Introduction
Leadership is complex and has various definitions, qualities, concepts, and theories. As such, different leaders apply different leadership approaches and styles. A comprehensive yet precise definition of leadership portrays leadership as a multidimensional process of identifying goals, motivating others to act, and giving pertinent support to realize mutually agreed goals (Paterson, 2013).
The role of a leader in any leadership philosophy or style is vital. The leader elicits efficacy from the followers. In eliciting effectiveness from other people, leaders influence and lead people with aims of developing shared values, visions, and expectations to realize organizational goals. It is imperative to note that, traditionally, the leaders’ characteristics and personal traits were seen as distinct from those of followers.
Further, different leaders have different attributes, which influence their leadership styles. While some people are born leaders, some people need training, knowledge, and skills. The fact that there are different leadership styles implies that there are bad leaders and good leaders. This research paper compares and contrasts a good leader, Warren Buffett, and a bad leader, Martin Shkreli.
Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors and the best leaders in the world. He is the CEO and the chairperson of Berkshire Hathaway. Warren Buffett has had a positive influence on leadership due to his various noble aspects.
First, Warren Buffett’s career and leadership experience have made him undergo what experts on integrated leadership consider basic steps to the making of a great leader. It is worth noting that Buffett’s leadership style has developed over time. Various biographies describing the developmental and transformational stages of the Buffett’s leadership have been written. For instance, Edward Kelly gave a systematic transformation of Buffett using a theory of development. According to Kelly, Buffett has undergone the necessary transformational stages that make a good leader. The stages include opportunist, diplomat, expert, achiever, individualist, strategist, and alchemist (Kelly, 2013).
Second, good leaders value their followers. The value of followers and stakeholders has been a key pillar of Buffett’s leadership success. Buffett’s leadership creates environments where employees, customers, and all stakeholders are valued. For instance, he trusts his employees and forgives whenever they make mistakes. As such, delegation is made easy (Stallard, 2014).
Third, knowing when to, when not to, and when to use minimal resources is a vital characteristic of a good leader. Good leaders, therefore, don not waste finances. Buffett is considered one of the most frugal billionaires in the world (Poh, 2016). His frugality is not only evident in his private life but also informs most of his investment and leadership decisions (Poh, 2016). He, for instance, acquired Berkshire when other investors considered the company invaluable. Afterward, he increased the value of the company by not spending superfluously but focusing all resources on value addition. Notably, Buffett’s frugality has influenced most of his followers (Poh, 2016).
Martin Shkreli
Martin Shkreli is one of the worst leaders. He is a former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. He drastically hiked the prices of vital drugs without considering the interest of AIDS, cancer, and malaria patients. Some experts argue that Shkreli had extremely limited leadership skills and was only motivated by his greed (Lee, 2016).
First, bad leaders have little interest in their companies’ missions, products, and stakeholders. Shkreli demonstrated little understanding of and interest in the pharmaceutical firms’ stakeholders. His core interest was to make money even when it meant hurting customers. He, for instance, did not consider customers when he drastically increased the price of Darapprim by over 3700% (Lee, 2016).
Second, bad leaders hardly take criticism even when they are wrong. The media and other concerned stakeholders sharply criticized Shkreli’s leadership skills and decision-making capabilities. Shkreli’s responses demonstrated an indifferent and careless attitude. Sometimes, he even became offensive, especially through his social media accounts (Temi, 2016).
Third, bad leaders don not consider discipline and professional ethics. It is imperative to note that different disciplines have unique codes of conduct and pertinent ethics. Leaders, therefore, should work under the provisions of discipline-related ethics. Shkreli has limited knowledge and expertise in the health sector. He is not a pharmacist and lacks medical background (Sainato, 2015). Shkreli adopted leadership and decision-making techniques that were not appropriate in the pharmaceutical industry. He made critical financial decisions, based on his knowledge in finance, without any consideration of the health implications (Sainato, 2015).
Leadership styles
Different leaders adopt various leadership styles. Several factors, including the size of firms, levels of interaction, and personalities, inform leadership styles adopted.
Warren Buffett adopts a somewhat democratic leadership style. He allows team members to contribute to decision-making processes. He allows some managers to make critical decisions in running businesses. As such, the level of employee engagement is relatively high. The democratic style is based on the participative theory of leadership that allows leadership concepts such as developing other leaders. Therefore, contrary to the Great Man theory, which argues that leaders are born, Buffett’s approaches help develop other leaders.
On the other hand, Martin Shkreli does not adopt participative approaches in decision-making processes. His style is rather autocratic since he did not comprehensively involve stakeholders in his decisions to hike drug prices. He portrayed power over his staff and, therefore, the staff made minimal efforts to change his decision even when they had adverse implications on stakeholders’ interest.
The contingency theories and concepts of leadership apply to the two (Buffett and Shkreli) leadership approaches. The contingency theories hold the view that no particular leadership style is suitable in all circumstances (Amanchukwu, Stanley, & Ololube, 2015). As such, environments highly influence decision-making processes. In some instances, Buffett may use either contingency approaches or democratic approaches. Shkreli, on the other hand, adopted a style that is only appropriate to a selfish leader. As such, his approach is specific to his situation and cannot be adopted by selfless leaders who value the interests of all stakeholders.
Conclusion
It is evident that different leaders have different personalities, diverse approaches to leadership, and adopt different leadership styles. The differences imply that there are different types of leaders. There are good leaders and bad leaders. This research paper has illustrated the different characteristics of leaders, which determine whether a leader is good or bad. The paper studies the leadership approaches of two CEOs, Warren Buffett, and Martin Shkreli.
While Warren Buffett worked hard to realize sustainable success, Martin Shkreli was interested in an instant financial success that ended up ruining his reputation and that of his pharmaceutical firm. Therefore, Buffett is a perfect example of a good leader while Shkreli portrays the qualities of a bad leader.
References
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Kelly, E. J. (2013). Warren Buffett’s Transformation in Leadership: Part 2. Integrated Leadership Review, 1-11.
Lee, B. Y. (2016). How Did Martin Shkreli Ever Become A Pharmaceutical CEO?
Paterson, J. G. (2013). Leadership Styles and Theories. Nursing Standard, 27(41), 35-39.
Poh, M. (2016). What Makes Warren Buffett So Successful. Web.
Sainato, M. (2015). Over 5000% Price Gouge Still Not Lowered by Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO, Martin Shkreli.
Stallard, M. L. (2014). Warren Buffett’s 3 Practices that Attract and Retain Top Talent. Web.
Temi, D. (2016). Advice To Martin Shkreli: 9 Ways To Stop Being The Most Hated Man On The Planet.