Essay Example on Leadership & Entrepreneurship: Finding Common Ground

The art of leadership is a remarkable talent to possess. Despite others being natural-born leaders, most have to learn to acquire the skills and innate characteristics to become reputable drivers of change. Leadership is about direction, guiding followers to achieve common goals and objectives through effective utilization of available resources (McCauley & Lynn 41). Although different in meaning, practical application of entrepreneurship and leadership have insignificant differences. This paper evaluates the leadership philosophy of the founding individual and CEO of Ultimate Software, Scott Scherr.

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Scott Scherr founded the company in 1990, and has led it grow to about one billion dollars in revenue, with a workforce of more than five thousand, up from the four initial employees ("Ultimate Software"). Glassdoor.com, a company that fits employees to suitable jobs according to their lifestyles, ranked Scott Scherr as the number two best CEO in the United States of America with a 99% approval rate, one slot behind Bob Bechek of Bain and Company ("Highest Rated C.E.Os. 2016").

Ultimate Software is a Human Resource Consultancy Company that delivers various cloud-based HR services to other companies. The company designs and implements payroll plans, recruitment policies, and staff management solutions. The company is headquartered in Weston, Florida, US, and outsources services to more than six thousand six hundred clients ("Ultimate Software"). In addition to the US. The company also operates in one hundred and sixty countries across the globe.

Choosing to operate in the highly dynamic profession of managing human capital resources, Ultimate Software is distinguishing itself through the strategic utilization of the 'People First' philosophy as engineered by its founder and CEO. The company has customers across a broad scope of industries including manufacturing and healthcare, professional and business services, wholesale and retail trade, to hospitality industries, most companies trust Ultimate First to run their personnel affairs. Moreover, the company has a database of over 51 million employee records, the data of which informs on the recommendations and strategies Ultimate Software proposes to their vast clientele.

Having a people-centered approach enables a company to retain the best talents for itself, and this is a crucial factor for continued business success (McCauley & Lynn 48). McCauley & Lynn further reported that human resources are the most critical factor in a company (48). By understanding how to manage employees, a company stands a better chance to utilize other resources at its disposal for better performance effectively.

A company is as good as her workforce. The most exceptional leadership quality that endears Scott Scherr to employees and other stakeholders in the world of business is his unwavering support to staff. Scherr holds the view that well-renumerated employees treat clients better than unmotivated employees. 'Treat your employees well, and they will take care of your business,' is a business slogan that many human resource managers have come to employ in modern business operations (Stein & Paul 35). This statement sums up the philosophic disposition of Scott Scherr, and his ranking by Glassdoor does not come as a surprise.

In addition to supporting the employees, Scott Scherr is an avid reader. Taulli reports Scherr as a good reader in matters related to management and entrepreneurship. Good readers are good leaders, and Scherr credits his leadership success with Ultimate Software to Pat Riley's insight from, "The Winner Within" (Taulli). Pat Riley, a long-term basketball coach, likens business leadership to sports team management.

In line with Riley's intuition at basketball management, Scott Scherr deploys his management philosophy and encourages company employees to follow the doctrines in "The Winner Within." Ultimate Software's media representative Darlene Marcroft said Scherr had been focused on dealing with his workers since the very first moment of the organization's establishment (Gara). This concern for his employees is potentially the outstanding leadership quality that propels Scherr's success in the world of business management.

Another factor that puts Scott Scherr into the list of admirable personalities and business leaders to follow is his acknowledgement that great success necessitates team effort. It is essential for corporate leaders to cultivate a culture where the company values each team member, and that the most critical test of leadership is how senior management treats the lowest-paid employee ("The Characteristics of Great Leaders"). Besides, it is highly commendable for business leaders to listen to their staff. This concern calls for genuine interest to communicate with staff and deliberate on issues in a manner that inspires employees to offer sound suggestions and quality service to the clients.

His drive to empower personnel also works best to endear Scott Scherr as an emulatable business leader. A company is supposed to grow with its employees. This philosophy is right for Ultimate Software Inc., as the company is seeking to transition the leadership reigns to a new crop of leaders. Ultimate Software chose Adam Roger's, a long-term serving Co-CEO, with Scott Scherr to take on the reigns and steer the company to greater heights. This act portrays the real application of Scherr's philosophy to empower employees, and the employees, in return, put their best efforts to deliver for the customers; company shareholders reap profits from their labor.

In conclusion, Scott Scherr is a resounding personality who can act as a good role model for aspiring entrepreneurs. Jumping from his previous roles at ADP and Management Statistics Inc., Scherr encourages entrepreneurs to take risks and jump ship when their philosophic dispositions are under threat. Taking risks is a characteristic of entrepreneurs (McCauley & Lynn 52). As Scherr displays, business success is dependent on the leaders' strive and strategy to achieve success. Modern leaders should therefore, ensure that they put the needs of their team first, and success will follow. This strategy is preceded with the right talent selection and acquisition to the team. Any business can succeed, but the rate and timing of the success depend upon the leader's philosophic disposition on leadership style, principles, and philosophy.

Works Cited

"Highest Rated Ceos 2016". Glassdoor, 2020, https://www.glassdoor.com/Award/Highest-Rated-CEOs-2016-LST_KQ0,23.htm. Accessed 21 Apr 2020.

"The Characteristics of Great Leaders". 12 June 2015, https://blog.ultimatesoftware.com/the-characteristics-of-great-leaders/. Accessed 21 Apr 2020.

"Ultimate Software - Customer Stories Leveraging Ultimate Software'S Human Resource Management Solutions". Ultimate Software, 2020, https://www.ultimatesoftware.com/Customer-Stories. Accessed 21 Apr 2020.

Gara, Antoine. "Generous 401(K) Matches Helped Scott Scherr Build the Ultimate Software Stock". Forbes, 12 Dec 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoinegara/2017/12/12/generous-401k-matches-helped-scott-scherr-build-the-ultimate-software-stock/#f5065d57b11a. Accessed 21 Apr 2020.

McCauley, Cynthia, and Lynn Fick-Cooper. Direction, Alignment, Commitment: Achieving Better Results through Leadership. Center for Creative Leadership, 2020.

Pounds, Marcia Heroux. "Sun Sentinel - We Are Currently Unavailable In Your Region". Sun-Sentinel.Com, 27 Nov 2020, https://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-bz-ultimate-software-ceo-20191127-twvoojkalbecfa2hg5jv42m2qm-story.html. Accessed 21 Apr 2020.

Stein, Steven J., and Paul T. Bartone. Hardiness: Making Stress Work for You to Achieve Your Life Goals. John Wiley & Sons, 2020.

Taulli, Tom. "Summer Reads from Tech C.E.Os.". Forbes, 5 Jul 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomtaulli/2019/07/05/summer-reads-from-tech-ceos/#77f0b8cf4e14. Accessed 21 Apr 2020.