Why These Leaders Are My Role Models
Executives with Task Focused style are decisive in nature. They value action, speed, efficiency and consistency. You are persistent and delegate well. The shortcomings of this style are the tendency to resist change, be impatient, to listen poorly and to act too fast at times, without having sufficient information.
Delegative leaders allow group members to make decisions. This style is best used in situations where the leader needs to rely on qualified employees. The leader cannot be an expert in all situations, which is why it is important to delegate certain tasks out to knowledgeable and trustworthy group members.
1.2 Leadership theory
Laissez Faire theory
My Leadership style is delegative. My Leadership style is the same as the Laissez Faire Style. It is a leadership style in which the manager provides small or no direction and gives workers as much freedom as possible. All power is given to the workers and they must set goals, make decisions, and fix problems on their own. I suggest this leadership style for those leaders that have highly experienced staff under their leadership, because in this leadership style the manager is not always skilled on the certain job they are managing.
Task-Oriented theory
Another Leadership style of mine is Task-Focused. I have found that my leadership style’s correct name is Task-Oriented Leadership. The Leaders that follow this style only focus on getting their certain jobs done and they sometimes can be autocratic. I have researched and found that, leaders who follow this style are good at delegating tasks, which I believe is strength for me. What I found the weak points are of this leadership style are: motivation and retention problems, leader doesn’t think too much about teams’ well-being, and sometimes the leader acts too fast without full information.
Transformational theory
The Transformational leadership style is the style that I look forward to use. The main reason for it being my favourite is that my biggest leadership Role-Model (Bill Gates) applies it. The Transformational theory states that, the leadership is the method in which an individual engages with others and is able to produce a bond that results in increased motivation and morality. What I believe is that, the key in transformational leadership is for the leader is to be helpful to the requirements and objectives of followers in an effort to help them reach their utmost potential. In addition, transformational leadership typically explains how leaders can begin, expand, and apply important changes in an organization.
Transformational
Transactional
High aiming moral standards and ideas
Objectives of the leader reach the targets and rewards
Practical supervision
No particular supervision
Individual therapy
Exception handling
The motive is to promote understanding of the interests of the group
The Motive is to achieve personal interests by encouraging
Change management strategies-
When it comes to Change in Management, transactional and transformational leadership styles contrast largely.
In Transformational Leadership, the Leader goes ahead of managing day to day processes and crafts tactics for taking his department to the next level of performance and success. He always looks for good Opportunities, for possible changes in Management.
In Transactional Leadership, Leaders are more anxious with maintaining the standard flow of actions. It can also be described as “keeping the ship afloat” style. They are not interested in any change in management.
1.3 Leadership Role Models
1.3a leadership profiles
Steve Jobs-Complex management style … Steve Jobs.
Steve Paul Jobs was the co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc., which is now the world’s second largest Informational Technology Company by income. Steve Jobs was born on the 24th of February, 1955. I have discovered that Jobs follows the Autocratic Leadership style. I have found that, very few leaders use this leadership style and succeed. Steve Jobs is one of them. I’ve heard many people criticising his leadership style, but I disagree to those people because apple wouldn’t be what it is today, if he applied a different style.
I’ve learnt that Steve Jobs was always deeply focused when committed, confident enough to take risky actions, and charismatic enough to enrol large numbers of employees and customers in the constant quest of his goals. Steve Jobs Famously said that “customers don’t know what they want until we’ve shown them”. Without a doubt, he produced such products that, after being launched were every persons want. Under his leadership Apples’ income raised from US $5 billion to US $351 billion!
Hardly any top leaders show as much interest to product and design detail as Jobs did. He always considered simplicity, functionality, and consumer demands before; cost effectiveness, sales amount, or even income. Even though he had immeasurable talent, he always made the employees work just as hard as himself. I observed Jobs stating in an interview that “We have an environment where excellence is really expected”.
I have read many blogs and books, accusing Jobs for being immature, stubborn, and even cruel. But however, Jobs seemingly harsh behaviours sparked peak performance, as much as they undermined it.
Steve Jobs died of pancreas cancer, a day after the launch of the latest iphone. He was missed by all of the Apple inc. Workers and Consumers.
Bill Gates-http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02012/Bill-Gates_2012907b.jpg
William (Bill) H. Gates III is the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Microsoft Corporation, the world’s leading provider of software for computers. Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955. I have researched and found that he follows a Transformational leadership style, which shows in his achievements throughout his career. I believe that he has so many great achievements that even a book can be written about them.
Here are a few of his achievements that I found-
Bill Gates got knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005, for his contribution to the British community.
From various universities and institutes like Harvard University and The Royal Institute of Technology, Bill Gates has received Doctorates!
Because of Bill Gates and his wife doing many generous works for the welfare of the society, they received the award of ‘Order of the Aztec Eagle’ in Mexico.
Forbes Magazine listed his name in ‘The World’s Richest People’ from the year 1995 to 2007.
