BILL GATES: A PROMINENT LEADER

INTRODUCTION:
Bill Gates is an Entrepreneur and Philanthropist. He was born on 28 October 1955, in Seattle, Washington.
As the principal founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates is one of the most influential and richest people on the
planet. Gates was fascinated by computers when he was young. He is the co-founder of Microsoft, the
company which created the Windows operating system. He is credited as an entrepreneur who
revolutionized the computer industry. The story of how Bill Gates, a student of Harvard University,
dropped out to start one of the most successful company is probably known to everyone. Many wondered
how a college dropout can succeed in life. For Bill Gates, it meant following his heart and passion for
computer programming.
Bill Gates grew up in an upper middle-class family. Bill Gates is married to Melinda French in 1992. They
have three children Jennifer, Rory and Phoebe. With his wife, Bill Gates formed the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation. He spent lots of years working from his garage, developing coding and programming, and
learning how to create a solution with global reach. A leader gets in there and rolls his sleeves up because
success is not just about thinking up a good idea. Gates has never been someone to simply satisfied with
the success, “he thinks it is more important to observe the lessons of failure.” He became a legend day by
day because he always understood the markets needs and desires. A leader should not be static, they
should be dynamic, Gates knew that and maintain leadership position very well. Bill Gates have lots of
different quality in different terms. His life’s work shows a pattern of actions that how he become a legend
among historical business leader. When he was young, he spent most of the time learning how to program.
That time he decided it was a most important to pursue what he was passionate about. He believed that “If
you have to work, make sure it is something you truly love doing, and don’t get stuck in an industry that
does not interest you. When doing what you love you can enjoy every day and want to go work, and you
are also more likely to successful.”

What sets Bill Gates apart from other business entrepreneurs is the fact that he is one of those rare
business leaders who believe in giving more than earning. A complete analysis of Bill Gates would be
incomplete without looking at the philanthropic and humanitarian efforts of bill gates. He founded the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation to tackle global problems often ignored by governments and corporations.
The foundation concentrates on tackling global health issues like AIDS, polio, tuberculosis and malaria.
Furthermore, like some of the most important philanthropists, Gates and his wife have decided to give
almost 95 percent of their family wealth to charity. His abilities to envision and strategize are what make
him a great leader. What he has done for the past few years of his life make him a great leader because, he
used his profits from his business to benefit people's lives who are unfortunately poor. Bill Gates is my
favourite leader because I have acknowledged his achievements in improving our technology to save lives
and has donated money to save lives as well.
Leadership Style of Bill Gates:
 Bill Gates follows a more participative leadership style. He believes in the value of input from his
employees for overall company success. He understands that business will have fluctuations and changes
must be adapted to in order to succeed. With this business attitude, Gates has created a company that has
been able to withstand the storm and still come out on top as a shining star. Also, Bill Gates focused on
transformational leadership because that style came naturally to him. He could adapt to other types of
leadership when the need arose, but for the most part, his time at Microsoft was dominated by this
leadership style.
LEADERSHIP TRAITS OF BILL GATES
1. Vision- Without a doubt, Bill Gates is a man with vision. It was vision that inspired him to pursue the
creation of a graphical interface that became Microsoft software. From the beginning, he recognized
potential for growth and opportunity. His ability to envision goals also reaches into his philanthropic
pursuits. It can be seen in the malaria project he is now pursuing at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The goal is to eradicate malaria, and he’s laid out a strategy to get from A to B. His abilities to envision and
strategize make it easy for others to follow him.
2. Clear Thinking- It is very significant that leaders have a clear thought about what they want to achieve.
Bill Gates always dreamt big and pursued his objective with determination. He always thought of
competing with the largest of companies and never deviated from his thought. This is one of the most
important traits that is needed in a leader
3.Focus- Knowing something is much different than having wisdom. Gates focuses on the one thing he knows
best, which is software, and then he makes it the best it can become. He worked hard to dominate his and
stuck with the skills that he considered to be his strongest. His focus can be seen through the work he does
with his charitable foundation.
4. Continuous Learning-A person must always strive to learn new things. Knowledge should be continuously
improved and that is exactly what Bill Gates has done thought out his life. He still strives to learn from
everyone and this is what which makes him great leader. Though dropping out of college to his dreams, Bill
Gates has probably read and written more than most of us ever will. In the process, he has shown the limits
of formal education. Perhaps it is more important to realize that learning is a life-long process as knowledge
is infinite.
5.Creativity-Instead of staying in a zone of comfort, Gates encouraged himself and his people to embrace
creativity. His leadership style works to empower people because individual perspectives create new
opportunities to explore ideas. Although some people followed him because of the charisma he exudes,
many people followed Gates because they knew he could help them transform themselves into better
leaders too.
6.Giving back to society-The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has provided a new dimension to
philanthropy by addressing issues that are global in nature - malaria, cancer, AIDS. Feeling good by doing
good may appear old-fashioned but this may yet be the best way forward in combating diseases that kill
millions of people every year. Bill Gates has shown a remarkable degree of consistency both in his business
goals and in his goals in philanthropy.
7. Passionate- There is no denying the fact that Bill Gates put a lot of love into everything he did for the
company. Even if the only thing he needed to do was write a thank you note, you were guaranteed a message
that came straight from his heart. Like many transformational leaders, the belief of Bill Gates is that if
something is worth doing, then it is worth doing to the best of one’s abilities.
8.Smart Worker- Most of the people consider that he does not work much, yet he gets results. However,
the reality is that he works smartly and does not believe in showing off what he is doing. He believes in
working smartly rather than working hard without planning.
9. Not to be deterred by failure- Bill Gates has always believes that actions speak louder than words. He
always believed that whatever odds a person faces he should never be saddened. Bill Gates had cases against
him in the court but that did not stop him from chasing his dream, making great successful products.
Eventually he did emerge as a winner and that’s what makes him a great leader.
10. Valuing time -One of Bill Gates's famous quotes, “no matter how much money you have, you can’t buy
more time”. This implies that Gates values every minute and prioritizes his daily activities to ensure a good
influence in the most important. Irrespective of how much success he has recorded his value for time has
remained the same. He still believes in proper planning and leadership commitment knowing he has the
same number of hours with everyone.
11.Persistence and Perseverance-Another quality that made Bill Gates successful, is his ability to persist and
persevere. Bill Gates himself said, ‘There is nothing that was overnight’. The initial versions of the Windows
operating system were not that successful but his persistence made Windows, the most popular operating
system in the world.
12. Sense of Humour- Bill Gates has a great sense of humour, and that is what makes him a great
communicator which is also an attribute of good leader.
Thing I would have done differently than Bill Gates:
I would be doing the same work that Bill gates is doing. As whatever he achieved is because of his own hard
work and knowledge. But if one thing I have to different from him then maybe I would be investing money
into more complex projects to diversify and would try to complete my graduation. I would be completing
graduation not because degree is important but because I would be having money and time that I can invest
in learning other aspects of education as learning is an ongoing process and a good leader never stops
learning. Also, I would be doing something to encourage giving at a grass roots level. While his philanthropy
is to be commended and is definitely making a huge difference, there is a risk that it's sending the message
that charity is the exclusive domain of the rich.
LEADERSHIP QUOTES BY BILL GATES: