Discussion

Leadership plays an integral role in business as the whole business is organized by the leaders. Many great leaders of leading business set example before the world with their excellence. Hence, the purpose of the study is to understand the importance of leaders and their leadership for a business. The study in order to give a clear understanding of the importance of leaders will discuss one of the great leaders, Larry Page, the founder of Google (Business Insider 2018). Over the years Page has been setting himself as a successful leader before the world. His effectiveness, intelligence and excellence have been topics of discussion and are analyzed so that his leadership qualities can be understood as well as followed by aspiring leaders (Business Insider 2018). Thus, the paper will discuss about the essential six leadership qualities of Larry Page. The analysis will be done in a detailed manner based on the leadership theories. While discussing, the study will be referring certain incidents which reports excellence of Page as a leader. The paper concludes by summing up of the entire study.

Larry Page’s leadership qualities have been discussed widely over the years since his direction elevated Google Inc as the leading company across the entire world. From decision making to employee motivation Page’s leadership qualities made him as the ideal example for other leaders (Business Insider 2018). Apart from that many crisis situations have been effectively managed by Page while maintain the position and brand image the company as the leading organization.

Being the founder of Google Inc, Page was to take several decisions for the interest of the company and its customers. One such decision was dissolving the position of project managers in the company. After taking follow ups for several times, Page realized that the project managers working in the company did not have adequate knowledge of technology in order to supervise the engineers of the company (Business Insider 2018). Even he realized that the project managers were not working effectively causing obstacles in offering best service to the customers of users of the search engine Google. Thus, in order to address the issue, Page took an instant decision of dissolving the position of project managers from the company. Instead he appointed a person as Vice President to be reported by the mangers (The Economic Times 2018). The Vice President whom he appointed had to report to Page directly. Page had taken the decision so that the engineers can work under the supervision of Page effectively.

Over the years, for its excellence Google has achieved the position of a leading company and the best place to work. In regard to that Larry Page’s contribution in leading the employess and making the company as the most desirable place to work cannot be ignored. In order to manage the employees so that they will able to give their best efforts in work Page gives all the amenities and perks to his employees (Robinson, VanderPal and Nhat Hoang 2017). For example, the Google offices across the world have more than basic facilities for employees. The employees are offered with foods that are cooked by best chefs. An employee can get food of his or her choice and more than the quality food containing healthy ingredients are offered to the employees in order to assure better health of the employees (Business Insider 2018). The other perks include spa center, clinique, gym and premise of occasional celebrations. All these perks are given to the employees so that the employees remain motivated to work in the company with their complete efforts.

1. Important decision (s) the leader has made

As per Page’s thought, these perks are given to the employees so that they will be able to remain stress-free at work and can feel valued at work. According to Robinson, VanderPal and Nhat Hoang (2017), as a leader Page believes in cultivating innovative idea into the employees with which they can have big impact on the growth of the business. “I think it is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. Since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition. In fact, there are so few people this crazy that I feel like I know them all by first name,” says Page emphasizing on encouraging the employees to incorporate innovation and creativity at work (Business Insider 2018). Page not only motivates its leaders with financial means but also motivates the employees with non financial means as well (Herzberg 2017). Hence, it can be seen or understood that Page uses the Mayo and Herzberg theory of leadership along with Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs which refer participative management as a useful way of motivating the employees (Maslow 2013).

It is crucial for a leader to have clear vision for the organization as well as for the employees. Larry Page evidently showed how his leadership skills of goal orientation are based o the visionary skills which leads to him to execute the visionary skills in a perfect way (Guillén, Mayo and Korotov 2015). By setting SMART goals for the employees mainly the engineers, Page demonstrated his high visionary skills. Several qualities like goal setting, anticipation of future challenges, responsibility for organization’s action, optimistic attitude and honesty and dignity suggests Page as a good visionary. For example, under the leadership of Page, Google introduced double tier security check in order to stop malicious activities and to provide protection to the users (Business Insider 2018). This action of the company defines the leader’s high visionary attribute so that customer hold of the company can be retained. All these visionary skills of Larry Page did not only assured the growth of the company but also positioned Larry Page as the successful leader to be followed by other aspirant leaders (Robinson, VanderPal and Nhat Hoang 2017). Thus, it will be apt to assert that Larry Page is the true visionary who paved the way of success of the organization over the years and elevated the company among the best companies across the world.

Along with strengths comes the weaknesses and Larry Page is of no exception. While Page has some unique strength as a leader, he has also some weaknesses which are unavoidable while discussing the leadership traits of the leading company over the globe. The major strengths of Page include his encouraging behavior to motivate the employees of the company to give their best in work (Robinson, VanderPal and Nhat Hoang 2017). He emphasizes innovation and creativity of the employees while assuring employee satisfaction to a greater extent by giving them a number of facilities. The other strength of page is his visionary skills which determine the growth of the company and the enhancement of employee enhancement (Business Insider 2018).  Understanding the future trend and requirement of the market and taking measures accordingly suggest efficiency of Page as a leader as denoted by the constant growth of the company. In the meantime, Page’s leadership is not completely free from weaknesses. The immediate decision of dissolving of the certain position in the organization created an outrage among the employees since a large number of people lost their jobs (Business Insider 2018). Hence such action spread a feeling of insecurity in terms of job among the employees. Thus, this failure of securing employee satisfaction can be regarded as the major weakness of Page.

