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Elon Musk was born on 28th June 1871 in Pretoria, South Africa. He has founded and cofounded some of the most renowned corporations globally, including Tesla Motors Corporation, Space Exploration Technologies, commonly known as SpaceX, and SolarCity. Elon Musk has led these organizations correctly and made them successful. He believes that the world can be made better in the future by helping produce cars that are very eco-friendly but cheap, sustainable, and easy to produce. He is a good choice because his visions may seem impossible to achieve. However, he has proven that nothing is unachievable by founding companies such as Tesla motors that will help him steer Earth into a better, cheap, and safe future. He has successfully launched rockets to space and produced cars that use solar roofs that are much better for the environment. This essay will focus on Elon Musk, the character traits that make him a successful leader in relation to trait theory, behavioral theory as well as transformational leadership, and how he can perform better in the future.
Elon Musk and Leadership
Leadership is where an individual makes an effort to influence and optimize the efforts of others to attain the set goals. An individual that makes this effort to influence the efforts of others is called a leader. However, effective leaders are not all the same as they vary in different aspects that warrant the success of their visions. Elon Musk is a very successful leader that has led various organizations such as SpaceX, SolarCity, and Tesla to success (Vance, 2017). To understand the traits and personality that make Musk an effective leader, the trait theory of leadership is essential.
The trait theory of leadership is a strategy that helps understand the personality and traits that determine a person. This theory works under the perspective of personality traits that result from recurring behaviors and thoughts patterns. The first traits that Elon Musk displays are honesty and integrity, which are very important traits that help a leader be effective. These traits enable Elon Musk to maintain his ethics, core and values. Musk is known to address honesty at any time throughout his whole career. For instance, the Falcon 9 of SpaceX has experienced many failures and setbacks (Vance, 2017). Due to this, many investors started to doubt if it would be launched on time. Instead of lying about the issue, Elon Musk just honestly communicated that the rocket would be released at a later time, which displayed his honesty.
Another important trait that Elon Musk exhibits in his leadership is confidence. According to the trait theory, effective leaders must be confident (Perera, Witharana and Withanage, 2021). This is because they are tasked with the responsibility of making difficult decisions on the next phase of their goal. Elon Musk possesses the greatest confidence compared to other leaders in the industry, thereby making him a charismatic leader. Elon has never hesitated to pursue his set goal, even when they have been thought to be impossible (Vance, 2017). Therefore, effective leaders require this trait to make their decisions confidently.
Elon Musk has shown a great level of confidence in his leadership in various corporations. SpaceX is one company that showcases the level of confidence in Elon Musk, whose goal is to make humanity multi-planetary. The greatest achievement of this company was when the Falcon model was released to deliver food to the astronauts that were in space. Moreover, Elon was also confident in starting Tesla motors, whose main objective was to produce environmentally friendly cars (Niedermeyer, 2021). Musk is also a risk-taker in many of his projects (Archwell and Mason, 2021). He displayed this when he invented PayPal, a digital banking platform that allowed clients to transact digitally or online.
Elon Musk also has the ability to inspire others both directly and indirectly. In relation to the trait theory, an effective leader is one that is able to inspire or persuade others into fulfilling the set goals and objectives (Lord, Epitropaki, Foti and Hansbrough, 2020). By setting a good example for others to follow, an effective leader has to be able to handle pressure and ensure that the group remains motivated. This is another thing that Elon Musk succeeded in when he still motivated his employees after failing to launch Falcon 9.
Another example of how he inspires others is the case of SolarCity. The business was started by his cousins but only succeeded when it was under his mentorship. Following its ability to improve on its strategy, the company has now been taken under Tesla Motors Corporation. This is because it provides means to protect the environment by producing technology that is affordable and environmentally friendly (Vance, 2017). Additionally, SpaceX has experienced numerous setbacks but has been able to succeed because of Elons leadership, which allows him to motivate employees to work smarter and enable them to achieve more than is expected. However, Musk is very demanding and forces his employees to work for long hours without breaks to achieve the set goals (Archwell and Mason, 2021). Considering SpaceX is a private company, it was not expected to compete with companies such as NASA, but it has proven to be more than capable of being considered a worthy rival of NASA. This has only been possible because of the motivation that Musk provides in his leadership role.
