in the execution of government agenda, and non-governmental organizations in various parts of the world.
The balanced scorecard is an occupational management tool that aims at streamlining the business to the mission and vision of an organization. At the Microsoft Company Bill Gates effectively used this approach to improve the internal and external management practices, while monitoring and evaluating organizational performance within the scale of company ideals. The balanced scorecard is a product of critical thinking, which stipulates a clear prescription that guides and shapes the leadership of a company.
The balanced scorecard as a business approach enables an organization to light up its vision by decoding them into realizable ideals. In an effort to maximize on business opportunities, the Microsoft Company nurtured this business approach under Bill Gates’ stewardship to realize the set goals. When exploited accordingly, the balanced scorecard has the ability to transform organizations’ strategic plans from theoretical elements into an enterprise of success (Mwita, 2010).
Performance Management Approach
A brainchild of the 21st century, the performance management is a leadership approach that was instituted with the private sector organization in mind. As a methodical approach, the Microsoft Company exploited this leadership ideal to enhance greater performance of the organization and delivery of its set goals. Performance management approach lies upon mutual reinforcements to optimize the greatest performance at work.
According to Probert and Kim (2011), organizational performance relies on the leadership stratagem that enables the workers to exploit their full potential. At the Microsoft Company, Bill Gates embraced the use of data, for example, to evaluate the effectiveness of the Microsoft Company against its strategies. These strategies embroiled the maximization of secondary objectives to help the company to reach out to primary organizational objectives.
Most of the practices that inform performance management model have their footing in the behavior analysis. As the brief history of Bill Gates indicates, the behavior often passes out as a powerful tool that shaped his leadership acumen. Performance management approach, according Snyder (2013) offers a set of expected organizational priorities that dictates the company choices.
These choices are procedures that run down through the bloodstream of an organization. The approach profiles each individual to the overall strategies that the organization aims to achieve within a given period. Through this approach, Bill Gates was able to steer every individual at the Microsoft Company to feel as valued stakeholders of the organization (Mwita, 2010).
Authentic Leadership
Introduced in 2003 by management consultant Bill George, “Authentic Leadership” as a leadership style embraces personality acumen and the ethical standards. Since authentic leaders must sustain high levels of motivation and keep their lives in balance, it is critically imperative for them to recognize what drives them.
Naturally, there are two types of motivations – intrinsic and extrinsic. Although most people are often reluctant to admit this fact, many leaders are impelled to achieve greater heights by gauging their success against the parameters of the outside world. Bill Gates has often demonstrated the utmost levels of vision, decision-making, team-building, passion, and strength of character, which are within the meaning of authentic leadership (Probert & Kim, 2011).
Evaluation of Bill Gates Leadership Approaches
Organizational observers reckon that leadership is a vital, yet variable assignment that characterizes the performance of an organization. Bill Gates embraced organizational change leadership prototype giving strong emphasis to organizational cultural change. Accordingly, it is because of these approaches that the Microsoft Company was able to yield abundantly while improving organizational performance at the same time.
Other factors that are consistent with the Bill Gates leadership approach, observes Mwita (2010) are diversity and ethics. The leadership approach cherished by Bill Gates was that which envisages change, strategy, and design. Microsoft Company values, leadership and management in equal proportions. At the Microsoft Company, the lifeline of leadership was coined within the meaning of change management, organizational design, and community spirit.
Management, on the other hand, embraced information systems, financial management, program design, human resource capacity as well as project management and evaluation. Often, effective implementation of organizational management demands effective leadership.
Viewed as an element of coordinating and aligning various processes within an organization, an approach to leadership is exceptionally essential and managers should exploit every opportunity to seek out the best approach available. Bill Gates’ leadership approach, for example, focused on organizational performance at its very best while giving priority to the Microsoft community to strive to achieve the desired outcomes (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007).
By studying the elements of leadership that informs Bill Gates’ success, it could be prudent to insinuate that those in leadership capacities must be those that are endowed with the aptitude of evaluating the contingency aspects of the organizational environment. By doing this, a leader would be able to assess staff characteristics to help outline organizational culture and climate.
