PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT
Q4. Identify 5 successful leaders from corporate and discuss how the traits
possessed by them made them successful.
LEADERSHIP
The key to truly effective leadership lies in mastering a wide range of skills, from
implementing and administrating processes to inspiring others to achieve
excellence. This in turn will help the Leader strive to achieve the set goal.
Effective leadership shows how to make the most of opportunities to learn to lead,
whether by observing others, through formal training, or through careful evaluation
of practical experience.
Leadership process comprises of three factors – leader, the follower and other
variable.
IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP
Leadership is an important factor for making an organization successful. A
Manager should also be a good leader. Without a good leader, organization cannot
function efficiently and effectively. The important attributes of good leadership
can be discussed as follows :
Motivating Employees : Motivation is necessary for work performance. Higher
the motivation, better would be the performance. A good leader by exercising his
leadership motivates the employees for high performance.
Creating Confidence : A good leader may create confidence in his followers by
directing, advicing and getting through them good results in the organization.
Once an individual with the help of a leader, puts in high efficiency, he tries to
maintain it as he acquires certain level of confidence towards his capacity.
Building Morale : Morale is expressed as attitudes of employees towards
organization, management and voluntary cooperation to offer their ability to the
organization. High morale leads to high productivity and organizational stability.
TRAITS OF LEADERSHIP
Trait is defined as relatively enduring quality of an individual. The trait approach
seeds to determine “what makes a successful leader” from the leader’s own
personal characteristics. Various studies show wide variations in leadership traits.
PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT
The various traits can be classified into innate and acquirable traits on the basis of
their source.
The major innate qualities of a successful leader are -
a. Intelligence
b. Physical features
The major acquirable qualities essential for a good leader are –
a. Emotional stability
b. Human relations
c. Empathy
d. Objectivity
e. Motivating skills
f. Technical skills
g. Communicative skills
h. Social skills
The above leadership traits have made the following persons successful leaders in
their field of operation. They are considered as GREAT PERSONALITIES and
have become role models to many upcoming entrepreneurs and managers.
1. BILL GATES - MICROSOFT CORPORATION
Bill Gates is an American business magnate, philanthropist, author and chairman
of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen. He is consistently
ranked among the world's wealthiest people and was the wealthiest overall from
1995 to 2009, excluding 2008, when he was ranked third. During his career at
Microsoft, Gates held the positions of CEO and chief software architect, and
remains the largest individual shareholder with more than 8 percent of the common
stock. He has also authored or co-authored several books.
Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution.
Although he is admired by many, a number of industry insiders criticize his
business tactics, which they consider anti-competitive, an opinion which has in
some cases been upheld by the courts. In the later stages of his career, Gates has
pursued a number of philanthropic endeavors, donating large amounts of money to
various charitable organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation, established in 2000.
PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT
Bill Gates stepped down as chief executive officer of Microsoft in January 2000.
He remained as chairman and created the position of chief software architect. In
June 2006, Gates announced that he would be transitioning from full-time at
Microsoft to part-time and full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
He gradually transferred his duties to Ray Ozzie, chief software architect and Craig
Mundie, chief research and strategy officer. Gates' last full-time day at Microsoft
was June 27, 2008. He remains at Microsoft as non-executive chairman.
Early Life : William Henry "Bill" Gates III, born on October 28, 1955 in Seattle,
Washington to William H. Gates, Sr. and Mary Maxwell Gates of English, German
and Scottish-Irish descent. His family was upper middle class; his father was a
prominent lawyer, his mother served on the board of directors for First Interstate
BancSystem and the United Way, and her father, J. W. Maxwell, was a national
bank president. Gates has one elder sister, Kristi (Kristianne), and one younger
sister, Libby. Early on in his life, Gates' parents had a law career in mind for him.
Gates attended public elementary school and the private Lakeside School. There,
he discovered his interest in software and began programming computers at age 13.
In 1973, Gates entered Harvard University as a freshman, where he lived down the
hall from Steve Ballmer, now Microsoft’s chief executive officer. While at
Harvard, Gates developed a version of the programming language BASIC for the
first microcomputer - the MITS Altair.
In his junior year, Gates left Harvard to devote his energies to Microsoft, a
company he had begun in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen.
Under Gates’ leadership, Microsoft’s mission has been to continually advance and
improve software technology, and to make it easier, more cost-effective and
enjoyable for people to use computers.
Gates was number one on the "Forbes 400" list from 1993 through to 2007 and
number one on Forbes list of "The World's Richest People" from 1995 to 2007 and
2009. In 1999, Gates's wealth briefly surpassed $101 billion, causing the media to
call him a "centibillionaire". Since 2000, the nominal value of his Microsoft
holdings has declined due to a fall in Microsoft's stock price after the dot-com
bubble burst and the multi-billion dollar donations he has made to his charitable
foundations. In a May 2006 interview, Gates commented that he wished that he
were not the richest man in the world because he disliked the attention it brought.
