Leadership is the process by which a person exerts influence over others, inspires,
motivates, and directs their activities to help achieve group or organizational goals
(Commonwealth Learning, 2012, p. 124). The Trait Theory of Leadership argues that leaders have
a specific personality, social and physical characteristics traits that influence whether they act as a
leader. However, research has demonstrated that there is no specific set of traits that always
resulted in effective leadership nor could we rely exclusively on traits as a basis of selecting leaders
without including behaviours and situation (Commonwealth Learning, 2012 pp. 124-125).
There are seven traits and personality characteristics related to effective leadership, as seen
in the table below.
TRAIT
Intelligence
Leadership Feature
Helps managers understand complex issues and
solve problems
Knowledge and expertise Helps managers make good decisions and
discover ways to increase efficiency and
effectiveness
Dominance
Helps managers influence their subordinates to
achieve organisational goals
Self-confidence
Contributes to managers’ effectively influencing
subordinates and persisting when faced with
obstacles or difficulties
High energy
Helps managers deal with the many demands
they face
Tolerance for stress
Helps managers deal with uncertainty and the
making of difficult decisions
Integrity and honesty
Helps managers behave ethically and earn their
subordinates’ trust and confidence
Maturity
Helps managers avoid acting selfishly, control
their feelings, and admit when they have made
a mistake
Table 7.1: Traits and personal characteristics related to effective leadership
William Henry Gates III, a business mogul, a pioneer in the technology industry, cofounder and former CEO of Microsoft was born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle Washington. He
is also a philanthropist, spearheading the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, focusing on Global
Health, development and education. Bill Gates is an aspiring leader who has led his company to
become the most technologically advanced in the world. According to his biography, his mission
was to "improve software so that it could be easy, cost-effective and make computers more fun to
use" (Microsoft, 2014). He has successfully pursued his dream and has led Microsoft to thriving
heights under his leadership. In my opinion, the following traits and personal characteristics of
effective leadership led to his success.
Intelligence
Bill Gates' intelligence allowed him to see all sides of the software industry, from product
development to corporate strategy. He began programming mainframe computers at the age of
thirteen while attending the elite Lakeside Prep School in Seattle, Washington. While there he
wrote a Tic-Tac-Toe program in BASIC computer language, which allowed users to play against
the computer (Biography.com).
Even though he dropped out of University, he did not ignore what a good education
provided. He was a fast learner, who quickly adapted to the knowledge of different software and
was quick in applying the theories at Microsoft (Carter, 2014).
Knowledge and Expertise
Gates had a knack for computers and technology from early on in his life. He attended
Harvard University but quit school in 1973 after reading an article on the Altair microcomputer in
the popular Electronics Magazine (Financhill). Because of his willingness to learn about computers
and acquire more knowledge and expertise in the industry, it allowed him to take Microsoft to its
success today.
Having knowledge in a subject or topic is one of the best traits to have in a leader. Gates
focused on what he knew best, and that was software. This provided him with the cutting-edge
advantage, which contributed significantly to the success of Microsoft.
Dominance
When a person is intelligent and has firsthand knowledge and expertise about a subject,
there is a thin line that separates arrogance from dominance. Bill Gates was known to be an
influential and dominant leader. He was very demanding but allowed the freedom of creativity
and innovation, rewarding teams and accepting an individual for his work (Gillard, n.d). According
to Fred Lunenberg, power is the ability to influence be it in a coercive or non-coercive way of
influencing people to influence them to their work outcomes (Lunenberg, 2012). Bill Gates
decided to drop out of school and started Microsoft with a handful of people and convinced his
team to go forward with the strategies and turn Microsoft into one of the world's most recognized
brands (Edstorm, Eller, pp. 32-42).
This dominant trait is also evidenced in the Case Study, as even the meetings conducted
where team members must present their ideas are called the "Bill" Meetings. He would also
interrupt the meetings by shouting criticisms and challenge the team members who are expected
to stand up to him, giving good ideas and logical answers to his questions.