Other areas where Bill Gates excelled include capacity building such as service delivery and considerations of clients’ tastes and preferences. These considerations, according to Lewis, Packard, and Lewis (2007) expected to offer the ultimate results especially if they are well explored.
Bill Gates greatly impacted the Microsoft Company’s capacity building by using evidence based program design. Under these considerations, job satisfaction becomes the only option; in a way, the companies viewed under these lenses can expect nothing except all that amounts to success (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007).
Context of Bill Gates’ Leadership
Effective leadership does not suggest one particular way of managing an organization or people within it. Both researchers and academicians alike have steered clear of imposing any leadership style as a modicum of a proven methodology. Business leaders, therefore, need to align their leadership capacities and to moderate their style of leadership in a way that matches the developmental paradigms of the markets they embrace.
Bill Gates’ choice of leadership was that which was meant to lead the people and the Microsoft Company to high performance and broaden market appeal. Taking into consideration that no single leadership style surface as the most proven, Mwita (2010) posits that if guided by principles, any leadership style can offer meaning to the organization.
Some of the principles that act as a supreme guide to any leadership style are innovation, integrity, investment and capacity building, these captures the context of leadership. In organizational leadership, such as the Microsoft Company, context is everything; Bill Gates leadership context has been effective spanning through a career that has transformed lives.
Bill Gates’ Leadership Attributes
Evidently, Bill Gates exhibited many leadership attributes, among those that are characteristic of his many successes are his capacity to analyze and interpret situations and information (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007). His analytical ability was instrumental shaping his future career. While in school, for example, Bill Gates exemplified in test grades scoring 99 percent in his Harvard entrance exam, a feat that could be attributed to his analytical abilities.
His creative imagination and the ability to dream big did not just come from the blues; he nurtured them to be part of himself. Between these wild dreams, Bill Gates extended his interest to help those he came across to become successful as well; this is evidenced in the philanthropy that characterized his later life. In his characteristic style as a leader who wanted everyone under him to yield the best, he showed the need to supply the missing links whenever necessary.
Bill Gates’ Philanthropy Ideologies
Philanthropy has been very instrumental in Gates’ journey as an excellent leader. In 2000, the Gate’s family embraced a foundation that aims to mitigate the socioeconomic disparities in America and other parts of the world. The foundation aims to support the public in critical areas of education, health, and leadership.
From Bill Gates, his career path has taken an angle most careers seem not to have explored; it has been spontaneous, yet full of admiration and creativity. One of the characteristics of his rare abilities is that, while other leaders sought for markets, he made his organization to create markets.
Eventually, these rare practices ended up making his organization to be at the centerpiece of high market demand. Another stroke of genius is that, as other leaders seek to evaluate opportunities, he was to size them up; in a way, Bill Gates transformed every opportunity into another venture of success. One thing that though contributed to Bill Gates’ thoroughness was his insatiable craving for work and concern for other people in need; it culminated into making effective leadership his lifetime priority (Snyder, 2013).
Leadership Styles and Theories Demonstrated by Bill Gates
Reviewing Bill Gates leadership acumen, one can easily tell that a number of leadership styles and theories informed the success of his tenure at the Microsoft Company. Gates passes out as a keen observer of situations and he excelled in choosing these approaches to leadership considering the situation at hand. This section seeks to explore a couple of leadership styles and theories that Gates applied in his endeavor to build a strong leadership base.
While previous research on leadership gave traits much emphasis, the contemporary research, on the other hand, seems to justify the adjustments in these areas that gave leadership theories an edge in choosing the frame of an organization’s destiny. The commonly held world-view includes elements of highly cherished models that have been presumed to yield better individuals at the helm of leadership (Snyder, 2013).