Elon Musk has been passionate in fields related to computer technology since he was young. Elon was able to develop a video game at age twelve, which he sold to a computer magazine (Vance, 2017). He went on to start a business that revolved around computers and technology, such as SpaceX and Tesla, to which he has continued to stay passionate and engaged. Musk has been able to inspire others to continue pursuing their vision through his commitment and passion, thereby enabling them to be their best self (Vance, 2017). His passion, dedication, and persistence have enabled his success in the entrepreneurship industry.
Additionally, Elon Musk is regarded as a task-oriented individual. A person that is task-oriented is one that remains involved in tasks within a relationship which is a very important behavior in relation to behavioral theories (Perera, Witharana and Withanage, 2021). Behavioral theory actions of leaders that can be observed that help a leader perform effectively. The personality of Elon Musk has proved to be in line with his behaviors. He is regarded as a rasping individual, which aligns with his view regarding the necessity to possess a leadership. Task-oriented leaders have no emotional content when their employees are involved. However, Musk is considered an exceptional leader, particularly when his employees are involved. Elon Musk has focused on completing his vision in all the businesses he has successfully started. He has achieved this by making partnerships that provide him with support in finance and marketing.
Elon has also shown to take responsibility for failures or setbacks that arise. According to behavioral theories of leadership, accountability is an essential trait that an effective leader should have by ensuring that they take responsibility for their actions. Musk has demonstrated this by accounting for failed projects without involving his employees. One example that Musk took responsibility for was when the release of the Model 3 sedans encountered problems (Vance, 2017). As a result, he has earned great respect from his employees and investors.
Elon Musk also has the capability of expanding the technology world constantly, making him innovative, which according to behavioral theory, is an important quality that an effective leader can possess. He has displayed great success in starting and leading businesses to success, thereby expanding his business within the industry. He is able to successfully build these businesses due to the experience that he has garnered over the years. Musk is consistently motivated to think creatively with regard to his vision of changing the future of the world. According to behavioral theory of leadership, motivation is an essential behavior in making a leader work effectively. He remains motivated due to his great passion for accomplishing his set goals. For instance, he has remained passionate about his vision to inhabit and conquer Mars by making it one of the central goals of Space Corporation (Vance, 2017). Moreover, he has been adamant about consistently changing technology aspects.
Elon Musk is not only an excellent leader but also an engineer-developer. According to behavioral leadership theory, Musk plays an essential role as a technical director of the enterprise. He participated in the development of electric vehicles that would give people the opportunity to travel and also worked on the production of batteries. The production of electric cars is a complex and traumatic craft, and therefore cases of injuries are frequent at the plant. Musk himself took care of all the injuries sustained by his co-workers, which characterizes him as an extraordinary leader who is ready to help his employees. He often worked on a par with his employees in order to assist them and be in the same conditions as them.
Musk has the ability to foresee the future, thereby making him one of the greatest visionary leaders in the world. He is also good at giving attention to what his followers, customers, critics, and observers communicate, as he believes this is one way that helps him correct his mistakes (Nohe and Hertel, 2017). Elon Musk also exhibits the traits of a transformational leader. Transformational leaders are leaders that can always communicate clearly and have an exceptional vision of a better future. They believe that they can always make the future better despite being faced with numerous challenges (Xenikou, 2017). They utilize their visions to encourage people that trust and believe that their goals can be achieved.
One of the traits that make Musk a transformational leader is that he is very optimistic, charismatic, visionary and innovative. Musk he constantly believes in creating a better future for humanity is always possible. One way he showed his ability to transform the world is by pursuing a vision to make Earth multi-planetary in SpaceX and developing cars that were ecofriendly yet affordable in Tesla Motors. Musk also accepts failure and uses it to push him forward. One instance of this is when a rocket launch failed in 2008, leaving his employees discouraged (Vance, 2017). As a leader, he did not let the employees give up but instead encouraged them that despite the launch failing, all was going to be okay. This helped lighten his employees, and they all started to determine how to fix the failed launch.
As a transformational leader, Elon Musk demonstrated his personal qualities by making people believe in the uniqueness of his vision. Musk set an example of an impeccable leader whose leadership is effective. He strove to be perfect himself and infected everyone around him with it, including his staff. As a leader, he is purposeful and utterly devoted to his work, which undoubtedly bears fruit in the form of manufactured products. Elon Musk works hard, many hours a week, but sometimes there may be a situation when, together with the team, this work continues for quite a long time, and as a result, the head decides to close the project. Naturally, this does not indicate him as a leader, but still, compared to the fact that Musk does not put himself above employees and works with them, demonstrates him as a true leader.
