Leadership Analysis: Comparing Leadership Styles of Australian CEOs

This report examines the leadership styles of three prominent Australian CEOs: Michael Morgan of Intergen, Mike Cannon-Brookes of Atlassian, and Ms. Carolyn Taylor of Walking the Talk. The analysis compares and contrasts their approaches, focusing on their impact on organizational efficiency and employee effectiveness. The report delves into the organizational issues each leader faced and the strategies they employed to overcome challenges. It highlights how these leaders have shaped their respective organizations and contributed to the broader Australian business landscape. The report draws upon interviews and case studies to provide a comprehensive understanding of their leadership philosophies and their effects on company culture, innovation, and market positioning. The study also explores the application of leadership theories, such as Role theory and Strategic Contingencies theory, to the actions and decisions of these CEOs.

Running Head: LEADERSHIP 1
MGT536 - Leadership - A Critical Perspective
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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Compare and contrast between the three leaders.............................................................................4
Impacts of leadership in the organization........................................................................................8
Michael Morgan...........................................................................................................................8
Mike Cannon-Brookes.................................................................................................................8
Ms. Carolyn Taylor......................................................................................................................8
Organizational issues faced by........................................................................................................9
Michael Morgan...........................................................................................................................9
Mike Cannon-Brookes.................................................................................................................9
Ms. Carolyn Taylor....................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The aim of this project is to analyze the leadership approaches of the various CEOs of the
Australia and about their workplace which helps to increase the leadership effectiveness as well
as the efficiency of the employees and organization. From the three set of interviews, the first
interview is about the Michael Morgan, who is the CEO of the Microsoft technology specialist,
Intergen in the Australia. The next interview session is all about the Mike Cannon-Brookes, who
is the CEO of the Atlassian. The last person of the session is the CEO of walking the Talk, Ms.
Carolyn Taylor from Australia. The views and perspective of each of the person are different and
unique (Bendell, Little & Sutherland, 2016).
They have struggled a lot to achieve the success in their life. Leaders are not born-rather they
adopt this quality and implement it in their life. Gradually with the pace of time, they have
developed their business from a low scale and they have reached that height of the success which
is difficult to touch. Nothing is impossible according to these famous personalities (Brumback,
2015). Every time they have maintained their patience, did hard work and implemented the
resources in a useful manner. They have seen many breakdowns in their life. But they have never
thought of the putting their step back. Rather, they have utilized their time in searching for the
resources, manpower, and better transformations. None of the CEOs above have directly reached
the CEO positions that are mentioned above.
They have faced many ups and downs, has crossed several hurdles and with complete dedication
and practice, they have reached this stage now. The journey of these dignitaries are not easy but
wasn't impossible even. They have never applied the negative vibes in their workplace; rather
they have tried to put the things in their place for better productivity and results. From the
interview session, the fact that was highly appreciated by everyone is the way they think to
change the structure of the world in an innovative way by putting the latest technologies in the
frame and implementing the new era tools to develop the country in a better way (Cammack,
2017).
The way these famous personalities think makes them extraordinary and extravagant from the
others. To change the recent scenario of the country and to implement the new methods, these
three interviewers were taken. They help to motivate the thinking process of each individual that

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will lead their life to a new level where they can see the way to fulfill their dreams. These
delegates are the sources of motivation for the youngsters.
Compare and contrast between the three leaders
The leadership team of the Intergen did several things to break the records of the struggle of the
other countries in order to establish their own name and frame in the Australia. The CEO of the
Intergen Company has said in his interview that they had gone through several relationships
methods and paths which were not easy to go. The CEO has his own set of opinion regarding the
Australian market share, which is supposed to be changed to gain the recognition and
productivity by improving the quality along with the quality of the product. Initially, they didn't
have any office but form the last two to three years, they have dipped their feet into the service
and have opened offices in Sydney and Perth, with a small physical presence but now that has
literally been raised to a huge attraction point of the citizens. The organization has seen many
growing pains in developing their brand name (Carroll, Ford & Taylor, 2015).
The business was mainly in the New Zealand but more rapidly it is growing in the Australia. The
company has successfully recreated the case studies of the local market, restructured the growing
business and has engaged the huge mass of the country into their business. The sales teams have
grown up and mostly prefer the Australians. From these instances, the conclusion is quite clear
and oblivious that without a leader the foundation can't stand properly. Michael Morgan has been
chosen for the CEO post just because he had the most innovative ideas and methods to change
the market scenario of the Australia. After New Zealand, he had already fixed his mind to rule
the Australian market with his own set of principles and services. According to the Role theory
of leadership, people are defined based on their learning and reading skills. They form their
expectations and define their role according to the expectation (Collinson, 2014).
The leaders encourage the others to act in the same way to achieve the goals of the life. In this
scenario, Michael Morgan is playing the same role and has inspired the massive mass of the
country. He has influenced the other to read and participate in the game so that their expectation
form the life will never die. They should be able to play the role of the senders in order to
balance the decision of life. According to Collinson, Grint & Smolovic-Jones, the organization
has set the rules for the culture and maintains the level to value the basic ethics that are very

