Servant Leadership of Bill Gates

Servant Leadership of Bill Gates

Bill Gates is a package of a servant leader by heart and not by learning. In developing Windows, he applied many principles of servant leadership. The program paved way for the popularity of the World Wide Web. Bill Gates has been in leadership positions for a very long time and people consider him humble which makes it inevitable for him to be an example of servant leadership. He had a calling because he never even graduated yet his innovation is useful to the whole world at the moment. He had foresight, awareness, conceptualization and the patience to nurture the calling (Reynolds, 2011). He created windows from the ground up and yet he still has time to run charity organizations. This shows that the money did not get into his head and make him forget where he came from. By establishing Melinda and Bill Gates foundation, he employs community building, empathy, listening and healing. A man of his status doing such a thing shows that he understands the importance of being a servant in order to lead people to achieve their set goals.

Melinda and Bill Gates foundation is clear example of servant leadership by Bill Gates. He left the corporate space to focus on philanthropy which is helping people (Zentner, 2016). Even if he employs people to work in the foundation, its existence shows foresight into the welfare of people. He developed Microsoft and windows and let other people take control when he left for his charity work. He shows that he trusts people to carry on with his innovation, improve it and grow with it. The two acts of servant leadership are very clear about Bill Gates. Bill Gates is already a phenomenal servant leader by having the ability to innovate and properly the communication and information giant enterprise that is Microsoft and windows.

Bill Gates is among the world’s richest people. He is also one of the most humble leaders ever seen. He is one big supporter of helping his employees grow. He is a leader with a vision for everybody he works with. He has grown to his present heights by ensuring that his employees do not feel restricted and barred from progress. According to the Greenleaf’s guides to servant leadership, Bill Gates fits the profile of a servant leader (The Servant Leadership Example of Bill and Melinda Gates, n.d.). His innovation helps many people and that is his mission, not the profit generated. By leaving Microsoft, he taught people how to run it and let them apply the skills. This is special. Not many people would entrust their innovation to other people like Bill Gates did.

I would want to have the kind of confidence Bill Gates has in people. I would want to be in a position to train my employees and trust them to do the job well and encourage them to even do better than me. I would also appreciate to work under a leader who genuinely wants to see employees progress without the fear of being surpassed.  Stewardship is not always about being ahead of matters but in a position to let people grow. A good steward will allow people to shine their best. In the current world, it is difficult to find leaders who are not jealous and high handed in leading organizations. I would want to have a leadership skill that allows me to guide my employees without inhibiting their growth in the industry. A good leader improves the quality of lives of their employees.

References

Reynolds, K. (2011). Servant-Leadership as Gender-Integrative Leadership; Paving a path for more gender-intergrative organizations through leadership education. Journal of Leadership Education, 1-17.

The Servant Leadership Example of Bill and Melinda Gates. (n.d.). Retrieved from Georgia Institute for Non Profit Leadership: georgiainstitutefornonprofitlearsdhip.wordpress.com

Zentner, A. (2016, April). Bill Gates; A Servant Leader. Retrieved from Research Gate: www.researchgate.net/publication/307596808_Bill_Gates_A_Servant_Leader