Gates has several investments outside Microsoft, which in 2006 paid him a salary
of $616,667, and $350,000 bonus totaling $966,667. He founded Corbis, a digital
imaging company, in 1989. In 2004 he became a director of Berkshire Hathaway,
the investment company headed by long-time friend Warren Buffett. In March
PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT
2010 Bill Gates was bumped down to the 2nd wealthiest man behind Carlos Slim.
Apart from being named one of Time Magazine’s most influential people for
several years, he has also garnished other awards, including honorary doctorates
and humanitarian awards.
Post-Microsoft : Since leaving Microsoft, Gates continues his philanthropy and,
among other projects, purchased the videos rights to the Messenger Lectures series
titled The Character of Physical Law, given at Cornell University by Richard
Feynman in 1964 and recorded by the BBC. The videos are available online to the
public at Microsoft's Project Tuva.
In April 2010, Gates was invited to visit and speak at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology where he asked the students to take on the hard problems of the world
in their futures.
2. MUKESH AMBANI – RELIANCE GROUP
The Reliance Group, founded by Dhirubhai H. Ambani (1932-2002), is India's
largest business house with total revenues of over US$ 22.6 billion. The Group's
activities span exploration and production of oil and gas, refining and marketing,
petrochemicals, textiles, financial services and insurance, power, telecom and
infocom initiatives. The Group exports its products to more than 100 countries the
world over.
Mukesh Ambani
Mukesh Ambani is the face of new emerging India. He is the Chairman and
Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited, India's largest private sector
company. Mukesh Ambani was born on April 19, 1957 in Mumbai. His father
Dhirubhai Ambani was then a small businessman who later on rose to become one
of the legends of Indian industry. Mukesh Ambani did his Bachelors in Chemical
Engineering from University of Bombay and Masters in Business Administration
from Stanford University, USA.
Mukesh Ambani joined Reliance in 1981 and was the brain behind Reliance's
backward integration from textiles into polyester fibres and further into
petrochemicals. During the process of backward integration, Mukesh Ambani led
the creation of 51 new, world-class manufacturing facilities involving diverse
technologies that raised Reliance's manufacturing capacities manifold.
PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT
World's largest grassroots petroleum refinery at Jamnagar is the brainchild of
Mukesh Ambani.
He has also been instrumental in the setting up of the largest and most complex
information and communications technology initiative in the world in the form of
the Reliance Infocomm Limited. The innovative strategy has a unique notion and
infrstructure of covering more than 1,100 towns and cities throughout the length
and breadth of India along with the offering of the the full range of voice, data,
video and value added services, wholly depending on the strength of 80,000
kilometers of optic fibre-based terabit infrastructure, offering the lowest entry cost
and services cost anywhere in the world.
Mukesh Ambani has many achievements and honours to his name. Mukesh
Ambani was chosen as the ET Business leader of the Year 2006. He was ranked
42nd among the World's Most Respected Business Leaders and second among the
four Indian CEOs featured in a survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and
published in Financial Times, London, November 2004. He was conferred the
World Communication Award for the Most Influential Person in
Telecommunications in 2004 by Total Telecom, October, 2004. Mukesh Ambani
was also conferred the Asia Society Leadership Award by the Asia Society,
Washington D.C., USA.
3. KUMARA MANGALAM BIRLA – BIRLA GROUP
Kumara Mangalam Birla is the Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group. The group is
India's third largest business house. Major companies of Aditya Birla Group in
India are Grasim, Hindalco, UltraTech Cement, Aditya Birla Nuvo and Idea
Cellular. Aditya Birla Group's joint ventures include Birla Sun Life (Financial
Services) and Birla NGK (Insulators). The group also has its presence in various
countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Egypt, Canada,
China and Australia.
Born on June 14, 1967, Kumar Mangalam Birla spent his early life in Calcutta and
Mumbai. He is a Chartered Accountant and did his MBA (Masters in Business
Administration) from the London Business School, London. Kumar Mangalam
Birla took over as Chairman in 1995, at the age of 28, after sudden demise of his
father, noted industrialist Aditya Birla, after whom the group is named.
PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT
Under Kumar Mangalam Birla's leadership, the Aditya Birla Group, apart from
consolidating its position in existing businesses, also ventured into sunrise sectors
like cellular telephony, asset management, software and BPO.
Kumar Mangalam Birla also holds several key positions on various regulatory and
professional boards, including chairmanship of the advisory committee constituted
by the ministry of company affairs for 2006 and 2007, membership of the prime
minister of India's advisory council on trade and industry, chairmanship of the
board of trade reconstituted by the union minister of commerce and industry, and
membership of the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India. The
All India Management Association (AIMA) has bestowed the AIMA Managing
India Awards 2010 "Business Leader of the Year" on Mr. Birla. Amongst earlier
accolades conferred on Mr. Birla, feature Bombay Management Association's
"Entrepreneur of the Decade Award – 2009", the AIMA – "JRD Tata Corporate
Leadership Award – 2008", "The Corporate Role Model Award – 2008" by Amity
International Business School, the Asia Pacific Global HR Excellence –
"Exemplary Leader" Award, and NDTV's "Global Indian Leader of the Year" and
"The Most Socially Responsible Leader" by Outlook business magazine in 2007.
