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Leadership Paper
Leadership Paper
Leadership Paper
Josh Sturm
Dr. Armstrong
SCOM 425
Introduction
Success in the tech industry is one of the very few things in this world with no
right answer on how to get there. It takes hard work, determination and a little bit of luck.
Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon once said, I knew that if I failed I wouldnt
regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not trying (Bezos, 2017). Someone
who is successful sees their vision and will do just about anything to ensure they make it
to the other side of tunnel. Jeff Bezos is now arguably the greatest living CEO and is
going to be worlds richest man by the end of this decade. The great thing is just because
one person is successful with one style of leadership; it does not ensure it will be the
same for another person. Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is a great
example that there are multiple ways to become a successful businessman. Throughout
this paper we will explore what made both Musk and Bezos successful and what
leadership theories they have employed to help them get there. The argument will be
made through the rational of this essay that situational leadership is more successful than
transformational leadership.
Jeffery P. Bezos was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico on January 12, 1964,
when his parents were only teens; his parents were married for a year and later divorced.
Eventually his mother remarried Bezoss stepfather, Mike Bezos who he owes many of
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his success to (Bezos, 2017). Bezos spent many of his summers at a ranch in Cotulla,
Texas when he was a child. He cites this as one of the most important ways he learned
about his mechanical aptitude. He calls the lessons he learned from his grandfather,
Priceless (Bio, 2017). From a young age Jeff Bezos showed an amazing technical and
mechanical aptitude, and eventually graduated from Princeton University with a degree in
In 1994 Jeff Bezos was recently just hired as the youngest senior vice president in
D.E. Shaws history when he made a discovery that changed the course of his life and
business history (Bezos, 2017). Bezos discovered that the Internet was growing at a rate
of 2,300 percent a year. This is where he saw an opportunity to get in on the ground floor
of a potential completely new way of business. Bezos left his secure job in New York and
moved to Seattle where he would start Amazon, originally the first online book retailer.
He set up shop in a two-bedroom houses garage and the rest is history. On July 16, 1995
Bezos opened Amazon to the World Wide Web and by the end of the month, with no
press, he was able to sell books in all 50 states and 45 other countries. Amazon exploded
Elon Musk was born on June 28, 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa where he
displayed an early talent for computer and entrepreneurship, much like Bezos (Gregersen,
2017). At just the age of 12, Musk sold a video game he created called Blastar to a
magazine and was the start of many successes to come. Musk left South Africa in 1992 to
study business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania where he later earned two
degrees. He then headed to Stanford University to pursue a PhD in energy physics but
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dropped out two days later to start a company called Zip2, which later sold to Compaq
Later that year Musk co-founded X.com, which is better known as PayPal. PayPal
innovated the way money is transferred online. In October of 2002 PayPal sold for 1.5
billion dollars to eBay, which lead Musk to his two biggest successes as an entrepreneur.
In 2002 he founded SpaceX and in 2003 he founded Tesla Motors. Musk is still the CEO
of both companies to this day. Both of which makes up the majority of his net worth
which is more than 20 billion dollars to this date. Throughout all of his business ventures
Musk has always held on to his vision of a world that is no longer reliant on fossil fuels.
A world that is maximizing their use of green energy and one that is exploring space for a
Discussion
world. Bezos single-handily invented the values that propelled Bezos and Amazon to
becoming the largest Internet retailer in the world. Through the many rounds of
expansion Jeff Bezos continually emphasized the, Six Core Values: customer obsession,
ownership, bias for action, frugality, high hiring bar and innovation (Bezos, 2017). Over
the years, Amazon has become a tech giant and Bezos has achieved billionaire status.
Bezos has received a number of accolades for his superb business skills. Just four short
years after founding Amazon.com Bezos was named as Time magazines Person of the
Year. In 2012, he was named Fortune magazines Business Person of the Year and in
2014, named the best performing CEO in the World by Harvard Business Review (HBR
Staff, 2017).
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Elon Musk and his companies have also been some of the most innovative and
successful companies in the entire world. Musk has been a visionary in so many ways in
the tech industry and many credit Musk for, Building the future (Korosec, 2017). Musk
is one of those rare businessmen that has never failed at a business venture. He has also
received numerous accolades to go along with the billions of dollars he has made over the
years by selling numerous companies. In 2011, Forbes listed Musk as one of Americas
20 Most Powerful CEOs 40 and Under (Korosec, 2017). In 2013, Musk was named
businessperson of the year with his work on SpaceX, SolarCity, and Tesla (Korosec,
2017). In 2017 he was named on the list of the Worlds 50 Greatest Leaders List by
Both of these men have changed the way that we look at the world, and have
progressed technology far beyond where they originally found it. The amount of impact
that both Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos made on their industries is phenomenal considering
that the companies they run are barely over twenty years old. Neither Musk nor Bezos
could have gotten where they are without being extremely talented leaders. Both men
have implored multiple types of strategies to help them grow their businesses to the top
transformational. Musk has utilized his vision as way to inspire his workers that they can
achieve something more. He has inspired all of us that we should move towards clean
green energy and has passed that vision to the people he leads. People have critiqued
Bezos under the theories of leadership as being situational, meaning that he utilizes both
group under a set term because he uses both these leadership theories interchangeably.
