The Path to Success: Bill Gates as a Leader in the Digitizing World

Year 2023, , 1313 - 1324, 26.09.2023

S. Hazel Başer , Zeliha Seçkin

https://doi.org/10.18069/firatsbed.1276111

Abstract

Bill Gates, as the founder of Microsoft, is not only recognized worldwide but also stands out with his leadership qualities. It can be said that Gates, who has high self-confidence, vision and works to achieve his goals, is an innovative and risk-taking leader. He is considered innovative and risk-taking leader. Additionally, Gates is known for valuing teamwork and possessing strong communication skills. Although he is often perceived as a tough leader by his employees, he is also considered respectful and appreciative of their achievements. Through these qualities, he has made Microsoft one of the world's largest technology companies and a prominent brand worldwide. In the relevant literature, Gates is noted for having digital, empowering, awakened, narcissistic, and transformational leadership qualities. In the study, an examination was conducted on how Gates is aligned with the mentioned leadership approaches. In the first section of the study, the concept and scope of leadership were examined, and Gates' leadership styles, as described in the literature, were discussed conceptually. In the second section, the leadership styles conceptualized were evaluated with respect to Gates, based on the literature. Finally, a general evaluation was made regarding Gates and his leadership styles.

Keywords

Digitalization, Bill Gates, Leadership

BAŞARIYA GİDEN YOL: DİJİTALLEŞEN DÜNYADA BİR LİDER OLARAK BILL GATES

Abstract

Bill Gates, Microsoft şirketinin kurucusu olarak dünya çapında tanınmış olmanın yanı sıra liderlik özellikleriyle de ön plana çıkmıştır. Kendine güveni yüksek, vizyon sahibi ve hedeflerine ulaşmak için çalışan Gates’in, yenilikçi ve risk almayı seven bir lider olduğu söylenebilir. Aynı zamanda Gates, takım çalışmasına önem veren ve iletişim becerileri konusunda da yetenekli bir lider olarak bilinmektedir. Gates, çalışanları tarafından sert bir lider olarak bilinse de onlara karşı saygılı olduğu ve onların başarılarını takdir ettiği de bilinmektedir. Bu özellikleri sayesinde Gates, Microsoft'u en büyük teknoloji şirketlerinden biri haline getirmiş ve tüm dünyada önemli bir marka olmayı başarmıştır. İlgili literatür incelendiğinde Gates’in; dijital, güçlendirici, uyandırılmış, narsist ve dönüşümcü liderlik özelliklerine sahip olduğunun vurgulandığı görülmektedir. Çalışmada, belirtilen bu liderlik yaklaşımlarıyla Gates’in nasıl bağdaştırıldığına ilişkin bir inceleme gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu kapsamda çalışmanın ilk bölümünde liderlik kavramı incelenmiş ve literatürde belirtilen Gates’in sahip olduğu liderlik tarzları kavramsal açıdan ele alınmıştır. İkinci bölümde, kavramsal olarak incelenen liderlik tarzları, Gates’e ilişkin literatür üzerinden değerlendirilmiştir. Son olarak Gates ve liderlik tarzlarına ilişkin genel bir değerlendirme gerçekleştirilmiş ve çalışmanın sınırlılıklarından bahsedilmiştir.

