Leadership Styles in Microsoft and Trump Organization

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Leadership is the ability of an individual to lead something or someone on the right path and to
influence them to move in the given direction. It is the action or state of being a leader. Today, in
organizations it is not just important to have managers but to have managerial leaders.
Managerial leadership is the behavior that inspires voluntary following from the co – workers as
well as from the subordinates and combines the skill of the manager and the qualities of a leader.
It is the practice of showing sincere enthusiasm for the mission to be achieved along with
integrity, loyalty, decisiveness and managerial competence (Fries, 2018). In organizations, there
can be a number of leadership styles that might be followed including Transformational
Leadership, Democratic Leadership, Autocratic Leadership, Transactional Leadership, Laissez-
Faire Leadership and Bureaucratic Leadership among others (Campbell, 2016). The purpose of
this paper is to explain in detail examples of two renowned companies which practice different
forms of leadership. Then, two alternate leadership styles have been suggested which can be
implemented in place of the already followed leadership styles in the given companies so as to
successfully overcome the challenges of contemporary leadership. The two chosen companies
and their leadership styles have been discussed below along with a suggested alternate style:
I. Microsoft Group – Bill Gates
Bill Gates is a classic example of a Transactional style of leadership. Transactional
leadership is the one which promotes compliance in an organization by a system of
rewards and punishments. It is a form of leadership which promotes structure and
order. It is also known managerial leadership and was first given by Sociologist Max
Weber and further discussed in depth by Bernard Bass (Cherry, 2018). Transactional
leadership is based on some basic assumptions, some of which are discussed below:
1. Rewards and punishment are needed to motivate the workers working in the
company.
2. All workers need to be carefully monitored so that necessary control can be
implemented.
3. Following the instructions of the leader is the primary responsibility of the
workers.
4. There is need for a proper chain of command in the organization.
5. There is a system of transactions between the leaders and the subordinates
(Anastasia, 2018).

6. The three core building blocks of leadership of this sort is supervision,
organization structure and performance of the workers.
One of the most known form of transactional leadership is the one employed by Bill
Gates, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft Group. He is considered many
things – some of which are - a computer innovator, a philanthropist, a leader in future
technology, as well as a transactional leader (“Bill Gate’s transactional leadership
style”, 2015). Bill gates has often presented himself a strict and powerful leader to
both his subordinates as well as to competitors. He is not known to be an easy
taskmaster on the employees till the time they deliver the actual results but at the
same time he is known to give a free hand to the workers to work in the manner that
they want, provided they give the desired results (Bhasin, 2017). The features of this
form of leadership at Microsoft employed by Bill Gates have been given:
1. Confrontation: Transactional leaders are known to confront their workers directly
to find out whether the desired goals have been achieved or not and if not, then
the reasons why those goals have not been achieved. Microsoft is often
considered to be a have a tough work environment because of this policy of
confrontation followed by Bill Gates.
2. Focus: There is an extreme form of focus followed in Microsoft. Bill Gates’ form
of leadership is often considered to have an execution level and focus like no
other in the same field.
3. Communication Gap with the Leader: Bill Gates’ style of leadership is touted as
impersonal. There is hardly any communication between the workers and the
leader. Microsoft is often described as a company with zero impersonal or
grapevine communication. Rather, the atmosphere is often described as rude,
dismissive, and with lack of adaption in any form (“Bill Gate’s transactional
leadership style”, 2015).
4. Lack of Creativity and Innovation: It is often said that transactional leaders like
Bill Gates do not have an ounce of creativity and innovation which is required to
create a successful organization. Microsoft’s chairman is often considered to be
lacking any innovation and accused of revamping already existing products and