Michael Dell Leadership Style
Michael Dell is a business leader, entrepreneur, and owner of Dell Computer Corporation. He exhibited interest in technological gadgets at an early age and purchased an Apple computer so as to find out how it worked. He played a critical role in the revolution of personal computers since Dell was the biggest manufacturer of personal computers (PC). He was elected the youngest CEO of Fortune Five Hundred Companies.
Michael Dell uses a transformational kind of leadership (Kreitner & Cassidy, 2011). He acts as a role model to his employees and motivates them by being an example to them. He is visionary and leads from the front. He is the key to the success of the Dell Inc. Michael Dell plays a huge role by making his employees his goals and objectives. He clearly defines the goals and targets and mission statement of the company so that the people may know what they are working towards achieving. He is not autocratic but rather participative He is fully involved and actively participate in the entire business process.
Michael Dell, as a manager and leader, has exhibited characters of telling the hard truths and ensuring there is proper information flow. He deals with hard realities and therefore considered to be pragmatic. This is evidenced by the fact that he acknowledged that some computers were wrongly manufactured which then affected his business they needed to be recalled and fixed. He, however, has his way of preparing his employee for the hard truths.
He, therefore, has encountered numerous success that outweighs is failures. Among the failures include being shaky in the face in the pressure arising from the price markdowns. The narrow profit margins have impacted the results and performance of the Dell Company negatively. However, the company has had its fair share of success stories. The Dell Inc. is number 41 among top five hundred top performing companies. The company has expanded over time to become of the best personal computers selling companies. The company started with a capital of 1000 USD and had grown to be a multimillion dollar company.
It is important to note that passion is important above everything if one has to make it on business. Michael Dell had a passion for computers. It is the passion that drove him to be where he is. From Michael Dell’s leadership style, it is important to note that in business, there are successes and failures. Execution is also an important aspect of business. Failures and setbacks are part of the success story (Dosa, 2017). All entrepreneurs should never give up in the face of roadblocks and setbacks. Fears of failure lead to absolute failure. To be successful, everyone must overcome the fear of failure.
Michael Dell asked in an interview how he managed to be successful and generated such a massive income, responded by listing three character traits that every entrepreneur must possess. These traits he summarized as the three Ps. These include passion, problem-solving and being purposeful. One must be passionate in what they do and not just do it for the sake of money. On top of that, entrepreneurs must be great problem solvers which typically describes Michael Dell. Individuals must find a purpose. He described his purpose as that of enabling the human population through technology (Dell, 2017).
According to (Skinner, 2017), Michael Dell is an individual who speaks in a quiet and reflective manner. As a leader, he is inspirational to his staff ad motivates them to achieve more each day. He is also described as a risk taker who works in a comprehensive manner. He never alienates his team but rather incorporates them into the whole business process. He also brings in a quality of trust as he entrusts his staff with major decisions to make.
REFERENCES
Burns, P. (2012). Corporate Entrepreneurship (1st ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Dell, M. (2017). Michael Dell's Rules for Winning Startups. Inc.com. Retrieved 19 January 2017, from http://www.inc.com/michael-dell/rules-for-winning-startups.html
Dosa, T. (2017). 7 Success Tips From Michael Dell. WTPOLA. Retrieved 18 January 2017, from http://make-me-successful.com/7-success-tips-michael-dell/
Kreitner, R. & Cassidy, C. (2011). Management (1st ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage.
Skinner, M. (2017). Michael Dell's Leadership Style. prezi.com. Retrieved 19 January 2017, from https://prezi.com/4c_2r3g8znb2/michael-dells-leadership-style/