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much helpful to shape the senior managers and so on (Collinson, Grint & Smolovic-Jones,
2017). With the help of the leadership quality of Michael Morgan, the company is now able to
reach the top of the market in the field oh share by changing the recent market scenario of the
Australia.
The organization has successfully established a number of companies in the other countries.
Apart from the success of the New Zealand market, Michael Morgan has successfully applied the
innovative ideas into the organization that has taken a new shape and frame in the Australian
market. Due to his efforts and dedication, the organization has seen huge success and still trying
to achieve the flying colors in every respect.
Mike Cannon-Brookes, who is the CEO of the well-known software company Atlassian, has
built the best battery plant that solves the several energy woes of the country. The company has
successfully established the setup within 100 days which is the biggest achievement for them.
After challenging the other company, he has started working on the project to meet the
requirements of the citizens within some days. With his great dedication and patience, he has
finally established the battery plant in the South Australia (Dugan, 2017).
He hasn't expected a huge appreciation from the society but the expectation was just the
opposite. Along with the other teammates, he has broken the record and solved the half quarter
problem of the citizens. He had a clear intention of changing the state of the energy of the
country that will reduce the sick state of the people and will probably bring some changes in the
conversation. He had planned more effective solution to prove the battery plant as effective. He
along with his team has worked more than the expectation.
The best thing was many people were excited to work for him and interested to produce the
battery for the industry. The entire discussion was about the change in the state of the energy
with the help of that battery plant. He was considered as the effective leader as he has never
given up to any situation and has always found the best solution to improve the condition of
those areas which are under threat (Dugan, et al., 2017). He was selected as the CEO of the
company as he was the only mind in the country, who has given the idea of the energy
conversion with the help of the battery plant, though he was running the software industry.

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According to the Australian government, for the first in the history of the country, 100MW
battery storage was built. He always plans something grandiose which puts him in the limelight.
The company has committed to solving the further issue of the country in case of the energy
problems. He works for the better potentiality of the country's energy state and has innovative
ideas for it. Due to this reason, leaders are constructed from various departments to work
effectively for the country (Edwards, et al., 2015).
According to the strategic contingencies theory of the leadership, the power of the organization
depends on the three factors- actor centrality, the uniqueness of the skill and the problem-solving
skills. The team of the Mike Cannon-Brookes always works to resolve the issues of the company
as well of the country. Mike Cannon-Brookes has the expertise skills and problem-solving
capacity which puts him in demand. According to the law of supply of demand, the upper hand is
always in the negotiations. It gives the power from the reciprocity that is created (Harris & Jones,
2015). According to this theory, the manager has the capability to solve any type of problems in
case of the emergency. He well understands the problems and solves the situation when anything
goes wrong.
Similarly, Mike Cannon-Brookes has the very good capacity to fix the things in a better way
both mechanically and technically. He has a skilled team who works only for the better
production of the organization. Due to his innovative ideas and working procedures, the
company has gained several appreciations and applauds from the citizen as they have installed
the best machine in the South Australia. For this reason, the economic conditions of the company
have been changed and they are finding the best way to deal with those challenges in making the
battery happen in a more realistic way (Ip, 2016). Due to his innovative idea, the February
problems are solved in more than 90,000 houses. Prices of the batteries gradually fall and the
storage capacity increases.
The prices for the cell phones, electric cars, residential battery, laptops as well as for the
computers will decrease significantly. This is the biggest achievement for the company in all
these years that has changed the scale of production of the company. More than $150 million has
been put on the investment but the output from it is quite more and beneficial. The idea has
improved the long-term issues of the country and now has slowly changed the ups and downs of
the electricity (Jaros, 2013). The large-scale power plant body will be more effective when it will

