Running head: BILL GATES AND MARTHA STEWART LEADERSHIP SKILLS
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Bill Gates and Martha Stewart Leadership Skills
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Table of Contents
Title Page………………………………………………………………………………………….1
Running head: BILL GATES AND MARTHA STEWART LEADERSHIP SKILLS
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Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………….2
Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………….3
Section 1 Deliverables……………………………………………………………………………..5
Section 2 Deliverables……………………………………………………………………………12
Section 3 Deliverables……………………………………………………………………………18
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….24
References…………………………………………………………………………………….…25
Executive Summary
Running head: BILL GATES AND MARTHA STEWART LEADERSHIP SKILLS
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Everyone has had a boss in their life. Sometimes that boss is a parent, sometimes it is a
manager at the first restaurant you ever worked at as a teenager. Back then, I never attempted to
analyze the leadership skills that those “bosses” had or whether their leadership was effective in
helping me grow as an employee. The purpose of the research below is to identify those traits
that make an effective or ineffective leader and further analyze two individuals, so that the same
analysis can then turn into self-analysis, where I build my own opinion of why someone is
effective or ineffective and how that can apply to me as a future leader.
For the research below, I chose Bill Gates as my effective leader, which he is mainly
awarded that title due to his massive success with Microsoft and further his all-around good
character through his philanthropic efforts. I chose Martha Stewart as my ineffective leader
based on her past run in with criminal activity and negative reports from her previous employees
about her abrupt and harsh leadership style.
In deliverable one, I identify how both Stewart and Gates have shaped their personality
using the Big Five Personality traits. I further identify the two as either Theory X or Theory Y
leaders and as predicted find the leaders share different personality traits and fall into different
Theory definitions. I discuss how ethics has played a role on their leadership style personally and
the effect that their choices have had on those employees around them. Here, I discuss Martha’s
Stewarts ethical downfall as her greed drives her to make poor personal decisions that have
negative implications on her brand and drive the necessity to work even harder to rebuild her
business. In deliverable two, I discuss motivation both individually and how that has transpired
in their business role. I compare Gates and Stewart on the Contingency Leadership Theory and
discover how they influence those around them. Lastly, in deliverables 3, I discuss how both
Stewart and Gates communicate as leaders. I identify how Gates speaks to inspire all that he
Running head: BILL GATES AND MARTHA STEWART LEADERSHIP SKILLS
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comes in contact with and how Stewart, who once struggled in communication has built a highly
successful brand after a large pitfall through marketing and social media. It is here that I discuss
a charismatic versus a transformational leader.
The goal of research is to identify different leadership qualities and where they fit into
being categorized as either effective and ineffective leaders. Through the research and analysis, I
believe that I identify ways that I personally can become and effective leader. I recognize which
skills are necessary, but also what traits may need to be adapted in order to be effective.
Further, the intended achievement is to outline how there is not one perfect way to lead.
In all the research, I believe that I make it clear that the best leader is willing to transform his/her
leadership style based on various desired outcomes. For example, in some cases, it is better to be
both a charismatic and transformational leader, which may yield the best well-rounded leader
who is both strong willed and willing to collaborate with other to reach the highest success.
Every leader has positives and negatives in their personality or the way they leader; there is no
perfect person or leader, but with self-awareness and understanding of various leadership
theories, an individual can strive to be a better person and leader every day to everyone they
encounter.
Section 1 Deliverables
Running head: BILL GATES AND MARTHA STEWART LEADERSHIP SKILLS
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Throughout all of history, many individuals of all cultures and backgrounds have
experienced the leadership characteristics of different people. There have been very good leaders
as well as poor leaders who have shaped the theories of leadership that are continued to be
taught. While there are various theories and discussions on what makes an effective or
ineffective leader, the Five Models of Personality and Traits of Effective Leaders, Theory X and
Y leaders, and leader ethics are effective measures to compare the effectiveness of leaders. More
specifically, the purpose of this research is to outline how two specific leaders compare using the
above described theories. Both Martha Stewart and Bill Gates are business leaders. While both
have been successful in different sectors, for example, Bill Gates is effective in business
technology, whereas Stewart is successful in home goods and cooking business, both have
similarities and differences that make them effective or ineffective leaders. Below, I will outline
how Martha Stewart and Bill gates compare as current leaders in the 21st century.
To start, Martha Stewart, my chosen ineffective leader, is best known in most households
for things such as décor, cooking, and entertaining but also has a large presence in social media.
She has branded herself and serves as the CEO of Martha Stewart Omnimedia where she has her
own magazine and television program. Her success started in the late 1970s when she started a
catering business because of her unique style. She grew a million-dollar business after ten years
and entered the field of publishing where she published a few books that had great success. In the
early years, Martha grew from a small business to an empire when she added media outlets such
as magazines, a cable television show, a radio show and internet site to her company’s portfolio
which equated to around $763 million in retail sales. In the late ’90s, her company went public
and she still sustained 96 percent of voting shares and the company grew to a worth of over one
billion dollars. (Biography.com, 2019)
Running head: BILL GATES AND MARTHA STEWART LEADERSHIP SKILLS
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Bill Gates, one of the most successful businessmen and my chosen effective leader, is
best known for the company Microsoft. Gates and his childhood friend Paul Allen grew up with
a fascination with computer technology and dropped out of college to pursue their computer
careers. In 1975, Gates and Allen founded Microsoft and throughout the years of hard work and
effort, Gates would gross 2.5 million by 1979. Gates also put himself at the head of the company
because of business sense and knowledge for software development. Just a year later Gates
worked with IBM to develop an operating system for their computers and grew the company’s
revenue to 16 million. Gates took the company public in 1986 and still head 45 percent of shares,
and the company is worth $520 million. In 2000 Bill Gates stepped down as CEO, however, he
remained in the company as chief software architect so he could concentrate on his passion. In
2006, he left his full-time position in order to concentrate on his philanthropic efforts.
(Biography.com, 2019).
One effective way to describe a leader is by the Five Models of Personality and Traits of
Effective Leaders or Ineffective Leaders. The Big Five traits that define a leader “categorizes
traits into dimensions of surgency, agreeableness, adjustment, conscientiousness, and openness
to experiences” (Lussier & Achua, 2016, pp. 36). Of the five traits, Bill Gates’ personality is
most like conscientiousness and openness to experiences. He is dependable and when at the peak
of his career would work many hours through the night to finish the computer code that he was
working on. He was relentless about the success of his business and continued growth of his
company (Feloni, 2016). Further, he was dependable as a boss in that he allowed his employees
to work on projects on their own and made their own executive decisions. As he grew his
company, Gates held the highest integrity and worked with his employees so they too could feel
the same success in the field that Gates was so determined in. With openness, Gates was highly
Running head: BILL GATES AND MARTHA STEWART LEADERSHIP SKILLS
intelligent. Even though he dropped out of college, Gates still persevered through society’s
expectation of him and built a multi-billion-dollar company. He is capable of problem-solving
beyond many individuals. Further, he continues to be flexible in his business by pursuing new
technological advances (Lussier & Achua, 2016, pp. 38). Gates is an effective leader because he
satisfies the Need for Achievement, which is the “concern for excellence in accomplishments
through individual efforts” (Lussier & Achua, 2016, pp. 41). Bill Gates is resilient in his efforts
to introduce innovative material. In the article, “Bill Gates’ Mastery of this Productivity
technique fueled his massive success,” written by Feloni, the author describes that Bill Gates is
massive of “deep work,” which explains why Gates achieved his success. Deep Work is
described as “professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that
push your cognitive capabilities to their limit, create new value, improve your skills, and are hard
