ID:2011017012 Date: August 9 ,2020

Home Work: Analyze the activities of three successful business leaders from quality leadership
view.

Answer: Long term business performance comes from leadership culture and careful and
continuous development of leadership at all levels, A leader strengthens and inspires the followers
to accomplish shared goals. Daimler Chrysler’s CEO Bob Eaton defines a leader as “... someone
who can take a group of people to a place they don’t think they can go.” “Leadership is we, not
me; mission, not my show; vision, not division; and community, not domicile.” the best leaders
realize that leadership isn’t just something that sits with the CEO, but must filter throughout an
organization and become part of the companies’ culture. A way that they act, respond, and grow
as an organization over time. This is in recognition that CEO’s come and go, but companies like
the above aim to last!

Just like empires, companies can come and go with the times. However, there are some that last
for ages, and great leadership is the secret. Great leaders have the ability to motivate employees,
help others see and believe in a vision, and lead innovation in the company. Having a great leader
at the helm is something that all investors, consumers, and employees want. Here is a list of the 3
most successful influential business leaders from quality leadership that are changing the world:

1. Jeff Bezos

Role: Founder, Chairman & CEO of Amazon

Quote: A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to
do hard things well.

Net worth: 189.8 billion USD (2020)

Birthplace: Albuquerqe, New Mexico

Degree: B.S. Princeton University

Age: 56

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Jeff Bezos is the CEO of Amazon, the online retail giant and the largest internet company in the
world (based on revenue). The success of Amazon has also propelled Jeff Bezos to the top of
global rich lists. In July 2017 he briefly overtook Bill Gates to be the wealthiest person on earth.

Jeff’s leadership style reflects the same growth of the company he runs. He has gone from
a 22-year-old running an online book store to one of the world’s most powerful business
people. Amazon touches almost every corner of the earth. To achieve that success Jeff has
adopted the following leadership strategies.

a) Empower People: Jeff Bezos argues that there are two major types of decisions:
 Type 1 decisions and
 Type 2 decisions.

Type 1 decisions are irreversible turning points that top executives should be involved in.
Type 2 decisions allow for reverse actions if a business gets it wrong.

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 According to Bezos, type 2 decisions should be made quickly by small groups or
individuals. As a business grow, there seems to be tendency to use the heavy weight Type
1 decision making process on most, including for many Type 2 decisions. This results in
risk aversion and stagnation.

b) Obsess Over Customers, Not Competitors: According to Jeff, focusing on customers

makes a company more resilient. At Amazon, employees always begin with the customer
and work backwards to upgrade their services.
‘By working backwards, you start with the customer and their needs and problems.’

In addition to this Amazon are their own number one “customer”. A key example of this is
their AWS business. After recognizing that the company had excess server capacity outside
of peak retail periods (such as Christmas) they looked for opportunities to sell this capacity
to other business.
Eventually this resulted in Amazon Web Services. So essentially Amazon, the e-commerce
retailer, use the services of AWS every day. This shortens the feedback loop to the
company and ensures they understand what works well and what needs improvement.

c) Remain Committed: As Jeff indicated in his first letter to shareholders that Amazon
cares about the long term. All decisions are made in that light. Jeff believes that it’s only
through commitment that a business can become successful.

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 As a CEO, you should proactively delight customers to earn their trust. This in turn earns
you more business from them, even in new business arenas. Take a long-term view, and
the interests of shareholders and customers should align.
‘Once you are on the top of the world, stay true to your principles and defy criticism.
Always stick to your long-term vision even in the face of tribulations.’

d) Keep Teams Small & Stop Talking so Much: Jeff Bezos has a “two pizza rules”.
Essentially, no team should be larger than the number of people that can be fed with two
pizzas.
What this really highlights in Jeff’s leadership strategy is his belief in teams that can move
fast and avoid group-think. With a team of 5 to 7 Jeff believes companies can find the right
balance between skills/experience and executing at a fast pace.
In addition to this Jeff holds that view that talking too much can be bad for progress. At a
company retreat in the early 200’s he explained that cross-team communication limits team
independence and leads to people agreeing to much.
‘This stands in opposition to the creative conflict that defines Amazon’s culture.’

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2. Tim Cook

Role: CEO of Apple

Quote: You can only do so many things great. Cast aside everything else.
Net worth: US$1.3 billion (2015)
Birthplace: Mobile, Alabama
Degree: M.B.A. Duke University
Age: 59

Tim Cook took over the role of Apple’s CEO following the passing of Steve Jobs and there
couldn’t be a clearer separation of leadership strategies between the two. There is no doubt about
it, Steve Jobs was a product visionary. Even if it made the product cost more, design and the user
experience was his number one focus.