At the Microsoft Company, the lifeline of leadership was coined within the meaning of change management, organizational design, and community spirit. While positive traits such as friendliness, initiative, intelligence and fastidiousness are typical of Bill Gates leadership acumen, being in possession of these qualities alone does not necessarily add up to a successful leader.
Given these leadership connotations, it could be exceptionally easy to contextualize Bill Gates amongst the numerous leadership standards and styles that researchers and academicians put forward over the years. Often, effective implementation of organizational management demands effective leadership.
Viewed as an element of coordinating and aligning various processes within an organization, an approach to leadership is exceptionally essential and managers should exploit every opportunity to seek out the best approach available.
Trait theory
Trait theory holds that specific qualities could be attributed to an individual’s ability to lead. Samples of leadership traits could be traced in Bill Gates right from childhood to adulthood. Trait theory examines the intellectual capacity of an individual (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007).
These intellectual capacities are characteristically innate, and they range from behavior to personality and skills. Whereas the existence of a clear relationship between leadership success and these traits have been criticized and disputed as well, development of trait theory continues in modern psychology training and research work. Recent researches established that there is a link between leadership and individual traits like logical thinking, self-control, persistence, and people empowerment.
As can be observed from Bill Gates empowerment program, especially in his endeavor to transform peoples’ lives across the globe, there is ample reason to believe that trait theory informs his persona as a leader. However, problems have been identified with the traditional trait theory, including suggestion that different sets of traits have proven effective in different circumstances.
Considering Bill Gates tenure at the Microsoft Company, the long list of traits he wields blends significantly impressive qualities. These qualities, such as behaviors, skills, and abilities are traits that could be cultured depending on the organizational organogram (Northouse, 2010).
Behavioral Theory
Taking on a different perspective, behavioral theory focuses more on patterns that informs leadership behavior of an individual than on the individual himself. Proponents of this theory suggest that certain behavioral patterns inform individual ability to make a good leader. In reviewing Bill Gates’ profile right from childhood, over to his schooling days and now as a multinational business leader, one can optimally argue the case for behavioral theory in full play.
The successful application of this theory promotes what scholars term as value-style leadership (Avolio, 2007). Value-style leadership is people centered and puts emphasis on things that affect the people. In a way, it boils down to participative and open decision-making that encourages team collaboration by supporting people’s needs in concerned areas.
Bill Gates scorecard could be viewed under these impressive lenses, having instituted a foundation that aims to address the human inequalities in the modern day American society. In both practice and theory, these two theories are instrumental in developing individuals to be instrumental in leadership capacities.
Researchers and scholars have argued that a mixture of these two theories gives an individual at the helm of leadership a head start to steer an organization to its wildest dreams (Northouse, 2010). Both Kerns (2010) and Avolio (2007) agree that Bill Gates leadership approach at the Microsoft Company had been a mixture of both. Avolio (2007) opines that while aligning his leadership approach to these theories, Bill Gates endeavored to set the phase for future organizational leaders who will no doubt have him as a model of success.
Bill Gates Transformational Leadership Style
Talking of transformation leadership in the 21st century will always seek out Bill Gates as a measure of this leadership style. Observers in world reckon that Gates’ success was not an epitome of luck; he worked tirelessly to bring himself to his present position. Snyder (2013) posits that those who have always thought that Bill Gates earned his position by sheer chance might be in for a rude shock. At a tender age, Bill Gates impressed many by his great interest in computing, his impressive analytical skills, and enthusiasm.
His passion for quantitative mathematical models earned him a place in modern software development (Snyder, 2013). His unique thinking abilities even influenced his childhood games, such as statistical poker which further developed his creativity as he grew up to adulthood.
Growing up in wealthy family, Bill Gates had the incentives to explore life and transform the lives of those he came across. Realizing their unique singularities, Bill Gates teamed up with Warren Buffet – a great investor to team up on business projects and philanthropy.
His philanthropic ideologies coupled with business ventures, such as partnerships were aimed at transforming him into an excellent leader. Partnerships and collaboration have often been applied as a motif to which complex issues and particular problems could be solved.
