Successful Leaders: Developing Leadership Styles for Success - Essay Sample

Introduction

Successful leaders of today have developed their leadership styles of managing their business and the people they lead. They do not follow a particular protocol of how they should lead, but instead, they have taken it upon themselves to make some decisive decisions. Depending on an individual's strengths and liabilities, some leaders have used their powers to lead others. Allowing them to develop their leadership style, enables one to become flexible, and employ skills. Successful leaders like Bill Gates and Sir. Richard Branson, among others, has exhibited leadership in their attitudes and approaches, which have proven to be culturally responsive to the ethical framework (Boje & Smith, 2010). The leadership style used by Knight Bill Gates is the same as that of Sir Richard Branson. They can be compared and contrasted as they share some similarities and differences in one or another way. Richard Branson has been observed to have a very charismatic and good rapport with the people his colleagues. He once said in the CBS interview that one could not be a good leader if he/she does not genuinely like people.

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On the other hand, Bill Gates is a successful man who conducts his business thoroughly and effectively, being a democratic leader with an innovative high vision. The paper seeks to address the contrast and similarity between Sir Richard Branson and Bill Gates. The two leaders had a goal and dreams to fulfill in their lives, which led them to be effective leaders that are critically analyzed today. They both have positive and negative challenges that are well compared and contrasted. The objective of the paper is to understand the characteristics of the two business leaders and examine their management qualities to detect the most reliable exemplary. This paper discusses the merits of both knight Bill and those of Sir Richard to provide the leadership design of this personnel.

History of Sir Richard Branson

Richard Branson is a prosperous magnate, entrepreneurial leader. He is the creator of the Virgin Group, where he has displayed a very distinct leadership style that cannot be related to any management leadership handbook theories. He was born in London in the year 1950. Sir Richard Brandon has mild dyslexia, and for that reason, he had poor academic records (Bruijl & Gerard, 2018). Instead, he discovered he had an excellent way of connecting with people and was productive outside sports activities. Richard Branson has managed to create very successful companies and some unsuccessful ones. He started his first business by selling the Christmas trees with the ultimate business being Virgin records, a shop in London.

In addition to Richard Branson being an entrepreneur, he is an author, a philanthropist, and an investor as well. He has authored the book "Losing my Virginity." The Virgin trademark of Richard developed briskly in 1984, especially when he created the Virgin Atlantic airline and stretched out to open virgin labels for music (Bruijl & Gerard, 2018). Later, he created Spaceflight Corporation Virgin the Spaceship two suborbital spaceplane designed for tourism. He was made a knight in the Palace of Buckingham for his entrepreneurial duties, especially for his dedication to merchandising, music labels, transportation, his taste for exploration, and his philanthropic responsibilities. Today, Richard Branson is a prominent global figure. Generally, Sir Richard Branson, under the rand Virgin group, has ventured into different businesses under his Virgin brand, which includes airways, trains, mobile, cars, galactic, and health care.

He is the ultimate brand builder since he has over 150 to 200 companies that are still growing with 8000 employees in 26 countries through the interactions that people have had with Sir. Richard Branson, it can be determined that he is a very humble and friendly man, who is down to earth. People have occasionally pointed out that he smiles most of the time, which makes people associate easily with him (Bruijl & Gerard, 2018). His employees have reported enjoying working for him. He has created the working environment very conducive for his employees to adapt accordingly. Richard's leadership style was straightforward since he did not refer to any strategies. Sir Richard is acknowledged for his extravagant lifestyles, which are dynamic and symbolic.

History of Bill Gates

Knight Bill Gates is the co-founder, principal executive, and chairman of the officer of the Microsoft organization. Bill Gates got famous for producing the best software for personal computers through his desire to become successful. He is a known successful business magnate entrepreneur leader who guides himself and others by being an inspirational character. Bill Gates was born in America in the year 1955 as an intelligent kid (Hunt & Fitzgerald, 2018). He did perform well in his studies at school. Bill was a Microsoft co-founder with his youthful acquaintance Paul Allen in 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Microsoft Company grew to develop into the world's biggest computer software corporation.

Bill Gates controlled the Microsoft Corporation as the chairman and CEO until he resigned as CEO in 2000, albeit he continued to chair and changed to the principal software architect. He has been considered in the past as an anticompetitive person for his business tactics. Later in 2006, he transitioned to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a private charity foundation they founded. Gradually, he reassigned his responsibilities to Ray Ozzie and Craig Mundie. In 2014, he resigned as the chairman of Microsoft as presumed a different position as the expert consultant to back up the newly chosen CEO, Satya Nadella. He has been listed in Forbes as the world's prosperous recognized individual. As of November 9, 2019, he was the second wealthiest person in the world after Jeff Bezos (Hunt & Fitzgerald, 2018). He has been pursuing philanthropic endeavors since stepping down. He contributes huge sums of coinage to benevolent societies and scientific explorations through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the biosphere's affluent private charity.