Keywords

dijitalleşme, liderlik, Bill Gates

References

• Abbasov, A. ve Tolay, E. (2021). Dijital liderliğin bireysel performans üzerindeki etkisi- Azerbaycan’da endüstri 4.0 teknolojilerini uygulayan bir firmada araştırma. İzmir Yönetim Dergisi, 2(1), 59-74.
• Acs, Z. J., ve Sany, J. (2009). Measuring the social value of innovation: the cases of Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank and Bill Gates, Microsoft. In Measuring the Social Value of Innovation: A Link in the University Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship Equation (Vol. 19, pp. 143-170). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
• Adegbola, R. A. (2012). Childhood pneumonia as a global health priority and the strategic interest of the Bill ve Melinda Gates Foundation. Clinical infectious diseases, 54(suppl_2), 89-92.
• Ahluwalia, L. (2020). Empowerment leadership and performance: Antecedents. TECHNOBIZ: International Journal of Business, 3(2), 35-39.
• Aksu, H. (2019). Dijitopya: Dijital dönüşüm yolculuk rehberi. Pusula: Ankara.
• Arsenault, P. M. (2004). Validating generational differences: A legitimate diversity and leadership issue. Leadership ve Organization Development Journal, 25(2), 124-141.
• Barchiesi, M. A., ve La Bella, A. (2007, August). Leadership styles of world's most admired companies a holistic approach to measuring leadership effectiveness. In 2007 International Conference on Management Science and Engineering (pp. 1437-1447). IEEE.
• Bass, B. M. (1999). Two decades of research and development in transformational leadership. European journal of work and organizational psychology, 8(1), 9-32.
• Bass, B. (2010). The Bass handbook of leadership: Theory, research, and managerial applications. New York, NY: Simon ve Schuster.
• Bass, B. M., ve Riggio, R. E. (2006). Transformational leadership. Psychology press.
• Bel, R. (2010). Leadership and innovation: Learning from the best. Global business and organizational excellence, 29(2), 47-60.
• Biber, M. (2019). Lider yöneticilik. İşletme Ekonomi ve Yönetim Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2(2), 183-197.
• Boje, D., ve Smith, R. (2010). Re‐storying and visualizing the changing entrepreneurial identities of Bill Gates and Richard Branson. Culture and organization, 16(4), 307-331.
• Budur, T. (2020). Effectiveness of transformational leadership among different cultures. International Journal of Social Sciences ve Educational Studies, 7(3), 119-129.
• Cannon, W. (2020). The Paradox of Leader Narcissism and Leader Vulnerability (Doctoral dissertation, Northcentral University).
• Chaturvedi, V. (2013). Transformational leadership-an indispensable tool for developing unrelenting and unparalleled success for organisation. International Journal on Leadership, 1(2), 1-10.
• Cusumano, M. A. (1998). Software business entrepreneurship: lessons from Bill Gates and Microsoft. 24 Şubat 2023 tarihinde https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5176308_Software_business_entrepreneurship_lessons_from_Bill_Gates_and_Microsoft adresinden erişilmiştir.
• de Araujo, L. M., Priadana, S., Paramarta, V., ve Sunarsi, D. (2021). Digital leadership in business organizations. International Journal of Educational Administration, Management, and Leadership, 45-56.
• Dikici, B. D. (2020). Günümüzün dijitalleşen işletmelerinde yeni liderlik ve motivasyon modelleri üzerine karşılaştırmalı bir araştırma. OPUS International Journal of Society Researches, 15(26), 4185-4207.
• Dutta, A., ve Chaudhry, S. (2021). Managing people more effectively: Challenges and best practices. Journal of Management Research and Analysis, 8(1), 10-14.
• Engelbrecht, A. S., Heine, G., ve Mahembe, B. (2014). The influence of ethical leadership on trust and work engagement: An exploratory study. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 40(1), 1-9.
• Fisk, P. (2002). The making of a digital leader. Business Strategy Review, 13(1), 43-50.
• French, S. L. (2007). Bill Gates, "Keynote address to the creating digital dividends conference" (18 October 2000). Erişim adresi https://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/french-gates.pdf.
• Fuchs, C. (2021). Bill Gates Conspiracy Theories as ideology in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. In Communicating COVID-19: Everyday Life, Digital Capitalism, and Conspiracy Theories in Pandemic Times (pp. 91-144). Emerald Publishing Limited.
