MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING
Introduction
Most people in prestigious positions would love to be identified as leaders but what really qualifies one to be a leader is their ability to influence other people. According to Caroselli (2000) people recognize leadership of a person when they are in an influential position, which could have come out of career, successful family background and political success among others. Leaders should have the ability to control the circumstances within their specialization at all times. Most prominent leaders have left a legacy in the places that they led; this can be an achievement or record breaking that they have made during their leadership years. This essay aims to discuss and compare the life and achievements of two successful business leaders. The leaders chosen are Andrew Wilson, who is the CEO of electronic arts, and John Martin. Who is the CEO of Gilead.
Andrew Wilson
Andrew Wilson is currently the CEO of the Electronic Arts (EA) and by 2014 his salary was 13.9 million US dollars. He was chosen as the CEO of EA on the seventeenth of September 2013 just six months after the resignation of his predecessors- John Riccitiello.
Determination is a significant attribute that has made Wilson so successful and at a relatively young age. He is the chief executive of the video games empire Electronics Arts and master mind behind games such as star wars. He has been able to make significant improvements in the company. In 2014 Wilson was awarded 13.9 million US dollars for sharply improving EA’s performance (Jennifer 2014). During his leadership as the CEO the EA share price increased from a depressed 26.60 US dollars to 70 US dollars. The company’s revenue also rose considerably and the net profit for the company improved by 205 per cent 2015 fiscal year.
Within his leadership as the CEO of EA- about three years- his hard work has made the company’s share price on Nasdaq to triple making him one of the global most successful CEO. He has also been able to make significant changes in the world as far as the video games are concerned. Currently it is possible for people to play games with millions of global competitors through playing online.
Resilience is yet another attribute that can well describe Wilson. He is well recognized as the mastermind behind the rival of the FIFA game brand which had for a time been diminishing. Doing this took him a lot of sacrifices as he had to spend sleepless nights in the studio with the developers just to ensure that FIFA was flourishing again. It is also relevant to note that he never came from a family with very rich economic background but has been able to achieve his success amidst the challenges.
His work as the CEO is almost flawless so pinpointing any weakness in him is a little tricky. What can be noted as a weakness for him is his workaholic personality which makes him work so hard and for so many hours. He is also over ambitious in tackling challenges and failure can really make him depressed. This routine can be dangerous as he always hardly has time for other social things and just some time to relax his body. Though a weakness that he has, this can also be viewed as an attribute as it is what has made him to become so successful at his age.
John Martin
John Martin has been the CEO of Gilead since 1996, he is a scientist who has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Purdue University and also has a doctorate degree in organic chemistry from the University of Chicago. For the many years that Martin has been the CEO of Gilead he has made major innovations on drugs for chronic diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis and cancer. Martin though a scientist possess many leadership qualities.
One of the significant attribute that Martin possesses as a leader is Empathy- genuine concern for the people. Martin has been able to make tremendous improvement in the HIV drugs such that currently the HIV positive people are provided with simply a single drug that combines all the content in four drugs that the patients had to take in the past. What drove him in developing this single tablet regimen is his concern over the burden that the patients have in taking more than four different tablets of drugs daily for a lifetime. His empathetic attribute is what drives him to invest a lot of money, time and resources in developing new drugs to save the lives of people or help them manage the chronic conditions that they have.
Determination is also well demonstrated from Martin’s work. He is trained as a scientist but is always willing to go the extra mile and investigate the practicality of the inventions that the company is making from hearing from the patient. His determination makes him to always strategies on the next move that the company is taking to curb the effects of chronic infections.
Optimism is a quality that any successful leader should possess and this quality is very much well portrayed in Martins work. Working in a field that is very critical as a slight mistake could lead to loss of lives Martin is always optimistic that the researches that he is doing will at some point positively impact the world.
The only weakness that Martin has is having too many expectations from his employees. Usually he expects that the employees will not fail him in any work disseminated to them.
Comparison of Andrew Wilson and John Martin
Both of this CEO are very successful in their endeavors because of some significant leadership attributes that they possess, such as determination. They both are hardworking and never mind spending sleepless night at their work place just so as to impact the world in a different way.
One of the key differences between these two great leaders appears to be in the motivation behind their hard work and success. Wilson appears to be motivated more by external outcomes such as providing something new and exciting for people, ensuring that the company is on the top list and that he is also able to maintain the high standards that he put for himself. On the other hand Martin is more intrinsically motivated. He gains much satisfaction by knowing that his actions save the lives of many.
Conclusion
Bibliography
Caroselli, M. (2000) Leadership skills for managers. New York, McGraw-Hill.
Jennifer, R. 2014, Five Best Business Leaders Of 2014. [Online] Available at: <http://fortune.com/2014/12/17/best-ceos-2014/> [accessed 1st April 2016]
