Entrepreneur and its related marks are registered trademarks of Entrepreneur Media Inc. Although Elon Musk is a one-of-akind CEO, many of the leadership qualities vital to his success can be developed in managers throughout a company. As he has made, sold and ran a bevy of successful companies, its clear that he utilizes a very specific type of leadership to keep the train of innovation chugging. Creates and turns vision into business realities. He hires brilliant and talented individuals that can design and develop his products. In addition to self reflection, gather feedback from your colleagues and team, and use any constructive comments to improve processes, relationships and performance in the office. Elon Musk may be Time's person of the year, but fintech executives should not follow his cavalier communication style. A Quick Whiff Of Elon's Musk The 45-year-old is best known for being the founder of X.Com which later became PayPal, one of the largest Internet payment companies. Elon Musk possesses the ability to think at the system level of design. You have two choices in life - to see the world as a pessimist, or . Demonstrates perseverance in the face of adversity and to overcoming obstacles. Big ideas always come from small thinking. That 100% meant enough to him that he put himself in a possibly awkward situation, speaking with his professor, and having the hard conversation that many people shy away from. What's the point of doing that? Skip to document. 35, no. Find out why in this fantastic piece (also from Wait But Why). One course of action many successful companies have implemented to create a learning culture is to give financial assistance to its employees to further their education.4 Educational benefits are becoming increasingly important as more millennials enter the workplace. On Teslas blog, Musk gave his rebuttal to the public, For consumers concerned about fire risk, there should be absolutely zero doubt that it is safer to power a car with a battery than a large tank of highly flammable liquid.15 When PayPal was sold to eBay, Musk began to focus on what he's best known for today: SpaceX, Tesla Motors and SolarCity. Few more of his leadership traits are given below: Leading with Purpose Collaborative Being Comfortable with Change Operating with integrity Being Continuous learner is a priority Optimistic By any measure, Elon Musk is exceptionally successful. In the end, he got his way. While there are lots of impressive leaders, few touch his superhero scale. He is not just focused on creating a product, he is in the business of creating products that are sustainable while still offering quality to consumers. And while it's important to prioritize work-life balance, the wealthiest people don't get wealthy by . So what are the most important characteristics of a good leader? He also uses the feedback loop as part of his self-reflection and self-improvement he seeks to always do better than he did before as he knows that every improvement will lead him closer to achieving his goals. Question and challenge the status quo. And Musk quickly became one of my personal heroes. Because "no" meant nothing. The Harvard Business Review article, Like It or Not, You Are Always Leading by Example explains that all serious leaders recognize that their example has a continuous impact on their company. If we can overcome the initial fear of being told "no" and understand that no truly means nothing, we'll be better for it. I believe that he really cares about contributing to society and bringing the human race forward to a better tomorrow.After all, this is the man who allowed other automobile manufacturers to freely make use of Teslas valuable battery technology. Had he been afraid of failure, two of the most recognizable companies in the United States may no longer exist. It's not hard to think of well-known, visionary leaders of the past few decades. The basic aim of the study is to find out to what extent the patterns of leadership tactics match with Musk's leadership in Tesla motors. An electric railroad. Errol shot and killed . In this segment were looking atElon Musk, the creator of brands such as PayPal, SpaceX, and Tesla. This merged with Confinity to become Paypal. Bhd. Businesses can't replicate Musk's lifetime of experience in their employees. Related: Elon Musk Responds to a Request From a Tweeter Who Sent Him the Same Message 154 Times. Musk also co-founded Tesla Motors, which aims to build low-cost electric vehicles and revolutionize the automobile industry. Leveraging Digital Towards Improving Sustainability. We live in a highly distracting world. 2.1.3.1 Visionary Leadership Elon Musk is an example of the visionary leader. Shareholders in the car firm would probably like their hitherto successful CEO back full time. Musk is the. 1. Empowering Trust Humility Visionary Delegation Innovative Positive Inquisitive Problem Solving Initiative for action Nuturing & Empathetic Active listening Patience Gratitude Strategic & Focussed Decision making Resilience Comittment Good communication Influence Transparency Respect Bill Gates. Oprah Winfrey. "Being immersed can be defined as a state of focus in which a person is completely absorbed and engrossed in their work." He is an early investor in SPACEX, PAYPAL, inc. tesla motors and zip2. Promoting life-long learning among a companys employees is essential to maintaining its competitive edge. Big ideas always come from small thinking. In