Both Musk and Bezos have utilized these to progress them to where they are today.
charisma, or better defined as, The power to captivate and energize a following
(Aldoory & Toth, 2004). Many have touted transformational as particularly important
channels through which to communicate visions, values and the strategy of the business
(Brandt & Kakkuri, 2016). Some people say that leadership equates to communication, as
Schnurr once said, Communication not only constitutes one of the crucial aspects of
to-day basis. Musks leadership style coincides with the four strategies that typically
align with a transformational leader (Northouse, 2013, p.197). The first is his vision,
which there is no doubt Musk uses as the fuel to all his projects. Musk has made us
and beneficial manner which is needed by any form of transformational leader. What
makes Musk a clear transformational leader is his ability to make people believe what his
vision is. Many people find what Musk believes to be neither realistic nor believable; yet
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Musk has made it his mission to make both a reality. Musks drive to do so is shown
when he said, If something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you
The second way Elon Musk relates to the four strategies of a transformational
leader is that he has taken on the role of being a social architect. Musk has inspired his
employees in many ways. Most importantly Musk has inspired his workforce by his
failed, Musk did not falter for a second. Musk encouraged his team with a demeanor of
fortitude and ferocity and is quoted as saying, For my part, I will never give up and I
demanding people to never give up, he is saying he will never give up and is hoping to
The third characteristic that Musk uses is trust, which he continually tries to earn
with his followers by Being predictable [and] reliable, even in situations that are
effective in times of struggle, which Elon has continually got his companies out of. The
fourth and final characteristic that he uses is reliance on ethical standards, which
leadership. Although for Bezos, it is not the only way he motivates his workers. For
Bezos, he more or less uses transformational leadership as a way to inspire his workforce
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but is not fully the way he leads by. Musk fits into some of the categories that are used by
transformative leaders. He uses the first characteristic as his foundation for how he runs
Amazon.com. His vision is a key in the way he runs his business, from the beginning
Bezos has stuck to his six core values which has been instrumental in Amazons success.
The second value that Bezos uses is the third characteristic of transformational
leaders which is trust. Bezos has often been criticized for putting too much trust in his
employees. This may be why Amazon was ranked as second in employee turnover in
2013. Bezos holds all of his employees to the same standards that he holds to himself. He
trusts his followers to perform in the same matter that he does, and if they are not he has
no issue cutting ties with them, which is one of the main factors of Amazons lasting
serves to articulate and establish positions held by the leader (Aldoory & Toth, 2004).
This leadership style is one that the person in charge measures performance of their
influence expectations (Aldoory & Toth, 2004). This approach can be best identified by a
micromanager.
Bezos is known for being obsessive when it comes to being focused on what
makes the customer happy. Bezos views his customer base to be the most important asset
to Amazon and he will do anything to keep them happy. Bezos truly micromanages this
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aspect of Amazon, for example he worked for two years to get the download time of a
Another way Bezos fits into the lens of transactional leadership is his way of
56,000 workers worldwide and Bezos holds every one of those to the same standard.
Amazon has about 500 measureable goals and of those 500 goals about eighty percent are
customer oriented. Bezos is constantly tracking his followers and is the main metric to
observe if his workers are performing. Bezos has a meticulous way to adapt to trends
going on in the tech industry, which is one of the main reasons that the leadership
Conclusion
Both Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos started from humble beginnings and both brought
their business to be at the top of the technology industry. They both are fantastic leaders
who received their accolades by working hard to get where they are, and both implore
different leadership techniques along the way. Although, transformational tends to inspire
workers very well and also tends to be the most effective leadership theory in times of
crisis I believe that situational leadership is far better for styles of leadership. Situational
leadership allows a leader to use both tactics to their advantage while avoiding the
the perfect balance of inspiring workers and holding them accountable for their work;
but, also being able to meticulously track their employees and punish or reward them
when that time comes. As shown by the rationale throughout this essay there is not one
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right way to lead a company but throughout the research I have done I am arguing
References
Jeff Bezos. (2017, July 28). Retrieved October 26, 2017, from
https://www.biography.com/people/jeff-bezos-9542209
Staff, H. B., Martin, R., Goleman, D., & Collins, J. (2017, June 14). The Best-Performing
https://hbr.org/2014/11/the-best-performing-ceos-in-the-world
Korosec, K. (2017, March 24). Why Tesla CEO Elon Musk Is Among the World's
http://fortune.com/2017/03/24/tesla-elon-musk-worlds-greatest-leaders/
doi:10.1080/08824096.2016.1155045
Aldoory, L., & Toth, E. (2004). Leadership and Gender in Public Relations: Perceived
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage
Publications.