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Bill Gates Leadership Qualities and Skills Analysis

Leading in an Organization

Part One

Leadership is one of the widely discussed topics. Several scholars in various fields such as business, psychology, and communication have written extensively about leadership traits and qualities. Bill Gates remains one of the admired leaders in the world following his excellent leadership skills that he used to built and shape Microsoft to what it is today (Goleman, 2013). Bill Gates has unique leadership qualities that have enabled him to shine among his peers. The great leadership qualities have allowed him to structure Microsoft and established the best executive team that has enabled the company to be ranked as one of the best-performing companies in the United States by Forbes magazine. Bill Gates has been able to establish Microsoft and its executive team based on his excellent communication skills. He also believes in teamwork and consults his executive team to ensure the organization moves in the right direction. Bill Gates also is a good public speaker. He believes in seeking counsel from others to allow him to make better decisions (Northouse, 2017). For instance, he has learned a lot from Warren Buffet who has nurtured him to become a better leader. Bill Gates believes in learning from others to allow one grow. In most cases, he has put into practice the lessons learned from his mentors to become a better and great leader.

Bill Gates also has a strong vision for whatever he decides to do. His vision inspired him to create the graphical interface which later became the Microsoft software. According to Bill Gates, he believed in having more than a single product. The passion and enthusiasm to discover more have enabled him to become a great leader. His philanthropic pursuits and ability to envision goals have allowed him to establish a product line which translates to what Microsoft is today (Goleman, 2013). On the other hand, his love for people is another leadership quality that Bill Gates has used to build the structure of Microsoft and build a vibrant executive team. Bill Gates cares much about people who are around him. His humanitarianism and philanthropy made him become a successful leader. For instance, he established the Bill Gates and Melinda Foundation with the primary objective of eradicating malaria in the world. His kindness and empathy have made several people stand by him.

Building a strong organizational culture requires a great leader who can influence his followers to move towards the desired direction. The leaders must produce productive workforce who can work with minimal supervision. Bill Gates is such a great leader who has used specific leadership actions to build and structure a productive organization. Bill Gates is innovative, team-oriented, people-oriented, aggressive and outcome oriented (Goleman, 2013). These leadership actions have enabled him to establish and build Microsoft. His innovative culture has allowed him to become adaptable and flexible by trying new ideas to develop different lines of product within Microsoft. Being a team and people-oriented leader, he has been able to establish an organizational culture where people work towards the goals and mission of the organization. He has utilized the specific leadership to provide training to the staff members to so as to align the HR strategic objectives to the strategic objectives of the organization.

Bill Gates has utilized engagement and effective communication as best practices to develop productive teams within Microsoft. For instance, he knows the problems that should be solved. He focuses on the outcomes rather than the activities to get the work done. Besides, Microsoft hires competent and talented skills who can easily cope with the job requirements. Bill Gates uses conventional strategic planning to align HR strategic goals to the mission and objectives of the organization. The conventional strategic planning allows the organization to update its mission and vision statements. This planning strategy is utilized to outline a specific course of actions required to achieve each goal. Besides, Microsoft also uses training and other useful programs which are geared towards aligning teams with organizational vision.

Part Two

Providing a clear and simple vision of what the future of any organization should be is the responsibility of a responsible leader. Bill Gates corporate vision is to provide computers to every desk and every home. The organizational vision for Microsoft is clear and concise vision has made it become the most successful, profitable and respected firms in the world (Northouse, 2017). Bill Gates developed its strategic plan with the primary objective of providing computers to every in most parts of the world. Developing the strategic plan of Microsoft took Bill Gates some time. After dropping from Harvard University Bill Gates experienced some challenges. However, his company was able to pick after receiving the license for its MS-DOS to IBM. The introduction of IBM PC marked the success of Microsoft. Bill Gates formed key committees and independent governance bodies to evaluate its performance. The independent governance bodies are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the business conduct, professional conduct, and finance code are adhered to. However, Bill Gates did not employ effective strategic plans that would enable it to overcome the current threats it is facing as a result of the growth of mobile phone and tablet PC usage. This has led to a decrease in its market share. As such, Microsoft should introduce mobile phones and PC tablets to regain its market dominance.