Leadership Styles Used by Sir Richard Branson

Sir Richard Branson had a distinctive way of defining his governance management style. Once in an interview, Richard did explain that a noble leader is one who sincerely does like everyone. From his daily life and how he interacts with his employees and other people, one can conclude that he is a man of the people, he is humble and down to earth. He believes that using theories of leadership styles to rule people only breaks the grounds (Boje & Smith, 2010). He said he has never used the rules in the first place but only doing what is right to others. He believes even if rules are there, they are meant to be broken. His brand, Virgin group, transcends a wide range of products and services in the market.

Being a larger brand, his companies have been growing due to his leadership styles. They are becoming much stronger. He has shown to be a dynamic and symbolic man, especially in his brilliant designs for ads, ground-breaking tactics, and a sassy attitude. He has helped in creating good leaders in any workplace (Bruijl & Gerard, 2018). He has always been determined to come out victorious. Sir Richard's leadership styles are attributed to his nature of a fun, sincere, approachable, risk-taker, explorer, swashbuckler, firm and competitive person, solid negotiator, and workhorse. His attributes enable him to become a good leader.

He is known to uphold ethical and healthy relations between him and his members or employees he associates or works with, in his company. He indulgences his personnel staff irrespective of their age or background status, as his equals, his household, and with deference. Sometimes, people have reported that Richard Branson does invite the subordinate members for festivities in his own home. He accepts reactions and recommendations from his workers who are willing and ready to give them to him (Smith & Boje, 2017). He provides the workforce with the autonomy to be innovative, unlike how other business organizations could handle their businesses. Virgin group has a flat organizational structure that is open to everyone to pitch their ideas or opinions. Richard's companies have no specific recognized techniques on how he handles situations, and it has no hierarchy arrangement. In its place, business is made of clusters, whereby the staff has the freedom to work without much attention from their superiors. His business approach is independent and participative.

His active and involved leadership style has made him believe that to grow and be prosperous, and one needs the help and support of others. When supported by a team of great people, the leader will easily lead the team of great people. The panache descends to loving and being concerned about his personnel (Hunt & Fitzgerald, 2018). Richard does not only delegate some significant roles to only the top experienced staff who he trusts. Instead, his skill of entrustment is in discovering the right individuals and entrusting them sovereignty to excel on their own.

Richard Branson is a leader and a man for the people. He is involved in people and attempts to bring the good in them. For him to be successful to the point where he is, he believes building a crew that trusts in him are crucial. He is a people-oriented person who praises them when the right is done, and hence this gives them the motivation to work extra hard (Smith & Boje, 2017). By appreciating his employees and staff, he believes they will flourish. Richard always has the best interest of his employees at heart and so they usually their welfares come first. Eventually, they can become inspired and grind harder while feeling at home as an affiliate of the virgin family.

What makes Sir Richard a whimsical lead and creative is his has robust contingency and situational leadership talents. Being a risk-taker who was preemptive seeking prospects and took every fortuitous, he gets to build a feasible novel company (Hunt & Fitzgerald, 2018). Branson grasped the skill of directing circumstances and expending methods that are apt for the job. What's more, he continually demonstrated that he posed the aptitude for devising fluctuations instantaneously.

Sir Richard Branson is a renovative leader. He managed to acclimatize rapidly to any change within the administrative principles. He was able to bring new firms as well as relocate to new localities with his personnel. That which makes him a renovation forerunner is that he could make growth out of the distressful situation and significant alterations. His form of leadership portrayed his societal ethics. He set his ethical standards and followed them as an example to his employees. The style of leadership was efficient in his situation since he seemed to grow continually and adapt to any changes.

Leadership Styles Used by Knight Bill Gates

Bill Gates is among the prosperous people in the entrepreneurial realm; he has some attributes that prompt his leadership skills. While Bill Gates was at school, he was identified to be very intelligent since his childhood. It was his passion for software that made him leave, although the innovative skills he had and his continuous learning desire allowed him to become the person he is today (Socas, 2018). His long term approach enabled the company to be held high for long. He was a person who was ready to learn continuously from his mistakes without giving up. He was a person who was quickly intrigued and could ask the question always. He used the sources of power as a leader to improve his business but ensuring his emplo...