Analysis of Leadership Style and Behavior Essay

Analysis of Leadership Style and Behavior - Essay Example Bill Gates owns transformational leadership and employs the participative leadership style and behavior to convince his subordinate in the most appropriate way. Bill Gates uses its legitimate power to exercise his control over the management of the Microsoft. Table of Contents Content page Introduction 4 Background 4 Analysis of leadership style 4 Analysis of leadership behavior 5 Discussion: Transformative or Transactional leader 6 Discussion: Power sources 8 Legitimate power 8 Coercive power 9 Reward power 9 Information power 9 Expert power 9 Referent power 10 Conclusion 10 References 12 Introduction Transactional leadership provides incentives to followers to carry out certain actions; rewards and incentives are used to attract or motivate followers to carry out such activities. If Bill Gates had transactional leadership traits, it would have not been possible to convert a small innovation company into the empire of Microsoft Company, which has generated revenue of $ 69,943 m in t he fiscal year of 2011; the net income reaching the mark of $ 23, 150 m in the same year. Background Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955 and grew up in Seattle with his father William H. Gates II who is a Seattle attorney (News Centre, 2012). Gates mother, Mary Gates was a school teacher in University of Washington regent and chairwoman of United Way International. Bill Gates received elementary school and the private Lakeside School. There, Bill Gates found his interest in software and commenced programming computers at the age of 13. Subsequent to that, in 1973, Gates entered Harvard University but he was unable to continue further his studies and after leaving Harvard, he utilized his energy and efforts to Microsoft, which began in 1975 with Paul Allen, a childhood friend of Bill Gates. Under the leadership of Bill Gates, Microsoft mission has been to continually improve software technology along with making it cost effective and more enjoyable for computer users. Leadership style and behavior Analysis Analysis of leadership style Transformational leadership occurs when individuals engage with each other in a way that the follower and the leader raise one another to higher status of motivation and morality. Effective transformational leaders may represent transactional behaviors or traits. But their leadership style also consists of one or more of the characteristics including inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration and idealized vision (Bass 1985). Participative and delegative leadership style is considerably adopted by Bill Gates. By employing both leadership styles, Bill Gates optimally uses his workforce. He wants them to provide their contribution and participation in the work. And at the same time, he expects them to develop a feeling that they are the significant part of the Microsoft. The advantages of this approach are that the employees would remain motivated and give their best efforts in order to ente rtain the work related goals and objectives. However, some critics contend that Bill Gates uses autocratic approach and prefers to attain his corporate objectives as wants to; Bill Gates adopts bureaucratic management style to achieve the commercial objectives (Management paradise, n.d.). Analysis of leadership behavior Transformational leadership supports behaviors attached with inspirational motivations (e.g., expressing a vision that followers find meaningful but challenging),