Elon Musk and the Success of Spacex Corporation
Elon musk founded the SpaceX Corporation, also the Space Exploration Technologies, in 2002. He was motivated to start SpaceX Corporation by his fascination and interest in the wonders of space and technology (Owens, 2018). He started his career in Space Exploration Technologies when he gained membership in the Mars society. The Mars Society is a non-profit company with motivational aspects of the exploration of the planet. Musk wanted to establish a Mars oasis in his vision which entailed taking experimental greenhouses to Mars. His vision was to contain a nutrient gel that was environmentally specific to Mars that would allow life to grow.
To put his vision into motion, he required an investment of twenty million dollars. However, they later realized that sending something to Mars was not part of the normal Earths delivery services. Following this realization, Elon Musk embarked on building a rocket. The rocket was built by Boeing Company and named the Delta Rocket, which required an additional fifty million dollars (Vance, 2017). Determined, Musk purchased a rocket from Russia but later realized that he had been dealing with international trade suspects who did their dealings underground. Following this, he realized that the strategy was risky and decided to cancel the mission.
Musk led SpaceX Corporation in successfully launching Falcon 9 rocket into space with a capsule without a crew in 2012, thereby making history. Even with NASA, such a rocket has never been attained in space aviation, making SpaceX the first to do so. The rocket was loaded with supplies weighing a thousand pounds and sent for the astronauts posted in an international space station (Vance, 2017). The successful launch made it the first time for a private company to successfully send a rocket into an international space station. Elon continued his career in SpaceX by successfully sending another Falcon 9 carrying a satellite to the geosynchronous transfer to orbit in December 2013. The spacecraft was intended to lock into an orbital path that aligned with the rotation of the Earth. Musk advanced SpaceXs achievement by launching another Falcon 9 to the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite to observe the severe ray emissions that the sun releases, which affect Earths communication systems and power grids.
Additionally, Musk led SpaceX to a successful test launch in February 2017 of a powerful Falcon Heavy rocket which was created to carry massive payloads to orbit and possibly function as a vessel in deep space missions. Elon Musk advanced his Falcon 9 launches into space and enabled SpaceX to witness the successful landing of a new Block 5 Falcon in July 2017 (Vance, 2017). The rocket landed on a drone ship less than nine minutes past takeoff.
SpaceX witnessed the successful test of its flight as well as the landing of the Falcon 9 later in March 2017 using parts that were reusable. The development was then considered the start of cheap space travel. In November 2017, a problem arose as the Falcon 9 exploded while being tested for the new Block 5 Merlin Engine of the company (Vance, 2017). In March 2018, the United States government gave SpaceX permission to launch into the lower orbit a fleet of satellites that would provide internet services to Earth. The system allows people more access to broadband services in rural regions. However, SpaceX has received concerns on safety hazard aspects such as skies debris as well as space allocation ownership standards.
Elon Musk and the Success of Tesla Motors Corporation
Tesla Motors is another corporation that Elon Musk co-founded besides SpaceX and currently works as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He also takes the role of a product architect in which the corporation aims to produce mass-market electric cars that are cost-effective and equipped with solar roofs and battery products. Tesla Motors, led by Elon Musk, has released its main motor vehicle, known as the roadster, since its foundation in 2003. The vehicle exhibits the design or model of a sports car with the ability to accelerate up to sixty miles per hour in only 3.7 seconds. This is regarded as a revolutionary achievement following the roadster can cover 250 miles between lithium-ion battery charges (Niedermeyer, 2021). The company has been able to launch the motor vehicles with an initial public deal raising over 226 million dollars in June 2010 (Vance, 2017). It takes advantage of its partnership with Toyota Motors and Daimler, which helped in marketing to build a reputation as a reliable car manufacturer.
The company has been successful in all of its ventures, such as the release of Model S over the years. Model S is the first electric sedan that Tesla released with the ability to travel up to 350 miles between charges. Motor Trend magazine commended the sedan as the vehicle of the year. The company was then branded as the top vehicle manufacturer in the U.S. in April 2017. Tesla was rated to be the most valuable car developer above General Motors. In 2018, the company unveiled its modern Model 3 sedan following its commendable accomplishment in the previous year (Vance, 2017). However, this did not hinder Elon Musk from unveiling the companys new Tesla Semi and Roadster as the new model studio of Tesla in 2017.