Partnerships that are informed by organizational thinking focus specifically on business outcomes and not necessarily on business goals. Gates, for example, was a proponent of these partnerships, his gait seem to imply that whatever the business may come across offer mutual gains for all (Snyder, 2013).
Transformational leadership ensures that leaders take great cognizance of the fact that increasing their associates’ responsiveness of what they are required of motivates their abilities to deliver their best. Motivational leaders stalk their business associates with a renewed sense that transcends the exchange reward schemes for the services offered (Avolio, 2007). As a transformation leader, Bill Gates was proactive in his own unique style.
He endeavored to optimize organizational development while keeping performance above par. His development agenda incorporated the evolution ability, attitudes, motivation, and values. He exemplified in evaluating the evolution levels of Microsoft Company Associates. He nonetheless, succeeded in convincing the Microsoft Company Associates to reach out to great levels of achievement while exhibiting equal amounts of moral and ethical principles.
While assisting the Microsoft Company associates to grow in stature, Bill Gates in reciprocation ensured that Microsoft maximized on development opportunities as well. To transcend effective change, researchers identified the following areas to enable organizations and leaders to offer emotional support to their followers and associates (Mary, 2005).
Capacity Building
Usually, a sustainable leadership strategy at an organizational level is normally attributed to very few individuals. People in this category are normally the devotees whom because of their selfless commitment will always champion the success agenda of an organization.
For Bill Gates to maintain his leadership style above reproach, nurturing of skills as well as putting aside a reservoir of abilities that fuel the lifeline of the Microsoft Company was very instrumental. This according to Mary (2005) is the surest way that guarantees long-term sustainable approach to facilitate organizational agenda.
Disseminating Good Leadership Practices
Among the demonstrated ways, that Bill Gates explored in developing good leadership practices at Microsoft Company was to recognize and disseminate the applicable models that captured the ideals of his organization. Bill Gates endeavored to achieve this in the glare of Microsoft business excellence (Snyder, 2013).
Fiscal Measures
As part of transformational drive, the Microsoft Company endeavored to support local action evidenced on fiscal practice. Bill Gates took into account support mechanisms in form of tax incentives for those companies that have proven their worth to invest in Microsoft Company’s products (Mwita, 2010).
Leadership Levels
The lens under which leadership is observed consists of groups, program areas, communities, and even transnational teams. Under Bill Gates’ stewardship, the Microsoft Company’s mission was to optimally improve and advance computer and software technology, and make their products accessible globally while ensuring consumer friendly ties such as pricing and durability of their products. Microsoft Company is thus a leading investment whose leadership transcends continental boundaries.
Bill Gates Leadership Dynamics and Crisis Management
Leadership is an arena that has challenges that warrant extra ordinary strategic considerations. Modern leadership requires a dramatic departure from the old ways of leadership. From Bill Gates profile, it is clear that leaders must possess the rare ability to champion his followers to realize that change is inevitable.
From Bill Gates descriptions, it is evident that his tenure at the Microsoft Company was devoted to seeking out the necessary things that must be done while providing a node of the likely individuals who have to be involved. Researchers and scholars reckon that in leadership, crisis itself presents both the leader and the followers with a powerful and often domineering internal and external mechanism.
Osborn, Hunt, and Jauch (2002) observe that the criteria for dealing with organizational crisis often stem from within the organization and from the contexts, which informs such dynamics. Under these considerations, it is worth noting that Bill Gates leadership acumen transcends the boundaries of conventional leadership theories that confine a leader’s abilities within a net of possibilities.
Bill Gates devoured these challenges, and never at any given point seemed to have been operating within the vortex of an established framework of confinement. He believed that life is an arena of opportunities and the more you open up to such opportunities, the more an individual can scale the ladder of self-aggrandizement, putting his organization on the global glare (Osborn, Hunt & Jauch, 2002).