• Gandolfi, F., Stone, S., ve Deno, F. (2017) “Servant leadership: An ancient style with 21st Century relevance,” Review of International Comparative Management, 18(4), 350–361.
• Gates, B. (1999), Business @ the Speed of Thought: Using a Digital Nervous System, Warner Books, New York, NY. Erişim adresi https://toicodongiuamotbiennguoi.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/099-business-at-the-speed-of-thought.pdf.
• GatesNotes, (t.y.). Erişim adresi https://www.gatesnotes.com/Bio.
• Harman, S. (2016). The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and legitimacy in global health governance. Global Governance, 349-368.
• Hensellek, S. (2020). Digital leadership: A framework for successful leadership in the digital age. Journal of Media Management and Entrepreneurship (JMME), 2(1), 55-69.
• Himelboim, I., Borah, P., Lee, D. K. L., Lee, J., Su, Y., Vishnevskaya, A., ve Xiao, X. (2023). What do 5G networks, Bill Gates, Agenda 21, and QAnon have in common? Sources, distribution, and characteristics. New Media ve Society. Erişim adresi https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yan-Su-21/publication/366855288_What_do_5G_networks_Bill_Gates_Agenda_21_and_QAnon_have_in_common_Sources_distribution_and_characteristics/links/63b5722003aad5368e64937b/What-do-5G-networks-Bill-Gates-Agenda-21-and-QAnon-have-in-common-Sources-distribution-and-characteristics.pdf.
• Hogan, R., ve Kaiser, R. B. (2005). What we know about leadership. Review of general psychology, 9(2), 169-180.
• Hughes, R., Ginnett, R. C., ve Curphy, G. J. (1996). Leadership. Chicago, Irwin.
• James, R. (2023). 17 success lessons from Bill Gates. Erişim adresi https://wealthygorilla.com/bill-gates-success-lessons.
• Khan, H., Rehmat, M., Butt, T. H., Farooqi, S., ve Asim, J. (2020). Impact of transformational leadership on work performance, burnout and social loafing: A mediation model. Future Business Journal, 6(1), 1-13.
• Kirkman, B. L., ve Rosen, B. (1999). Beyond self-management: Antecedents and consequences of team empowerment. Academy of Management Journal, 42(1), 58– 74.
• Kotterman, J., (2006), “Leadership vs Management: What’s the difference?”, Journal for Quality ve Participation, 29(2), 13-17.
• Kruse, K. (2013). What is leadership. Forbes magazine. Erişim adresi http://www.professorpeaches.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/What-is-leadership-Forbes.pdf.
• Liphadzi, M., Aigbavboa, C. O., ve Thwala, W. D. (2017). A theoretical perspective on the difference between leadership and management. Procedia engineering, 196, 478-482.
• Liu, Y. (2015). The review of empowerment leadership. Open Journal of Business and Management, 3(4), 476.
• Lowe, J. (2001). Bill Gates speaks: Insight from the world's greatest entrepreneur. John Wiley ve Sons.
• Maccoby, M. (2004). Narcissistic leaders: the incredible pros, the inevitable cons. Erişim adresi https://hbr.org/2004/01/narcissistic-leaders-the-incredible-pros-the-inevitable-cons.
• Maccoby, M. (2017). Narcissistic leaders: The incredible pros, the inevitable cons. In Leadership Perspectives (pp. 31-39). Routledge.
• Marques, J. F. (2007). The awakened leader: One simple leadership style that works every time, everywhere. Personhood Press.
• Marques, J. F. (2008a). The five steps toward Awakened Leadership. Performance Improvement, 47(7), 20-23.
• Marques, J. (2008b). Awakened leadership in action: A comparison of three exceptional business leaders. Journal of Management Development, 27(8), 812-823.
• Matt, C., Hess, T., ve Benlian, A. (2015). Digital transformation strategies. Business ve information systems engineering, 57, 339-343.
• Mauri, T. (2017). Why leadership styles matter. Strategic Direction, 33(1), 1-4.
• Mohammed, T., ve Baş, D. P. (2020). Dönüşümcü liderlik stilinin örgüt kültürü ve işletmenin yenilikçiliğine etkisi. Siyaset, Ekonomi ve Yönetim Araştırmaları Dergisi, 8(2), 98-122.
• Mullins, L. J. (2010). Management and Organizational Behavior. UK: Pearson Education.
• Nanjundeswaraswamy, T. S., ve Swamy, D. R. (2014). Leadership styles. Advances in management, 7(2), 57-62.
• Nevicka, B., Ten Velden, F. S., De Hoogh, A. H., ve Van Vianen, A. E. (2011). Reality at odds with perceptions: Narcissistic leaders and group performance. Psychological Science, 22(10), 1259-1264.
• Nevicka, B., Van Vianen, A. E., De Hoogh, A. H., ve Voorn, B. (2018). Narcissistic leaders: An asset or a liability? Leader visibility, follower responses, and group-level absenteeism. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103(7), 703.
