Leading is a huge responsibility that demands making bold decisions that affect others. In an organization, leadership is a balance of skills and the ability to motivate and inspire. In simple terms, leadership refers to the process where entrusted people exert influence over others. Different leaders have distinct values and characters that make them unique. Leadership styles might vary depending on the nature of specific leaders or the type of organization they lead. With the mandate given to them, leaders have the authority and the ability to determine how an organization is run, how employees are treated and how they will perform, and how the day to day operations are carried out. This paper will compare renowned and successful US corporate leaders and their leadership styles. The two leaders are Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, who have made extraordinary contributions to the digital space and redefined how people connect with each other.
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs was an American business magnate and a co-founder of Apple Inc. Although he died in 2011, his legacy in the technological world leaves on. Jobs was a transformational leader who had transformed several companies becoming Apple Inc. Apple Inc. was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve waking in Job’s family garage. Job’s had envisioned a company that would offer the best personal imputing experience to all its users by offering innovative hardware and software solutions. Apple Inc. became popular for revolutionizing the computer world by using inventive methods to make smaller, cheaper, intuitive, and high-quality computers (Shah & Mulla, 2013). For a long time, Jobs' leadership strategy was successful. The development of breakthrough products such as iPhones and iPods would not have been possible without the input of Steve Jobs. Currently, iPhones and iPods have evolved with time, and people can now use them for various functions. The fact that Apple Inc. products have been able to adjust with new technologies demonstrates just how transformational Steve Jobs was. Additionally, Jobs inspired and motivated people within and without his organization through his inspirational talks.
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However, Job’s leadership was challenged in 1985 whare there was a power struggle between him and the board, which resulted in his resignation as the CEO of Apple Inc. He went on to build another company called Next Computer Incorporation that was later bought by Apple Inc., and Job's was rehired as the interim CEO and later made the permanent CEO. He served as the company’s CEO until his passing in 2011 (Shah & Mulla, 2013).
Bill Gates
Bill Gates is an American business mogul, software developer, philanthropist, and co-founder for Microsoft Corporation. Just like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates is a transformational leader who continues to inspire change and hope. As a teenager, Gates and his Microsoft co-founder Allen imagined that every business could own a computer that would run on Microsoft software. They made that imagination a goal that they would work to achieve, and they eventually did. Gates understood that they would better achieve the goal if they coordinate with others in their team. Gates made it his responsibility to make sure that he had a good relationship with his employees and everyone around him (Shah & Mulla, 2013). He was and still is a type of leader who appreciates others and believes in them. In his time as Microsoft CEO, Gates made his employees know the company's objectives and what they needed to do to realize them. He used different methods to influence his team, including leading by example and accepting ideas (Bhattacharyya, 2006). Besides, Bill Gates intellectually motivated his employees through his vast knowledge and experience, likable personality, and kindness. On numerous occasions, Gates has been quoted saying that he could not have been successful without his entire team's contribution.
Comparative Analysis
There are five known sources of power; expert, referent, legitimate, reward, and coercive (Lunenburg, 2012). Both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates had all these powers. First, they had a legitimate power source since they had been entrusted by their respective corporations to lead. Bill Gates effectively used this source of power since the first he became Microsoft's CEO. On the other hand, Steve Jobs failed to use his power in 1985 effectively. Thankfully, he was able to use his legitimate power after being reappointed as the CEO. Second, both leaders had expert power. Expert power alludes to knowledge. Leaders use this power to influence others based on their expertise and past experiences. Experts are highly respected in their respective fields. Both Gates and Jobs were experts in the field of computers and were able to influence others.
The third source of power is referent power. Referent power is the leaders' ability to influence others by developing strong relationships with their employees and stakeholders (Lunenburg, 2012). As earlier stated, Gates is considered transformational, strong, visionary, and inspiring. Gates remained loyal to his employees and followers and did not underestimate any of them. Unlike Gates, Jobs is considered an autocratic leader. He is also considered a transactional leader since he had a history of lashing out at his employees. Instead of working alongside his employees, Jobs led from the front, which prevented him from building good relationships with employees and stakeholders. Although Jobs was a dictator, he was a successful CEO because of his ability to persuade rather than building relationships.
The fourth power is reward power. Leaders can use rewards to influence people to work towards a certain goal. This is a very effective power since it is highly valued by employees (Lunenburg, 2012). Gates and Jobs used this power to drive their agenda and were very successful. The fifth source of power is coercive power. This is the direct opposite of reward power. Through this power, leaders can threaten to remove certain benefits if they don’t do certain things. This allows leaders to gain control through fear and intimidation (Lunenburg, 2012). Both Jobs and Gates have been accused of using threats to manipulate others for their benefit. This type of leadership is ineffective and disadvantageous to the organization.
Conclusion
Jobs and Gates are effective leaders and were able to lead their companies to great heights successfully. However, their leadership traits were very different. Jobs was an autocrat, while Gates used a more participative approach. In any field, leaders like Bill Gates tend to be more successful in the long-term. A participative approach makes employees and stakeholders feel like they belong and would therefore work as they would work in their own companies. The participative approach allows free-thinking, which promotes inventiveness. For that reason, Bill Gates led created a team of the brightest people. Gates understood his employees and provided an environment that allowed them to thrive. Indeed, participative leadership is the best leadership.
References
Bhattacharyya, S. (2006). Entrepreneurship and innovation: How leadership style makes the difference?. Vikalpa , 31 (1), 107-116.
Lunenburg, F. C. (2012). Power and leadership: An influence process. International journal of management, business, and administration , 15 (1), 1-9.
Shah, T., & Mulla, Z. R. (2013). Leader motives, impression management, and charisma: A comparison of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Management and Labour Studies , 38 (3), 155-184.