Tesla motors have grown considerably because of the strength of Musks leadership to restructure its management and production departments. Musk announced the release of Teslas first model 3 car with an initial cost of 35,000 dollars in 2018. In addition, the business strategy avoided including online sales that allowed customers a full refund if they returned their cars within 1000 miles or seven days (Vance, 2017). With Elon Musks lead, the company has been able to enjoy several accomplishments, such as the release of Tesla.
SolarCity Acquisition
Elon Musk was able to complete his acquisition of SolarCity due to motivation to advance and encourage suitable energy as well as products for customers. Musk succeeded in merging the solar company with Tesla at a price of 2.6 billion dollars (Vance, 2017). The solar company was founded by Musk and his cousins in 2006. Tesla Company reported buying an all-stock deal of the solar company, making Elon Musk the major shareholder. The solar company deals in combining residential, commercial, and grid-scale products that will enhance how energy is created, stored, and used.
Recommendations
Elon Musk has been successful in all his businesses due to his transformational leadership and ability to foresee the future. His passion for enacting change for humanity is what makes him successful. However, Musk can also employ other leadership styles to improve his dealings in the future, including servant leadership and multicultural leadership. Servant leadership will enable Elon Musk should create a safe work environment that allows employees to feel respected and recognized. With a safe work environment, he will be able to nurture solid work cultures that will enhance employee participation. He can do this by being caring, trusting, and valuing the inputs of his employees.
Multicultural leadership will give Musk access to emerging minds to help him reach his vision. With Musk, he has been able to inspire companies such as SolarCity. However, Musk should consider inspiring other companies and people apart from those surrounding him. This will help share his vision for a better future in all parts of the world and work together in accomplishing the vision instead of focusing on those around him. As a result, he will be able to maintain a competitive advantage as he will be able to secure exceptional talents that can support his vision.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this essay has discussed Elon Musk together with the character traits that help him be a successful leader with reference to transformational leadership, behavioral theory and trait theory. The essay has also proposed other leadership styles that can help Musk perform better in the future. Elon Musk is an exceptional business leader because of his vision to make a better future for humanity. He has successfully led Tesla Motors Corporation, SpaceX, also known as Space Exploration Technologies, and SolarCity. Elon Musk displays several traits that help him become a successful business leader in his leadership. These traits include honesty, integrity, confidence, the ability to inspire others, passion, commitment, great decision-making skills, task-oriented, responsible, innovation, and optimism. All these behaviors have been supported by the trait theory of leadership and behavioral theories of leadership to make an effective leader. Elon Musk is also a transformational leader with the vision to change the future of humanity. He has also proven to be very charismatic and visionary with exceptional visions to help humanity.
Musk has been able to lead SpaceX into successfully launching several rockets with distinct features to space. Tesla Motors is another company that Musk exercises his leadership role in making cost-effective yet very environmentally-friendly vehicles with the help of products produced by SolarCity. Lastly Elon Musk can employ servant leadership and multicultural leadership which will help him gain competitive advantage and better his role as a leader in the future.
Reference List
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Lord, R., Epitropaki, O., Foti, R. and Hansbrough, T. (2020) Implicit leadership theories, implicit followership theories, and dynamic processing of leadership information, Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 7(1), pp.49-74.
Niedermeyer, E. (2021). Ludicrous. La Vergne: BenBella Books.
Nohe, C. and Hertel, G. (2017) Transformational Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: a meta-analytic test of underlying mechanisms, Frontiers in Psychology, 8(1364), pp.1-13.
Owens, J. (2018). Elon Musk: The Unauthorized Autobiography. Independently published.
Perera, P., Witharana, T. and Withanage, P. (2021) A review of leadership: different leadership theories and styles relevant to education leadership, Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies, 19(1), pp.18-26.
Vance, A. (2017). Elon Musk: Tesla, Spacex, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. Harpercollins.
Xenikou, A. (2017) Transformational leadership, transactional contingent reward, and organizational identification: the mediating effect of perceived innovation and goal culture orientations, Frontiers in Psychology, 8(1754), pp.1-13.
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