Tim Cook on the other hand approaches Apple much more like it’s a business. Cash flow, profit
margins and “corporate success” matter most. This has seen some people argue that under Tim
Cook Apple has lost their mojo.

He is however the CEO of one of the greatest corporate comeback stories of our generation, so
let’s dive in and see what defines Tim’s leadership strategies.

a) Diversity is Essential: Apple is company in the forefront of innovation, and that needs
different-minded and unique individuals to help create the future. Tim Cook knows that he
requires thinkers who can provide a different insight.

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 He says that Apple needs diversity of thought, diversity of style and wants people to be
themselves. Bringing the best out of people is a quality business leader have and working
to refine this skill gives people the confidence to follow your head.

b) Do Not Fix What Is Not Broken: If there is an organization that had every arrow pointed
in the right direction, it was Apple when Tim was appointed its CEO. As a result, he has
largely focused on maximizing the profitability of the company and leveraging the strength
of their existing product line, namely the iPhone.
While this has seen their cash, reserves soar it has led to criticism that Apple can’t rely on
the iPhone forever, and without a visionary leader the question is often asked…. What
comes next?

c) Trust Others Around You: Tim Cook is known to trust the voices and opinions of the
team he surrounds himself with. He works closely with many top executives that help him
share the workload of the business. He loves working other successful individuals with
great ideas.

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 Part of being a successful leader is understanding that you do not know everything. By
allowing other people on your team to handle some of the workload goes a long way in
helping become a successful leader.

d) Be Humble: Humility is a key trait of successful leaders. Take a step back and have some
humility. An example of this is how Tim Cook always finds time to visit Apple Stores and
engage face to face with his customers. It is easy to get swept away when you are CEO of
the world’s largest company, and it is important to keep yourself grounded.
By speaking with staff and customers Tim Cook gains an appreciation for what is
happening on the ground and presents as a CEO who cares about the opinion of others.

3. Satya Nadella

Role: CEO of Microsoft

Quote: The one thing that defines me is that I love to learn.
Birthplace: Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, India
Degree: M.B.A. University of Chicago
Age: 48

Since Satya Nadella was appointed Microsoft’s CEO in 2014, he has changed the direction of the
company. He has established long term partnerships with Apple by releasing the Microsoft Office
App for iPhone, bought Mojang (Developer of Minecraft), acquired Linkedin and also embraced
the Linux operating system.

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Nadella’s leadership styles have enabled Microsoft to re-emerge as an innovative and exciting tech
company. Here are some of the Leadership Strategies used by Satya Nadella.

a) Know Your Competitors, but Focus on Your Strength: In his current job at
Microsoft, Nadella focuses on improving both Office 365 and Windows Azure, but he also
keeps a record of what Amazon and Google are doing with their system.
“If you look at Google or Amazon, we have a very unique way of telling customers that it
is not just about developing an app in the Azure platform, but also having a way of taking
it out or extending it,” Says Nadella.
Therefore, as a leader, you should remain focused on your strengths, but do not ignore your
competitions. Understand where and how you can compete against them.

b) Teamwork is Crucial for Success: Any big organization is just one bad leader away
from becoming a stultifying bureaucracy. “Everyone needs to their best, lead and help drive
cultural Change,” says Nadella.
Sometimes, leaders underestimate what they can do make things happen and overestimate
what others can do to move the company forward. To become a successful leader, you need
to change that.

c) Continuously Re-invent Yourself: When Satya Nadella joined Microsoft in 1992, no

one had ever thought about cloud computing. Nadella says that the business was all about
process automation and communication driving productivity in the previous generations.
The main trends emerging now are software defined application platforms, data centers,
big data and storage. 15 years down the line, he envisions the most innovative work
happening around the conversion of data into meaningful actions and insights.

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d) Keep Learning and Improving: Nadella encourages his team to learn from their
mistakes and keep improving. This empowers them to have confidence and take risks and
accept failures as experiences and learning opportunities to move forward. According to
Satya Nadella, there is no problem in claiming failure if the hypothesis does not work.
He stresses on the importance of positive reinforcement to the mindset of continual learning
and testing hypothesis to drive innovation rather than instigating a culture of fear and
failure within a company.
‘Nadella says that if employees do things out of fear, it impossible or hard for them to
drive any innovation.’

e) Have a Mission to Empower Every Person: In a recent interview, Nadella

explained the importance of company having an enduring mission that everybody can
follow and support. The core mission of Microsoft is to create technology so that others
can create more technology to develop new ideas and achieve more potential.
By following a mission, employees will take responsibility of the company culture. Every
person and team contribute to the mission and culture of the organization via their actions
and communications with the company.
Thus, as a leader or CEO, you need to have a strong mindset that can be followed by the
rest of the workers as part of the company’s mission and overall culture.