• Nienaber, H. (2010). Conceptualisation of management and leadership. Management Decision, 46(5), 661-675.
• Northouse, P. (2007). Leadership theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• O’Reilly, C. A., ve Chatman, J. A. (2020). Transformational leader or narcissist? How grandiose narcissists can create and destroy organizations and institutions. California Management Review, 62(3), 5-27.
• Özmen, Ö. N., Eriş, E. ve Özer, P. (2020). Dijital liderlik çalışmalarına bir bakış. Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 25(1), 57-69.
• Pelenk, S. E. (2020). Güçlendirici liderlik davranışlarının bireysel performansa etkisi. Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi, 21(1), 308-330.
• Peng, J., Li, M., Wang, Z., ve Lin, Y. (2021). Transformational leadership and employees’ reactions to organizational change: evidence from a meta-analysis. The Journal of applied behavioral science, 57(3), 369-397.
• Petrucci, T., ve Rivera, M. (2018). Leading growth through the digital leader. Journal of Leadership Studies, 12(3), 53-56.
• Petry, T. (2018). Digital leadership. In Knowledge management in digital change (pp. 209-218). Springer, Cham.
• Porfírio, J. A., Carrilho, T., Felício, J. A., ve Jardim, J. (2021). Leadership characteristics and digital transformation. Journal of Business Research, 124(2021), 610-619.
• Promsri, C. (2019). The developing model of digital leadership for a successful digital transformation. GPH-International Journal of Business Management, 2(8), 1-8.
• Rampton, J. (2016). How Bill Gates became a leadership legend. Erişim adresi https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/how-bill-gates-became-a-leadership-legend/250607.
• Rosenthal, S. A., ve Pittinsky, T. L. (2006). Narcissistic leadership. The leadership quarterly, 17(6), 617-633.
• Salleh, L. M. (2012). Charismatic leadership-Is it different from transformational leadership? MMR, 47(1), 21-30.
• Schwantes, M. (2022). In just 2 sentences, Bill Gates taught a great leadership lesson to every manager. Erişim adresi https://www.inc.com/marcel-shwantes/bill-gates-leadership-lesson-managers.html.
• Schwertner, K. (2017). Digital transformation of business. Trakia Journal of Sciences, 15(1), 388-393.
• Shah, T., ve Mulla, Z. R. (2013). Leader motives, impression management, and charisma: A comparison of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Management and Labour Studies, 38(3), 155-184.
• St. Thomas University, 2018. What is transactional leadership? How structure leads to results. Erişim adresi https://online.stu.edu/articles/education/what-is-transactional-leadership.aspx.
• Stevenson, S. (2010). The political economy of Andrew Carnegie's library philanthropy, with a reflection on its relevance to the philanthropic work of Bill Gates. Library ve information history, 26(4), 237-257.
• StudySmarter, (t.y.). Bill Gates leadership style. Erişim adresi https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/business-studies/business-case-studies/bill-gates-leadership-style/.
• Tang, G., Chen, Y., van Knippenberg, D., ve Yu, B. (2020). Antecedents and consequences of empowering leadership: Leader power distance, leader perception of team capability, and team innovation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 41(6), 551-566.
• Ulrich, D., ve Smallwood, N. (2012). What is leadership? In Advances in global leadership (Vol. 7, pp. 9-36). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
• Uğur, S. S., ve Uğur, U. (2014). Yöneticilik ve liderlik ayrımında kişisel farklılıkların rolü. Organizasyon ve Yönetim Bilimleri Dergisi, 6(1), 122-136.
• Watson, C. M. (1983). Leadership, management, and the seven keys. Business horizons, 26(2), 8-13.
• Yıldız, S. (2014). CEO’lar hangi liderlerden ilham alıyor? Erişim adresi https://www.pazarlamasyon.com/ceolar-hangi-liderlerden-ilham-aliyor.
• Yukl, G., 1989. Managerial Leadership: a review of theory and research. Journal of Management, 15(2), 251-290.
• Yun, S., Cox, J., ve Sims Jr, H. P. (2006). The forgotten follower: a contingency model of leadership and follower self‐leadership. Journal of managerial psychology, 21(4), 374-388.
• Zitelmann, R. (2020). Bill Gates was difficult boss in early Microsoft days but employees still liked him. Erişim adresi https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/24/bill-gates-was-difficult-boss-in-early-microsoft-days-but-employees-still-liked-him.html.