In a moment of crisis, leaders have been known to function with reduced steadiness, uncharacteristic phase, and sometimes operating on a blurred objective. Under these scales, the actions for most leaders may appear somewhat unpredictable, demeaning, and void as the leader tries to save face. It is under moments of crisis that a clear distinction can be extracted between the leadership acumen of an individual and the contexts that inform his position.
To avoid compromising his position, a leader has to move within the dynamics available. In essence, one must be able to accept change and more importantly change with situations. This according to Mwita (2010) has been the ultimate price tag that has made Bill Gates to be what he is today.
The epic of his leadership was not to strategically position himself above subordinates but to engage peers, superiors, and subordinates alike. For Bill Gates, this collective influence was instrumental in copying with crisis and dynamisms within the Microsoft Company’s management structure (Osborn, Hunt, & Jauch, 2002).
Coincidentally, for Bill Gates, he took upon these challenges and advanced them towards innovative strategic dimensions keeping in mind that crises are thought provoking elements that might facilitate organizational adjustment. Probert and Kim (2011) posit that researchers and academicians equally believe that crises are areas of development and progress, especially if they help an organization to uncover some of the infinite assumptions.
Bill Gates believed that crisis has to be dealt with at the most opportune moment, recognizing the fact that if ignored, the possibilities of an organization realizing the set phase for radical change could be undermined.
It is highly likely that, if these indicators of change are not recognized, then the developmental consequences that follow may not be within the leadership design, and may have far-reaching negative consequences that are difficult to rescind. Failing to attend to these dynamics in time, the leadership developmental initiatives may coil around in circles without necessarily showing a commitment for exponential growth (Probert & Kim, 2011).
Conclusion
Profiling Bill Gates leadership acumen, one can argue that there is no particular view that guarantees successful leadership. As can be learnt from Bill Gates tenure at the Microsoft Company, an even mixture of leadership traits and theories offers a great deal of service in shaping individuals foundation for successful leadership. Reading from Bill Gates stint in the corporate world, there are common factors that are consistent with his successes.
Among these had included leadership approach he selected; Bill Gates applied contexts of leadership in line with the situation at hand. Another impressive trait was his ability to learn his followers’ abilities, their evolution trends, and drive. This made him to have a universal appeal and familiarity with his followers. His abilities to evaluate situational requirements and level them against his transformational tendencies proved great and forthcoming.
Coupled with his personal skills and abilities, Bill Gates gave meaning to value and made ethics his guiding principle. Therefore, it is no doubt that these areas are the elements that if an individual capitalizes on, one can unravel the secrets that guarantees a formula that leads to great leadership.
He believed that life is a field of opportunities and the more one opens up to such prospects, the more an individual can his/her personal goals. As some of the lessons learnt from Bill Gates leadership acumen, it could be commonsensical to sum up that an individual aiming higher in leadership must be prepared to nurture high values, give an emphasis to trust building, be result oriented, a motivator and an inspirational individual.
References
Avolio, B. J. (2007). Promoting More Integrative Strategies for Leadership Theory Building. The American Psychologist, 62(1), 25–33.
Kerns, C. D. (2010). Managing Your Strengths: An Approach to Boosting High Performance. Leadership Review, 10(7), 68-81.
Lewis, J., Packard, T., & Lewis, M. (2007). Management of Human Service Programs (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Mary, N. (2005). Transformational Leadership in Human Service Organizations. Administration in Social Work, 29(2), 105–118.
Mwita, J. I. (2010). Performance Management Model. International Development Department, 13(1), 19-37.
Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership: Theory and Practice. New York: Sage Publishers.
Osborn, R. N., Hunt, J. G., & Jauch, L. R. (2002). Toward a Contextual Theory of Leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 13(2), 797 – 837.
Probert, J. & Kim T. J. (2011). Leadership Development: Crisis, Opportunities, and the Leadership Concept. Leadership, 7(2), 137–150.
Snyder, S. (2013). Leadership Opportunities and Lessons from Bill Gates. Retrieved from http://snyderleadership.com/2013/07/25/leadership-opportunities-and-lessons-from-bill-gates/
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