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be connected to the solar cells. Due to the use of the solar cells, the parts of the device will get
cheaper and will be easy to buy in order to deploy that in the residents or anywhere the
customers want. Due to the tremendous idea, the company has received appreciation and has
started changing the production process to produce more effective devices for the better
condition of the country.
Ms. Carolyn Taylor, the CEO of walking the Talk, have recently talked in an interview about the
cultural change in the organization. Along with the Deloitte, the companies have worked in
partnership in order to deliver the cultural change programs to the clients in the Australia. In
recent interview session, Carolyn has discussed the cultural transformation journey. He was
considered as the best CEO by various reports as she was the foremost expert in the
organizational culture change. She had worked alongside more than 200 culture change journeys,
even consulted 15 mergers and acquisitions.
From the very early age, she had started her journey and till date, she has worked or run more
than 50000 workshops for the leaders. The innovative ideas and skills she had with her, makes
her unique and capable for the CEO position. Her innovative leadership quality and outstanding
personality, people consider her as their inspiration. She has the classic personality that suits very
well for the corporate world (McCracken, 2017). From the very early age, she was pioneered to
the values, leadership and culture thought for the corporate vision. She had worked for the
Academic board members in the leading companies in order to bring the cultural practice in
various projects. She has a clear vision to promote the cultural management methodologies in
larger groups of both the internal as well external culture advocates. She has built the integrated
cultural management system-planning, diagnosing and training tools that help to enable the
culture in the organization. She is completely aware of her strategy, leadership behavior as well
as a cultural sense that makes her the most eligible women to be in the CEO position.
According to the Leader-member exchange theory, explains the relationship of the circle of the
trusted lieutenants, advisors and assistants, explain the high-level of responsibility, access to
resources and helps in decision-influence. The theory mainly deals with the leadership skills that
are needed to meet the organizational duties and the objectives of the organization (Rajbhandari,
2015). The individuals under this theory work harder to meet the target of the task and share the
administrative duties. This theory is applicable in this case because Carolyn Taylor has supported

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the clear vision of the organization by providing the best solution about the culture to the
employee in order to clear their objective in the long run.
The relationships are nurtured with the inner circle that balances the power and ensures the
mechanism properly. The process includes the role making, role taking, and reutilization (Smith,
Kelly & Allard, 2017). The role taking ability helps to bring out the inner talent of the
individuals that are based on several opportunities to demonstrate the capabilities. The theory of
Leader-membership exchange perfectly defines the nature of the Carolyn Taylor. Due to her
leadership attitude and clear vision, the company has seen much success during the journey. Her
clear vision for the cultural management helps her to found the new company, walking the talk.
She has founded the integrated culture management system to enable the culture and to build the
internal capability.
From the various hubs of Europe and Latin America, walking the talk has experienced the
cultural change just due to the efforts and dedication of the CEO that brings the extraordinary
changes in the company and successfully changes the behavior as well as the mindset of the
people (Shapira-Lishchinsky & Levy-Gazenfrantz, 2016). Due to this change, the company has
achieved huge appreciation and applauds across the world and has touched that limit which is
quite difficult to achieve for a layman. She has literally strived to explore the changes and to lead
a successful organization either by support or detracts from the performance of the company.
Impacts of leadership in the organization
Michael Morgan
According to the behavioral trait theory, the leaders are made, rather than born. The leaders
never seek the inborn traits or capabilities; rather they actually do the things to become a
successful leader. Similarly, Michael Morgan has perfectly described his actions towards the
people that help him to adopt the ephemeral "traits" of a leader. It was his efforts and leadership
quality which he has earned and with the help of that, he has successfully changed the market
condition of the Australia (Smith, Kelly & Allard, 2017).
He has worked more than twenty years and due to his strong growth and numerous project
successes, he has been chosen as the Country manager of Australia. He has the caliber to become