2. Dealing with managers and employees

Essential lessons of leadership and management can be learnt from Larry Page as under his guidance Google Inc has achieved the position of best organization. The main successful lessons from Larry page are quick decision making ability, minimizing of bureaucracy, continuous improvement, cultivation of innovative ideas and encouraging the employees, focusing on big and remaining persistent (Business Insider 2018). Larry Page essentially focuses on encouraging the employees in cultivating innovative ideas and incorporates into in the business process. Thus in order to motivate the employees, Page uses both the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation theories (Hennessey et al. 2015). For example, beside of financial benefits, the employees are given recognition like best employee award to the employees. Instead of autocratic leadership, Page believes in making the employees to feel equal contributor and valued so that they can continue their employment with the organization for a long run (Business Insider 2018). Hence, these above mentioned lessons from Larry Page’s leadership can be extremely beneficial for the future leaders.

Larry Page is considered as one of the greatest leaders in the business world. However, the great leader was inspired by several personalities including Steve Jobs and an Italian science and math professor. Around the year of 1997, the Italian math and science professor Massimo Marchiori during an internet conference in Santa Clara played a crucial role in inspiring Page on how internet could be searched efficiently (Business Insider 2018). On the other hand, Page was also inspired by Steve Jobs who had been a co-founder of Apple Inc as he said, “Jobs was a great man with incredible achievements and amazing brilliance. He always seemed to be able to say in very few words what you actually should have been thinking before you thought it. His focus on the user experience above all else has always been an inspiration to me. He was very kind to reach out to me as I became CEO of Google and spend time offering his advice and knowledge even though he was not at all well” (Financial Review  2018). However, Page is considered to be a born leader and entrepreneur. The desire to do something new was the driving force behind his invention of a search engine and making the company stand out in the industry of information technology (Business Insider 2018).

Conclusion

Thus to conclude it will be apt to assert that Larry Page is a true example of a successful leader whose contribution is not only limited to the growth of the company but is significant in the area of leadership. Hence shedding the light on the leadership qualities of Larry Page, the study discusses the three major areas based on which Page has successfully set himself as an ideal leader. The study is of major importance since it has referred some practical instances of Page’s success which are potential to motivate other leaders to a considerable extent. The study conducted analysis in an integrated manner so that a leader’s importance in a business can be understood.

References

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Business Insider 2018. The fabulous life of Google cofounder and Alphabet CEO Larry Page. [online] Business Insider. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.in/The-fabulous-life-of-Google-cofounder-and-Alphabet-CEO-Larry-Page/articleshow/59921402.cms [Accessed 15 Sep. 2018].

Business Insider 2018. The Story Of How Larry Page Got Forced From The Top Of Google And Came Back A Decade Later. [online] Business Insider. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.in/The-Story-Of-How-Larry-Page-Got-Forced-From-The-Top-Of-Google-And-Came-Back-A-Decade-Later/articleshow/34164905.cms [Accessed 15 Sep. 2018].

Business Insider 2018. Was This 1997 Encounter The Moment Larry Page First Got The Idea For Google?. [online] Business Insider. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.in/Was-This-1997-Encounter-The-Moment-Larry-Page-First-Got-The-Idea-For-Google/articleshow/35217515.cms [Accessed 15 Sep. 2018].

Financial Review 2018. How Steve Jobs’ last advice to Larry Page inspired Alphabet. [online] Financial Review. Available at: https://www.afr.com/technology/how-steve-jobs-last-advice-to-larry-page-inspired-alphabet-20150812-k9zoe [Accessed 15 Sep. 2018].

Guillén, L., Mayo, M. and Korotov, K., 2015. Is leadership a part of me? A leader identity approach to understanding the motivation to lead. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(5), pp.802-820.

Hennessey, B., Moran, S., Altringer, B. and Amabile, T.M., 2015. Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Wiley encyclopedia of management, pp.1-4.

Herzberg, F., 2017. Motivation to work. Routledge.

Maslow, A.H., 2013. A theory of human motivation. Simon and Schuster.

Robinson, D., VanderPal, G. and Nhat Hoang, D., 2017. Entrepreneurs’ Leadership Experiences with Specific Regard to Mentorship. International Journal of Management, pp.23-56.

The Economic Times 2018. Larry Page: The untold story of an incredible comeback. [online] The Economic Times. Available at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/larry-page-the-untold-story-of-an-incredible-comeback/articleshow/34527642.cms [Accessed 15 Sep. 2018].