Bill Gates is a charismatic leader who uses charisma to inspire employees to achieve Microsoft’s goals and vision. “Charismatic leaders perceive fundamental discrepancies between the way things are and the way things can (or should) be” (Hughes et al., 2019, p.605). In other words, charismatic leaders see specific shortcomings within society then set up a vision with a motive to overcome the inadequacies. In the current case, Gates’ vision was to create a company that develops personal computers for the general public. Further, charismatic leaders possess unique personal abilities that are emulated by employees and followers to achieve the set mission (Antonakis, 2012). Gates’ attributes were intelligence, ambition, and a competitive spirit. As a charismatic leader, Gate motivated Microsoft programmers to develop a similar drive, ambition, and skill to transform Microsoft into one of the most successful computer companies. Based on Gates’s ability to inspire his followers to achieve his personal attributes of intelligence, ambition, and competitive spirit to achieve his vision of developing personal computers for the general public, it is evident that Gates is a charismatic leader.
Characteristics of Gates Followers
As observed above, charismatic leaders manage to inspire their followers to achieve specific visions. As Hughes and co-authors (2019) highlighted, “charismatic leaders are able to stir followers’ feelings, and this heightened emotional level results in increased levels of effort and performance” (p.608). In support, Antonakis (2012) added that charismatic leaders have confidence in their abilities and those of their followers and set high expectations for themselves and the followers with a strong belief that the expectations can be met. As a result, there is a high correlation between charismatic leadership and positive results (Sacavem et al., 2017). Gates inspired his employees to develop high drive, ambition, skills, and a competitive spirit that transformed Microsoft into a competitive company. Further, most of the employees including Gates have generated considerable wealth from Microsoft’s success. Thus, the overall success of Microsoft and its employees due to the unique personal attributes of Gates’s followers proves that Gates is a charismatic leader.
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References
Antonakis, J. (2012). Transformational and charismatic leadership. The nature of leadership , 256-288. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258221547_Transformational_and_Charismatic_Leadership
Hughes, R. L., Ginnett, R. C., & Curphy, G. J. (2019). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience (9th ed.). McGraw Hill Education.
Sacavém, A., Martinez, L. F., Cunha, J. V., Abreu, A. M., & Johnson, S. K. (2017). Charismatic Leadership: A Study on Delivery Styles, Mood, and Performance. Journal of Leadership Studies, 11 (3), 21-38. doi:10.1002/jls.21519