Bill Gates position at Microsoft has made him become a leader who is admired by many. The personal power is derived from his charisma, expertise, loyalty and the general behavior. Bill Gates is best at his subject. This has made most of his followers to respect and depend on him as a leader. His expertise and knowledge have enabled him to attract more friends thus enabling to build a strong organizational culture where people believe in possession of competence to achieve organizational goals. His influential tactic has legitimized Bill Gates positional power. Most of the employees who work for Microsoft comply with his managerial authority for the benefit of the organization and the members at large. Bill Gates utilizes rational persuasion in cases where he deals with the high-level managers. He employs factual evidence to persuade the managers to comply and implement his decisions (Goleman, 2013). Bill Gates also evaluates the performance of his employees and determines who is qualified for promotion and salary rise. The political power of Bill Gates is associated with his influence and wealth. This has made him gain favor from most world leaders including Barrack Obama. He played a critical role in the Obama’s 2008 election as the president of US. Besides, his decisions often influence political decisions made by world leaders. For instance, he runs Bill Gates and Belinda Foundation which is committed to eradicating malaria in the world. As such, he must always be consulted since he is one of the donors committed to eradicating malaria in the world.

Bill Gates utilizes different strategic planning methods such as Issues-based strategic planning and real-time strategic planning to build organizational teams and align the strategic HR goals to the overall goals of the organization. Real-time strategic planning is used by the organization to remain relevant despite the competition that it experiences in the market (Gates, 2014). This planning strategy enables Bill Gates to communicate the mission and vision of the organization to the staff. Besides, it is utilized to determine changes in the external environment to enable the organization to respond appropriately to such changes. The two strategic planning methods have allowed the organization to build a strong organizational culture where members believe in teamwork to achieve success. The primary strategic tools and methods used by Bill Gates include hiring the right talents, and ensuring that the right work is done at an appropriate time.

Part Three

Problem-solving skills are essential in inspiring the workforce and making them work towards the goals and objectives of the organization. Bill Gates sees the world differently and think differently compared to the average person. Bill Gates solves problems by asking too many questions from his executives. This has made his managers learn precision questioning and answering to tackle problems that may affect the operations of Microsoft. Bill Gates clarifies issues and makes his executives understand them before reaching a conclusive answer. He also relies on his advisors and mentors who have experience from the past. Bill Gates is open to suggestions and opinions from his executives to allow him to solve problems (Gates, 2014). Bill Gates connects two or more unrelated strategies to allow him to overcome issues and solve problems. He has used effective communication and leadership skills as strategies to help him solve problems within the organization. Bill Gates also overturns the worst possible solutions to create value for Microsoft. He also creates bonds and negotiates with his executives to solve problems. I believe in building a positive relationship as a way of solving problems. Establishing the bond and nurturing the relationship is a strategy that I utilize to solve problems. I also believe in collaboration and teamwork as an effective strategy towards conflict resolution. I would emulate asking so many questions and seeking suggestions from other people as an effective strategy to solve problems and manage conflicts. Asking so many questions is effective tool since it enables me to get different opinions which are useful in conflict mitigation.

Conflict management is an effective tool in building teams and motivating the staff towards the goals and objectives of the organization. The leadership qualities and skills that a leader possesses are essential in bringing members together and making them work towards a common course. For instance, Bill Gates has made Microsoft become a respected and profitable corporation in the world based on his innovative and people-oriented skills (Gates, 2014). He is accommodative and believes in the power of collaboration as an effective tool in conflict management. Besides, he avoids certain issues that may add up to a conflict. As such he has been able to build a strong team that believes in the mission and vision of the organization.

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