Earlier, The Lakshmipat Singhania – IIM, Lucknow National Leadership Award –
2006, Business Leader, was conferred on Mr. Birla by our Prime Minister.
Mr. Birla also has been named the World Economic Forum's "Young Global
Leader", "The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, The Economic
Times"Business Leader of the Year", Business India's "Businessman of the Year",
Business Today's "Young Super Performer in the CEO Category", NITIE's
"Business Visionary", and the Bombay Management Association's "The
Management Man of the Year". To "salute his entrepreneurial excellence and
exemplary contribution to Indian business", AIMA conferred its "Honorary
Fellowship" on him, and the National HRD Network named him "The Outstanding
Businessman of the Year".
4. MALVINDER MOHAN SINGH – RANBAXY
Malvinder Mohan Singh is the Chairman, CEO and of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd.
(Ranbaxy). He finished his graduation in Economics from St. Stephen’s college,
New Delhi, India. He took a Masters Degree course in Business Administration
(MBA) from the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, USA.
He had earlier worked as President, Pharmaceuticals and Executive Director at
Ranbaxy, handling the global operations covering Pharmaceuticals, API and
PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT
Manufacturing spread across 49 countries. He also led the company?s India
operations as Regional Director. He has expertise in diversified fields of General
Management, Sales & Marketing, Finance and Business Development.
He is a member of the National Council for the Confederation of Indian Industries
(CII). He is also the Co-Chairman of the National committee on Intellectual
Property Rights (IPR), CII. Recently, he was nominated to the prestigious forum
of insightful, innovative and energetic ? Young Global Leaders?, World
Economic Forum.
5. RATAN TATA – TATA GROUP
Ratan Tata is the chairman of the Tata Group, India's largest corporation. He is the
latest in a long line of Tatas to head the family-owned company. Ratan has
revolutionized the company by focusing on high-tech products. He increased the
international profile of the company by buying recognized brands. Tata is single
and leads a modest lifestyle in his bachelor apartment.
Tata was born in Bombay in 1937. He received a Bachelor’s degree in architecture
from America’s Cornell University in 1962 and briefly worked as an architect in
California. He returned to India and joined the Tata Group. He is the man who
was instrumental in the setting up of the Tata Foundation, the progenitor of
multitude of social causes that include the rural, universal health development,
eradication of water scarcity and others. When in 1971 he was appointed as the
Director-in-Charge of The National Radio & Electronics Company Limited
(Nelco), a company that was in dire financial difficulty, no one perhaps his best
wisher even thought of its success. But Ratan realizing the potential that Nelco
provided with an innate prudence that hi-tech was the way to go in the future he
lost no time but convinced J.R.D. Tata for further investment. Though J.R.D. was
reluctant initially but the successes of Nelco proved the credence and aplomb of
Ratan Tata.
Tata spent the 1980s transforming and modernizing the company. He branched out
into business consultancy and high technology enterprises. His success elevated
him to overall chairman of the Tata group. He did away with the old styles of
management and recruited an army of eager, technology-savvy managers. The
Tata Group is now the biggest on the Indian Stock Market.
Ratan Tata is now setting about making Tata an internationally recognized brand.
Tata Motors is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and bought the luxury
PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT
brands Jaguar and Land Rover. He stunned the world by creating the Tata Nano –
a car selling for less than $2,500. In 2007, he was listed among the 25 most
powerful people in world business by ‘Fortune’ magazine.
This mindset of adopting risks towards the escalation of business gained a new
stronghold when in 1991 the legendary J.R.D. Tata was replaced by Ratan Tata
epitomizing not only the change of the old guard but also a definite alteration of
the shibboleth self-content of the erstwhile generations. This approach was best
revealed when on January 31st, 2007 the Tata Group headed by Ratan Tata pulled
off one of the biggest acquisitions in Indian corporate history. The Corus Group,
an Anglo-Dutch steel and aluminum conglomerate was taken over by the Tata
Sons against an astounding £6.7 billion at the rate of 608 pence per share against a
Brazilian steel company that had bid 603 pence. The merger at once made Ratan
Tata an immortal figure in the history of Indian corporate business culture. In
addition, with the presentation of the newest Tata four-wheeler model Tata
Eligante at Geneva on March 6, 2007 proved the elegance of the leadership of
Ratan Tata.
Ratan Tata is associated with various organizations in India and abroad. The
Government of India honored |RatanTata with its second highest civilian award,
the Padma Vibhushan, in 2008. Earlier, in 2000, he had been awarded the Padma
Bhushan. He has also been conferred an honorary doctorate in business
administration by the Ohio State University, an honorary doctorate in technology
by the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, an honorary doctorate in science
by the University of Warwick, and an honorary fellowship by the London School
of Economics. Ratan Tata has been on the Company’s Board since over 19 years
including 13 years in an executive capacity and is actively involved with product
development and other business strategies pursued by the Company.