I believe that the main reason that Microsoft succeeded was because of this man. “A computer on every desk and Microsoft software on every computer he will continue to stomp out the competition until he dies. Every business and household must have a computer and must run Microsoft software”, was the basic guiding vision of Bill Gates. I’ve heard that Bill Gates found the most comfortable place where the positional power for him was high as he had most authorities in the firm. That means Bill Gates is more likely a transformational leader who wants performance from his subordinates/followers to achieve the goal/objective of the company. But I’m certain that he is not only one who relies on the employees, he is one when needed who can do the employees jobs much better than them. Gates always had that smart brain for technology, as he was god gifted. He had once said that if you are gifted an extraordinary talent, then you should use it in a good way.
I believe that his leadership skills have set an example for the young businessmen and businesswoman, as his tactics were so efficient that both Microsoft and Bill Gates had blown their rooftops off with money. Bill was a sort of autocratic leader but he never made harsh threats & under no circumstances used cruelty to control others or to achieve personal benefits. Bill Gates had the capability to convince others with something of value to them. Microsoft is well known for giving huge remuneration packages to its employees. What I consider is an important part of reward power is having control over resources, such as allocating expense & budget funds. Bill Gates had full control over evaluating employee’s performance, determining their raises, promotions & other rewards. He also kept the employees confident and positive. He showed those two skills as well. One day a reporter asked him “aren’t you worried about the competition that is starting to show?” He replied ‘”Whether it’s Google, Apple or free software, our fantastic competitors just keep us on our toes!”
Why these leaders are my Role Models –
I have chosen Steve Jobs and Bill Gates as my Role Models because; they both are or have been very successful leaders. Looking up to their success I believe that I will also be able to go very high in leadership standards. The main reason for me choosing Steve Jobs was his success with such a leadership style. I like that factor because with that leadership style only one in many succeeds. I also thought that him inventing such creations, that both kids and adults find as their needs, was something that only a special person could do, thus, I chose to study him and found his past and leadership style, inspiring, which led to him becoming my leadership role model.
It is quite obvious why someone will have Bill Gates as their role model. Not only his awards but also, his past, success, popularity, personality, and leadership style was all inspiring. To be honest, he is my more favourable Role model as he is a leader who is always dedicated to his tasks and always aims to complete them to the best of his and the employees abilities. He is someone who I think every young businessman should have as their role model because he is one of the many few leaders that have gained such popularity and still stay focused on what their job is. This quality is a quality that we should all remember to follow, as I have seen many leaders get carried away, when their only at the beginning of popularity and success.
1.3b Benchmarking criteria
Leadership is a vast scope that has no boundaries none can actually describe its area, method, traits, or other specifications. For example a housewife can be a leader for her own home and a student can be a leader of his own group or class etc. leadership styles are different as there are democratic, charismatic, autocratic etc. (Leadership New Zealand, 2011)
Here are some benchmarking qualities-
Task orientated- I believe that I am very much task focused person and have the ability to finish my tasks efficiently, but to become a successful leader you have to be task oriented and task focused as well, so to my understanding this is the key Quality which I need to develop on.
Confidence- All the successful leaders have a high level of confidence which, enhances their decision making power and their risk taking ability, which you have to take at some point. I believe that I have lack of confidence in myself that’s why I have included this quality in my personal development benchmarking criteria.
Dedication- To become a successful leader you need total dedication to your work. I have chosen this quality, as I believe that I’m already a dedicated woman but, if I put a bit more dedication into my work, then I can become a very successful leader.
Patience- Patience is a very important element to the success of any leader, as sometimes you don’t get your desired results and then the leader goes impatient and loses concentration and in result he takes the wrong decisions. I feel that this is my weakness which I want to improve on.
Socially responsible- a leader who wants to create a good image of their organisation or themselves in the community shows social responsibility. I believe that social responsibility should not only be used for that reason; it should just be considered as a normal responsibility because it keeps the community happy and the environment neat.
Disciplined- Not all leaders are disciplined or keep their employees disciplined, but leaders that actually are disciplined are usually more successful, and they are the ones that tend to stay in business the longest. I believe that I am the type of leader who is disciplined herself but, not the best at forcing discipline on others, that’s why I need to improve on this point.
“Never mistake activity for achievement.”
“Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.”
6
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
“Be prepared and be honest.”
“Be quick, but don’t hurry.”
“You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.”
“You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”
“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.”
“Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.”
“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”
“It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.”
“Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.”
“The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.”
BENCHMARK SCORE
87
TOTAL POSSIBLE SCORE
140
Score as a percentage
62.14%
2.2 Reflection
My personal leadership style is the Delegative style. Although this is my style but it is not my preferred style. My preferred leadership style is transformational leadership style. The main reason behind transformational leadership being my favourite, because my biggest Role Model (Bill Gates) uses it; it shows how efficient it is by the success of my Role Model.
I believe that I am quite strong at giving out authorities to my group members, working within the timeframe and delegating tasks. The weaknesses in Leadership which I have are Tendency to resist change, to listen poorly and to act too fast at times. These weaknesses are not only my thoughts but the surveys and theories all indicate them as well.
My goal as a leader is to become a well known leader and contribute to the society at the same time. I follow the Sikh religion, in which it is said to contribute and serve the society and the helpless. This has inspired me deeply, so when I become successful, I will aim to donate large amounts of money to organisations that help the helpless. Also, donating and contributing to such societies goes under social responsibility, which in result gives you a good picture in the community, which will lead to success.
Opportunities
Rationale
Strategies
Timeframe
Measures
Resourcing