Musk's version of optimism, he does everything possible to ensure that things work out for the best instead of relying on hope. Visiting Professor of Management Practice, Bayes Business School, City, University of London. Because "no" meant nothing. Musk, 46, has a worth of more than $20 billion and has said he is using his personal asset to build his new visions. Elon Musk is such kind of a leader who possesses a lot of leadership qualities and styles. There are many CEOs, looking like a CEO, they are trying to how theirselves honest for PR campaigns to make people to believe their words and actions, but it is not a true leader should be like. With transformational leadership styles on the rise, Elon Musk has also entered the list of the 21st century's most influential CEOs along with Steve Jobs, Reed Hastings, and Jeff Bezos. Musk has described his estranged father Errol as "evil.". Being a perfectionist, he went to his professor and got them to change his score to a 100%. These five traits together create what is presumably a great leader (Gavin, 2019). Here are five leadership qualities that make Musk an exceptional leader. Gavin, M. (2019b, December 10). Heres part 1. In this case, a core task for the new CEO will be to recognise what sort of business Twitter is, and decide whether it is really a conventional for-profit business at all. When It Comes to Investing, Do You Think Like Warren Buffett or Elon Musk? Fortunately, his mothers Canadian citizenship enabled him to obtain a Canadian passport and a one-way flight to Montreal. Musks childhood problem with bullies played a large role in developing his optimistic tendencies. All he focused on was the task at hand. Write an article and join a growing community of more than 160,400 academics and researchers from 4,572 institutions. Make sure you understand the fundamental principles of what youre trying to do before you get into the details, otherwise you could be building on faulty ground.. Today, Musks hard-earned lesson to remain optimistic enables him to see a bright future in industries doomed by his critics to failure. Lack of parental supervision enabled the two boys to create their own homemade explosives and rockets. Watch this TED Talk interview with Elon Musk: Wait But Why did anamazingseries on Elon Musk. He attended private schools and had a tough time as he was severely bullied by his peers. We'll be in your inbox every morning Monday-Saturday with all the days top business news, inspiring stories, best advice and exclusive reporting from Entrepreneur. SpaceXs experimental rockets frequently make the news for launch failures. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider It is influential and powerful. But can we describe why the SpaceX CEO is the way he is? Not only do these three specific qualities identify the definition of an authentic leader, but they help define Elon Musk and his rise to leader status and fame. By age 14, he was designing rockets with paper and pencil. Do you stand firm in defence of your vision? He loves what he's doing because he does what he loves. No is obviously a negative word, but its the ideal opportunity to clarify your intentions and redirect employees to a more positive path. 8 Simon Sinek. 2023 Leaderonomics Sdn. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); (function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true); Your email address will not be published. Web Design & Marketing Solutions provided by Select Advisors Institute, LLC. Through his unique life circumstances, Musk has developed the important leadership qualities of being (1) a proactive learner, (2) a hard worker, (3) a bold visionary, and (4) an unwavering optimist, which still influence his success today. (2021). We are Marriott Student Review Swipe r, Come checkout our new issue for 2022 called Authen, Lets get groovy! Because sometimes, more than winning, leaders should inspire. 2. Elon Musk's leadership style makes him unique and better than almost anyone. How Elon Musk and Tim Cook Will be Remembered in Business History. Wow, you scrolled all the way to the bottom! I feel the exact same way. This event makes him a charismatic leader. Musk once said, "I'd rather be optimistic and wrong, than pessimistic and right.". I believe Musk's exceptional ability to healthfully maintain his intensity comes because of his flow state mindset, his passion for his work, and his absolute focus. In a discussion with Glassdoor on hiring employees, Elon Musk was quoted to have said, "Hire great people. Musk changes his mind frequently sometimes within hours, as we saw recently when he appeared to walk back a policy change regarding users ability to link to other social media accounts. Conclusion. This is 90 percent of the solution, as hiring wrong can cost you so much." Elon Musk noted hiring the right people as his most important advice for up-and-coming leaders. . A railroad. In 1989, Musk moved to Canada and began undergraduate studies at Queens University in Ontario. We can rattle off Elon Musk's accomplishments in our sleep: co-founder of monetary giant PayPal; founder of Tesla Motors, the electric car company that is changing the world; and founder of Space X, which is focused on space exploration and space travel, and has even sent NASA to the International Space Station on his spacecraft. There's an anecdote Musk's first wife, Justine Wilson, tells of him from back in college when the two first met at Queens