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the leader from his magnificent experiences. He has wide expectation and ambitions that helped
him to be the key member at the highest level of the organization (Wilson, 2015).
Mike Cannon-Brookes
According to the contingency theory, Mike Cannon-Brookes has the similar ability and factors
that make him the best out of millions due to his innovative styles, behavior, and capability that
varies with the situation. The theory perfectly defines the nature of Mike Cannon-Brookes. He is
a perfect choice and there is no other way of leading the company with the most innovative and
powerful factors (Smyth, 2016).
The main part of the theory explains the behavior and he defines it more precisely. He has
developed the most useful and effective battery plant for the citizen of Australia that solves 90
percent of problem-related to the electricity. This nature shows his dedication and cares for the
citizens that make him more special and unique from all (Western, 2013).
Ms. Carolyn Taylor
According to the transactional theory, Ms. Carolyn Taylor is the perfect example who has the
best motivation skills by rewards and punishments. She works for the social causes and systems
with a clear chain of command. She has the clear structure for the subordinates and well-
understand the formal system of the organization. She perfectly carries the organizational burden
and manages the resources according to the capability. This exceptional attitude helped her to
change the cultural structure of the company (Taylor & Ford, 2016).
Organizational issues faced by
Michael Morgan
The organizational issues are the familiar part of the organization which needs time and patience
to resolve the issue. Initially, Michael Morgan has seen several issues regarding the opening of a
new branch in the Australia. He had already started the business in other countries, but still, he
wants to help the citizens of Australia in case of the share market. From the very beginning,
Michael Morgan didn't have the enough resources or strategy to open another branch as he was
lacking with members, resources as well as has economic instability (Thompson, 2017).

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He had never thought of getting the huge appreciation from the Australian citizens within a very
period of time. It was his effort and believes that took him to the highest level and has shown
him the reality of the country. His efforts have successfully helped the citizens in the share
market and have entirely changed the scenario. According to my point of view, he shouldn't lose
the hope from the beginning stage as the life is so big and in every step, the hurdles are waiting.
He needs to be strong instead of losing the hope.
Mike Cannon-Brookes
In the second case, Mike Cannon-Brookes has faced the problem in managing the resource as
well as in the economic state. He was investing more than million in a single project, so he was
afraid of the loss and its significance (Tillapaugh & Haber-Curran, 2017). He has never imagined
about the success and has always motivated the members to work hard for the project.
He had stopped believing in him and has forgotten about the future consequences. In such cases,
he needs to be focused and dedicated in order to manage the resource and economic condition of
the company. Problems are the basic part of a project, but one who deals with properly will
surely get the success in their life.
Ms. Carolyn Taylor
In the last case, Ms. Carolyn Taylor has faced some problems regarding the cultural issues in the
company. She has motivated an entire country but has faced some issues in the very initial stage
as the changes are least understood by the business authorities. Everyone wants their own set of
changes and has never focused on her methods, so these instances had put her in a low state and
have reduced her strength (Tourish, 2013).
According to my view, she would never give up with the situation and should always encourage
the worst part of the life in order to face it boldly and bravely. She was completely aware of the
changes and benefits, so she should not have taken the tensions to her mind. She needs to work
according to the choice and demand of the business authorities (Watson, 2016).
Recommendations
From the above instances, it was quite clear that everyone has some unique talent and skills
which they need to put in a right place and time. Initially, the situation will not be same as eth

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way people want to be. Problems will always come to the way, but fighting with those and
moving out of it is the true spirit of a leader. Each theory explained in the above section defines
the real character of the CEO as they really deserve the position and rewards.
Conclusion
The theories are only applicable to them when they touched that limit which is quite tough for a
layman to do. Some changes are necessary like they need to be strong in their decision without
any fluctuations; they should utilize the resource in a convenient way and should focus on where
they are standing. Crossing several hurdles and obstacles will raise the inner spirit of a person to
achieve the highest height of the world. If one stops there and start to think, then the path will
become more critical to cross and the dreams will only become a dream rather than a reality.
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