Developing Leadership and Management | Leaders Case Study

6HR510 – Developing Leadership and Management Assignment Instructions 19/20 Assignment Launch: Week commencing 17th February 2020 Assignment Submission: F/T Students 23.59hr 27th March 2020 Assignment Instructions: You are required to write and submit a 3,500-word report demonstrating your understanding of contemporary leadership and management. The report is divided into three sections, which reflect the learning outcomes of the module, each section is highlighted below: Section 1: Critically evaluate the contemporary definitions of leadership and management, consider current perspectives on the roles and responsibilities of both leaders and managers generally. Section 2: Fortune recently published their ‘2019 Greatest Leaders List, the top ten of which you can find below. Using examples of three leaders from this list assess and critically compare what makes these leaders distinctly successful.

Running head: DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
Developing Leadership and Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................3
Section 1:....................................................................................................................................4
Section 2:....................................................................................................................................7
Bill and Melinda Gates:.........................................................................................................8
Jacinda Ardern:......................................................................................................................9
Satya Nadella:......................................................................................................................10
Section 3:..................................................................................................................................12
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................14
References:...............................................................................................................................15

2DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
Introduction:
The implications of the managerial actions at the contemporary business organizations
is notably prominent. The scientific management of the business actions at the organizational
level is observed to hold a high degree of success for the companies. As per the esteemed
opinion of Souto (2015), the success of the business leaders in providing visionary
leadership, is considered to be the key to success for the companies in achieving the desired
sustainability in their business actions. According to the comments of Ramadani et al. (2015),
the excellence of the business management from the part of the companies is largely
dependent on the ability of the leaders or the business managers in contributing with the ideas
that have the potential to guide the company in a professional manner. Ramadani et al.
(2015), highlighted that the intensity of the business rivalry is seen to increase in a substantial
manner in the 21st century and one of the fundamental factors that influence the same, is the
effects of globalization. The impact of globalization played a massive role in avoiding the
trade barriers with the introduction of the Foreign Direct Investment or transfer of technology
(Souto, 2015). As a result, the increment in the number of new business entries in majority of
the industries is responsible for increasing the business competition. Hence, the companies
are subjected to the need of retaining their customers so that it be easy for them to increase
the sales of their products and services and maintain the desired financial sustainability of
their organizations.
In order to ensure that the companies are achieving the desired sustainability in their
business actions, the leaders are required to intervene with expert comments and supervision.
As a result, the significance of the business leaders and the managers are visible. The study is
based on evaluating the definitions of the leadership and the managers. Along with that, the
study provides a detailed analysis of the roles and responsibilities of the leaders and managers

3DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
functioning in the modern world of trade. Apart from this, the study delivers a detailed
elaboration of the leadership characteristics of Bill and Melinda Gates, Jacinda Andern and
Satya Nadella to identify the success factors of their leadership. With a precise look at both
the sections, the study precisely identifies the suitable behaviour of an efficient leader. With
an accurate understanding of the leadership behaviour of an efficient leader, the study
precisely delivers a brief action plan for the improvement of leadership in two major areas of
the same.
Section 1:
From the concept of the leadership and the management, it is understandable that the
significance of both the positions on the basis of the operational activities at the
organizational context is pretty similar. However, there are certain differences between a
leader and a manager on the basis of the characteristics. According to the comments of
McCaffery (2018), leadership is an important part in the effective management. McCaffery
(2018), further mentioned that the managers have the necessity to build a working
environment which strives for growth and continuous improvement of the team
performances. In such situation, it becomes important for the leaders to influence the
employees for the development of such an organizational environment which enhances the
quality of their performances. As a result, it is understandable that the leadership is an
integral part of management. On the other hand, Thorpe (2016), mentioned that the leadership
can be recognized as the capability of influencing or motivating the individuals for the
accomplishment of a common objective. Along with that, claimed that the origin of the
influence is primarily formal in nature.
On the contrary, Amanchukwu, Stanley and Ololube (2015), claimed that the
management is a process which includes planning, leading, organizing, decision making,

4DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
motivating and controlling information sources, human resources, physical resources and
financial resources of a particular business entity for achieving the objectives of the company
in an efficient and professional manner. Though the concepts are bit different from each
other, however, a manager always faces the necessity of portraying the leadership skills for
the management of his or her operational activities. As per the esteemed opinion of Thorpe
(2016), the leaders are required to develop strategies that have the potential to build
competitive advantage at the organizational context. Thorpe (2016), further mentioned that
the ability of the companies in achieving the optimal efficiency is primarily dependent on the
robust leadership and robust management at the organizational level.
Considering the differences between management and leadership, Gopee and
Galloway (2017), mentioned that the leaders have the tendency to lead through developing an
organizational vision and communicating the same to the employees along with motivating
them for the achievement of the goal. On the other hand, the managerial position holders
have the tendency of developing the structure and processes and delegates the responsibility
and authority for managing their operational activities. As mentioned earlier, leadership is a
crucial part of management while management includes staffing, organizing, planning,
controlling and directing. Amanchukwu, Stanley and Ololube (2015), mentioned that the
leaders are required to have sound listening skills, ability of motivating, inspiring, working in
teams, persuading the subordinate members and building relationships for the desired success
at the organizational level. In addition to this, McCaffery (2018), claimed that, in majority of
the cases, leaders follow their instinct whereas the managers follow the framed policies and
procedures of the organizations for getting their job done. According to the comments of
Ejimabo (2015), the leaders achieve the authority from his or her followers whereas the
managers get the authority by virtue of their position in the organizations.

5DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
According to the comments of Gopee and Galloway (2017), the management is a
process that is comparatively more scientific than the leadership and that is visible with the
logical, standard and exact planning of the stages whereas the leadership is recognized as an
art. As per the opinion of Armstrong (2016), the leadership is dedicated for the management
of the people aspect at the organizational context, whereas the managerial responsibilities are
primarily focused for the management of the technical aspects associated with the business.
According to the comments of Cherry and Jacob (2016), the leadership is primarily proactive
whereas the leadership is reactive. Cherry and Jacob (2016), further mentioned that the
leadership is based on verbal communication whereas the management is dependent on
written communication.
With a precise look at the above discussion, it is understandable that the leaders or the
business managers have the necessity to portray different skills and capabilities for handling
their business and operational activities. It is understandable that the leaders or the business
managers have the necessity to portray sound skills of communication as that helps them in
leading a company in a more professional manner. The reflection of the strong
communication skills from the part of the leaders have the potential to ensure that the
company or the work groups functioning in the company is not affected with any sort of
detrimental impact of the organizational conflict. On the other hand, Amanchukwu, Stanley
and Ololube (2015), mentioned that one of the important skill of the business leaders is the
ability to motivate the subordinate employees in an efficient manner. The success of the
leaders in motivating a group of people or employees places them in a better position when it
comes to enhance the quality of the team performances at the organizational settings.
Other than this, Gopee and Galloway (2017), mentioned that an important skill of the
business managers is delegation. The skill helps the managers to understand the fact that they
cannot complete the entire work by themselves and as a result, it becomes important for them

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to trust the subordinate employees and share a certain level of responsibility to them. The
skills of delegation enables the managers to achieve the mentioned target. Other than this, an
important skill of the leaders and managers is the ability of being positive and maintaining a
high morale. In many cases, the situations do not turn out as per preferences of the
individuals and in such situation, it becomes important for the leaders or the managers to
ensure that they maintain their positivity for achieving smooth management of their business.
As a result, it improves the ability of the leaders in managing an adverse situation in an
efficient manner.
According to the comments of Armstrong (2016), one of the important skill of leaders
is the skill of creative thinking. According to the comments of Rothaermel (2016), the
sustainability of the companies is largely dependent on the ability of the managers in
planning for the future. The business environment is changing in a frequent manner and in
such situation, the performances of the managers is primarily dependent on the ability of the
leaders in developing a pool of ideas that can be applied on the merit of the business
environment. In such situation, the skill of creative thinking has substantial significance for
the business managers in developing multiple number of solutions for tackling a particular
business challenge. In addition to this, the capability of the leaders in leading their business
towards the desired success is considered to be reliant on their ability in applying the problem
solving skills. The modern business environment is observed to be associated with a series of
business challenges and in such situation, the success of the business leaders in applying the
problem solving skill has the potential to improve their contribution in ensuring appropriate
and risk free management of their business activities.

7DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
Section 2:
The selected leaders for the section are Bill and Melinda Gates, Jacinda Ardern and
Satya Nadella. All of the above mentioned leaders are observed to be recognized in the list of
Top 10 Greatest Leaders of 2019. All the above mentioned leaders showed enormous
performances in their respective fields and their technique of business management have
delivered some of the important lessons for the general people.
Bill and Melinda Gates:
With a precise consideration towards the leadership style and characteristics of Bill
Gates and Melinda Gates, it is understandable that the focus of the leader is one of the
important factor that influences their success. The strong focus of Bill Gates towards
continuously developing innovative solutions increased the ability of the leader in developing
new products and services for Microsoft. In addition to this, one of the crucial aspect of
Gates’ leadership was the urge for creativity. Bill Gates had the capability of being
unconventional and did not have any sort of fear in getting away from his or her comfort
zone. Bill Gates had tremendous success in empowering people and that is prominent with
the development of extensive training facilities in Microsoft. In addition to this, Bill Gates’
urge in improving the share of collective creative thinking in Microsoft was pretty prominent
with the initiation of the brainstorming or creative thinking practices amongst the employees
of the company. In addition to this, Bill Gates’ capability in thinking creatively has played
substantial role in continuously increasing the product range of the company. The
development of the products such as Windows, Office, Skype and Visual Studio along with
the services such as the LinkedIn, Bing, Azure, Office 365 and Outlook.com are primarily
reliant on the creative thinking capabilities of Bill Gates (Microsoft.com., 2020). With the
development of these products and services, the entrepreneurial abilities of Bill Gates is
pretty visible. The development of such diversified product and service offerings also reflect

8DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
the profit creation capabilities of the leader. Along with Bill Gates, Melinda had tremendous
success as a leader in Microsoft.
One of the important success factor of Microsoft was the problem solving skills of
Melinda. In addition to this, Melinda also had a similar thought process where she considered
that it is important for each and every one to have equal rights access to internet. In order
enhance the quality of the research capabilities for improving learning across the globe,
Melinda tried to incorporate innovation in the services of Microsoft. Such an action from the
part of Melinda is pretty significant in stating her sense of philanthropic responsibilities
(Fortune.com, 2020). Her sense of philanthropic responsibilities influenced her to develop
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which is one of the largest social care organization in the
nation. The foundation is dedicated for helping the children and young people, for
empowering the poor and men and women, for providing ease to the general individuals in
fighting against the infectious diseases and for inspiring people to take actions that has the
potential to change the world.
Jacinda Ardern:
With a detailed consideration towards Jacinda Ardern, it is understandable that the
greatest strength of the leader was the humanistic approach of the leader towards leading the
nation. With a detailed look at the activities that Jacinda Ardern conducted for the
development of her country, the portrayal of her empathetic and humble leadership is pretty
prominent. Jacinda Ardern is the prime minister of New Zealand and under her reigns, the
country faced the impact of one of the horrendous terror attack in the history of the nation
where approximately 50 people were killed in two of the mosques in Christchurch (Besley &
Peters, 2020). The terror attack had the probability of creating an immense amount of chaos
inside the nation which could have led to riot between the minority and majority of the
nation. Along with that, the capability of leader in tackling the challenge was the main

9DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
success factor for the nation in avoiding tremendous reputational damage at the global stage
(Quek, 2019). From her actions in managing the situation after the terror attack and the
speech she delivered for addressing the citizens post terror attack, was significant in stating
her skill of staying humble even at difficult situations. The terror attack had tremendous
impact on the society where the people of the nation were clearly frightened.
In such situation, the prime minister handled the situations in a pretty calm and
composed manner which eliminated the scope of chaos inside the nation. One of the
important skills of her leadership was the ability to challenge the conventional models of
leadership. With a close look at her actions in the position of the prime minister, it is visible
that she had the capability to think in a creative and imaginative manner. During the public
speaking after the terror attack, she was able to identify the necessity to formulate a rapport
with the Muslim community to eliminate the fear factor that they have. In doing so, the leader
started her speech by Arabic greetings and wore a head scarf which was significant in
influencing the sense of belongingness of the people.
With the gesture, she was able to ensure that the Muslim community had the belief in
her and that reduced her difficulty in managing the situation after the terror attack (Reicher,
Haslam & Van Bavel, 2019). As a result, the skill of the leader in being innovative delivered
a substantial competitive advantage to her in managing the difficult situation. On the other
hand, one of the substantial strength of her leadership was her capability in uniting people
rather than dividing (Choudhury, 2019). With a close look at the leadership style of the
modern leaders, the prominence of the divide and rule tactics is pretty prominent, however,
the nature of her leadership was precisely focused for uniting the people and that enhanced
the quality of her actions in tackling the post terror attack situations. In addition to this, one
of the important skill of Jacinda Ardern, was her skill of decision making. The leader
portrayed substantial extent of problem solving skills and that is visible with her capability in

10DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
winning approximately unanimous support for imposing ban on semiautomatic weapons. Her
leadership is accurate for stating the technique that requires to be applied for avoiding such
substantial in leading a society or a business through the period of crisis.
Satya Nadella:
Satya Nadella is the Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft. The mentioned leader is an
Indian American business executive. Satya Nadella was recognized as the “Person of the
Year” by Financial Times in the year 2019. One of the greatest achievement of the leader was
his capability of such sublime wealth creation in Microsoft when the organization was on the
verge of technological irrelevance. With a close look at Satya Nadella’s life and his style of
leadership, it is understandable that he is an earnest learner. Satya Nadella has the tendency
of reading books and is considerably inclined towards gathering important inputs or
information (Obschonka & Fisch 2018). The skill helps the leader in extracting innovative
and creative ideas for resolving the challenges that he faces in Microsoft on everyday basis.
Along with that, the capability of the leader in gathering market knowledge is crucial for
ensuring his success in managing the company in a successful manner. His urge in
continuously learning new things was pretty significant in enhancing the ability of the
company in developing innovative solutions. In addition to this, Satya Nadella’s openness
towards learning new things was substantial in enhancing the involvement of the employees
towards the company. As Satya Nadella has the capability to consider the opinion of his
general employees, it had a positive impact on the employees and empowered the employees
in an efficient manner.
Other than this, the CEO of Microsoft had the capability to look beyond the horizon
and that effectively educated the leader to transform the original software business of the
company from the company licenses to the subscription based services where the revenue
was recurring for the company. In addition to this, the CEO of Microsoft had the vision of

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developing the future for the company and that precisely influenced him to communicate the
shareholders of the company regarding the significance of the cloud computing. Many of the
internal executives of the company believed that Satya Nadella’s visionary leadership and
excellent presentation of the idea influenced the shareholders to invest millions of US dollars
for the development of multiple number of data centres across the globe for creating and
supporting cloud ready products for their customers (Jon Fortt, 2020). In addition to this, one
of the important skill of Satya Nadella was his ability of taking the right decision at the right
time. The company acquired LinkedIn, the largest professional networking service and the
deal is recognized as the greatest buy in the history of Microsoft for the substantial financial
offerings, it was associated with. The deal was recognized as a masterstroke of Satya Nadella.
The action certainly highlights the ability of the leader in thinking creatively and at the same
time, it ensures that the leader has the ability to visionary decisions at the right time. Other
than this, one of the key advantages of his leadership was his capability in creating a strong
and productive corporate culture inside the organization.
Section 3:
With a close look at the leadership skills of Bill and Melinda Gates, Jacinda Ardern
and Satya Nadella, it is visible that the key attributes of their leadership are critical thinking,
sense of innovation, employee empowerment and excellent ability of problem solving. From
the skill requirements, it is understandable that the creative thinking or innovation is one of
the fundamental factors for the success of the leaders leading in today’s world of business.
The portrayal of the mentioned skill has the potential to improve the ability of the leaders in
tackling the business challenges in a more comfortable and flexible manner. With a detailed
consideration towards the concept of the creative thinking, it is visible that the business
leaders face the necessity to have multiple number of solutions for a particular business
challenge as the same increases their flexibility in managing the business challenges as per

12DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
the merit of the business environment. In such situation, the effectiveness of the solutions are
substantial. On the other hand, the expertise of the leaders in applying the problem solving
skills, is seen to be associated with greater flexibility in achieving the business environment
in perfect alignment with their business. Considering the above mentioned skills, the below
mentioned set of activities are much required for improving the capability of the
professionals in being an efficient leader or business manager.
Objective Activities Success Factors Probable
Timeframe
Improvement in the
problem solving
skills.
The primary
activities for the
improvement of the
problem solving
skills are practice of
the problem solving
tools such as
Fishbone Diagram,
Cause Effect
Analysis and scatter
plot diagram
(Coccia, 2018).
The success factor
will be the
successful
completion of at
least two cases
where one has
implemented the
mentioned
techniques
successfully.
The possible
timeframe for
achieving the
objective is 24
months.
Enhancement of the
skills of creative
thinking.
The suitable activity
for improving the
skills of creative
thinking of a leader
will be participation
The success factor
for the objective will
be the successful
completion of the
idea generation
The probable
timeframe for the
achievement of the
objective is expected

13DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
in the techniques
such as the Osborn
Checklist, Green and
Red light thinking,
Brainstorming
activities and Six
thinking hats (Paul
& Elder, 2019).
process as a leader
with the application
of the mentioned
creative thinking
techniques.
to 15 months.
Conclusion:
On an ending note, it is visible that the concepts of leadership and the management
have considerable number of similarities. However, the characteristic differences are the
primary factors that differentiate a leader from a manager. A close look at the leadership
styles and activities of the leaders like Bill and Melinda Gates, Jacinda Ardern and Satya
Nadella clearly portrayed the skills such as the creative thinking, sense of innovation, skill of
problem solving and employee empowerment. Considering the most important skills to be the
creative thinking and problem solving skills, it is important for a leader to participate in the
creative thinking techniques such as the Osborn Checklist, Green and Red light thinking,
Brainstorming activities and Six thinking hats and problem solving techniques such as the
Fishbone Diagram, Cause Effect Analysis and scatter plot diagram.

14DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
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