University. In 2017, Musk resigned from his post with the White House Advisory Council over the United States withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. Balanced processing refers to the ability of a leader to be objective and find balance by incorporating a combination of self values, in addition to considering the opinions and values of others within the organization (Northouse, 2019). The reason that we feel Elon Musk is an outstanding example of the entrepreneurial spirit is his ability to overcoming disappointment. Elon Musk is inventive, intuitive, sociable, and adaptable. I would have been happy with a 98%. The truth is, if we are passionate or find passion in the work we're doing, work stops feeling like work. 2.1.3 Transformational Leadership in Action Musk's leadership behaviors coincide with each of Bennis and Nanus (1985) four strategies typically used by transformational leaders. Randy Garn Think of your own work life and the way you go about your day-to-day tasks. He then takes each answer to the question and attempts to flesh it out in the best possible way. As a teenager, the self-denoted low point of Musks manual labor career involved donning a hazmat suit to clean boilers at a lumber mill by shoveling steaming goop from the inside of a tunnel. How often does something small in scale pull your attention away, making you less productive and less effective? Now many of you will read this and think: Why? He often gets frustrated when employees cannot follow his instructions. He is honest, hard-working, and a leader who has influenced many. When you lead like Musk, youre always pushing for something greater: We believe everyone could stand to be a little fearless and a little more curious when leading their teams to greatness. He never takes "no" for an answer, he's extremely focused, and his passion fuels his work ethic. In fact, there was a time during Tesla's infancy where a specific problem needed solving, so Musk would sleep under his desk and work 75-hour weeks until that problem was solved. The social media platforms current position leads on to a third requirement for the new leader: imagination. Here is how we would define a leader with a passion for innovation. Has learned from disappointing experiences. But he wouldn't take no for an answer. Im lucky I have all my fingers.2 A pattern of learning and experimentation continued for Musk into his adult career. . Chatham: Newstex, 2015. https://search-proquest-com.erl.lib.byu.edu/docview/1652311317?accountid=4488. Originally published He received his first computer at 9 and by 12 had coded and sold a video game (Cole, 2021). Authentic leadership has three components to its definition that I believe Elon Musk meets criteria for. I would have been happy with a 98%. Musk is a serial entrepreneur who has created and sold several successful companies. It is not a platform like Facebook or Instagram that can deliver billions of users to potential advertisers. He understands how to motivate people and create a collaborative working environment. So the new CEO will need to be confident, perhaps even arrogant, and ready to stand their ground. Confidence and independence A new Twitter CEO will want. (2021, April 7). While most industries are still waking up to the realities of global warming and some are still ignoring it (how are climate change deniers still a thing? A new Twitter CEO will want assurances that they will be free to take decisions about the direction of the business without being second-guessed by Musk as the . Read our privacy policy for more information. From time to time, take the time to reflect on your own performance as a leader. Cole, R. (2021, June 24). His electric supercars seat seven. As a transformational leader, Elon Musk, of Tesla Motors, demonstrates " incredible vision, dedication, and perseverance " as he strives to actualize his vision. 1. He may rethink stepping down, or even appoint someone only to sack them. Because managers generally interact with a large number of employees, they have a tremendous opportunity to influence office culture. I understand that the data I am submitting will be used to provide me with the above-described products and/or services and communications in connection therewith. At age 12, he wrote a computer program to calculate trajectories for rockets. But he wouldn't take no for an answer. As a fan of Elon Musk and his strides to a futuristic way of living, I can appreciate your points about his authentic leadership. Hope is not a part of his aggressive optimism. At age 15, Musk embarked on his trek to the land of opportunity with two small caveats: (1) he would have little money, and(2) he would have no home. Elon Musk's leadership style is awe-inspiring - most of the time. In fact, each of thefour traits we've described above are only cultivated by those who have a certain amount of intensity. As of October 2016, his estimated net worth is US$11.5 billion. The leadership style directly affects Tesla. After Ashley Vances book, this is the best piece of writing out there on the man behind Space X and Tesla. He views these as experiments that didnt work out and simply moves on to the next step. He is the co-founder of PayPal, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, and CEO and product architect at Tesla Motors (Cole, 2021). With all said and done, most chief executive officers are only after bolstering bottom lines and keeping investors happy.