Essay on Microsoft: Innovative Strategies for Software Progress & Consumer Satisfaction

Microsoft Company, through Gates, ensures the provision of quality software and microcomputers to their clients. The innovative strategies have seen through Softcard, MS-DOS, Altair, and other products that prove that the progress of software is to succeed through consumer satisfaction. The caring feature of Gates is seen through the opportunities he provided to workers to polish their careers (Shah & Mulla, 2014, p. 184). Additionally, in 2010, Gates agreed to donate $90 billion to charity. Already $28 billion has been channelled to the Bill and Melinda Gates Charity Foundation to the effect of his pledge (Grant, 2011). These instances show that Bill Gates was always ready to solve emerging problems in the best way possible.

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The Managerial GridIn the managerial grid type of leadership, a leader shows concern for his people. The grid measures the care for staff members on a scale of 1 to 9, representing low to a high level of interest in ascending order. Good business leaders will show a 9, 9 performance on the managerial grid. The grade represents a high production level that is accompanied by a high level of staff concern. In achieving this type of leadership, Bill Gates has managed to relate well with his employees (Blake & Mouton, 1964, p. 24). Gates emphasizes effective leadership in every docket by guiding employees to make the company goals (Hassan, 2014). In the end, the production process produces substantial success, while employees achieve job satisfaction and competency skills. These factors show that Bill Gates cares for his employees.

Six Traits Associated with LeadershipThe first trait is the inner drive that a leader shows with a commitment to achieve something. The second trait is the desire to lead in which a person shows interest in being influential to employees. Third, a leader shows honesty and integrity and encourages his staff to embrace these values. Self-confidence is an essential trait that a leader portrays to ensure that their team builds assurance in the rightfulness of the decisions they make. The fifth trait is intelligence, in which the leader shows professional knowledge of the operations of the business (Kirkpartrick & Locke, 1991, 23). Lastly, job-knowledge is a trait that leaders show to assure their employees of what is supposed to be done to achieve company goals.

The personal traits of Bill Gates are seen in the self-drive that he shows by dropping out of school to pursue a career he loves and enjoys. Honesty and integrity are demonstrated in the leader's association with his partner Paul Allen. Gates' cockiness shows self-confidence in what he wants to achieve. Gates is an intelligent leader who spends time in the computer laboratory to explore ideas and decide what he expects to receive from his employees (Harvard University, 2013). Gates also always seeks to influence his employees to gain these skills in their activities (Shah & Mulla, 2014, p. 160). Having self-confidence also helps him achieve his aims since it helps him determine the steps that he should use in his actions.

Conclusion

Fiedler ModelFielder's contingency model displays situations in which a leader's influence and control are tested (Fiedler, 1964, p. 18). It states that the performance of a group depends on the interaction between the style of leadership of a leader and the followers. A leader that has good level of control usually gets better performance than another one that lacks this level of control. The model describes the least preferred co-worker questionnaire. Specifically, the adjectives that a leader uses to describe the least favourite employee shows what the leader prefers, performance or relationship with the followers. For Gates, this model works best through his points of focus on the places that require proper follow-up (Har...