Leadership Style: Larry Page

By Author: Sherry Roberts
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1. Provide a brief background of the Google CEO
Larry Page is the CEO of Google born in Michigan in 1973. Larry grew up with an interest in computers as he was the son of two computer experts. His father, Carl Page, was a pioneer in computer science and AI. Larry's Page's mother taught computer programming. Page earned his Bachelor of Science degree (engineering) from the University of Michigan. Page then proceeded to complete computer engineering at Stanford University. It is at Standford that he met Sergey Brin. Page and Brin modeled a search engine called Google. Since launching Google in 1998, the company developed to be the world's predominant search engine with approximately 6 billion searches.
2. Analyze the CEO’s leadership style and philosophy, and how the CEO’s leadership style aligns with the culture
Google rose from a small company situated in a garage to a global that influences people lives. The steady rise of Google begins from the incredible leadership. Larry Paige has led the company to significant inventions and subsequently profits and growth. Larry Paige demonstrates the transformational form of leadership. Transformational leadership is a leadership strategy that aims to inspire positive changes to followers. A transformational leader focuses on the continued success of the enterprise and the workers. Larry Paige’s demonstration of transformational leadership is evident. Paige always challenges the status quo and encourages the employees to embrace innovation so as to maintain a competitive edge. Google hardly concerns itself about competition. First, it has already established itself as a formidable market leader (Spears, 2010). Secondly, the company has productive employees who participate in latest inventions that keep the company ahead.
Paige is also a transformation leader who has a positive influence on his followers. Paige does not just delegate duties; he also participates in building the company. Paige is a man of action whose focus is on developing the organization further. Paige encourages his employees to think of big ideas so that they could change the world. Paige encourages his employees to think beyond their comfort zone. Larry Paige’s philosophy focuses on inventing creations that do not exist. According to Paige, a company can thrive if it is willing to take risks. When thinking of innovative ideas; therefore, Paige encourages his employees to think of ideas that no one else is likely to consider. At Google, there is not a single idea that the management considers crazy beyond consideration. The positive reception of innovation motivates employees to participate in growing Google.
Larry Paige also integrates transactional leadership whenever necessary. A leader who adopts the transactional approach motivates his followers through rewards. Paige participates in the hiring process so that he could hire the most qualified individuals. Paige began by hiring graduates from Stanford University and the University of Michigan. The graduates became productive performers as they helped the company to grow. Paige also rewarded the employees by giving them promotion (Spears, 2010). Employees at Google are certain of promotions and career growth. The success of Google is thus two ways; profitability and continued organizational success, as well as continued growth of employees.
3. Examine the CEO’s personal and organizational values
The core values of any organization determine the direction of the company, in relation to remaining competitive and relevant, in the market. A corporate leader must possess personal values that match the organizational values of the company. Google continues to thrive because of the exceptional leadership of Larry Page. Page adopted the “don’t be evil” approach within the organization. The purpose is to motivate employees to perceive each other as a family. When employees see each other as a family, they overcome their differences and work towards the same goal. The management appreciates the employees at the company by providing employees with an ideal working environment. The employees enjoy benefits such as free meals, travel allowances and health care facilities (Stewart, 2013).
Leaders such as Paige focus on a set of values and that help guide behavior. They believe in the success of the organization through teamwork. Paige values innovation, and it is evident that he has instilled the value to his followers. Paige motivates his colleagues and employees to demonstrate concern for new technology. It is evident that Paige values progress; an aspect that has enabled his to develop the Google beyond his competitor's reaches. The CEO ascertains that he has the most qualified employees in each department within the organization. The existence of qualified employees means that the management need not provide employees with 24/7 supervision. The management trusts in the abilities and skills of the employees thus allow them to brainstorm and come up with creative ideas on how to develop the organization (Hirsch. & Lyons, 2010).
4. Evaluate how the values of the CEO are likely to influence ethical behavior within the organization
The values of the CEO are critical on the ethical behavior within an organization. Values set the tone for the culture in the organization that contributes to the growth, efficiency and the behavior of its members. Employees often base their ethical behavior off the values they perceive from the CEO. It is fundamental for the CEO to know how to differentiate their personal values and beliefs from the values and belief of their work. The effective interaction of organizational values among employees would result to improve employee performance.
The behavior of a leader speaks volumes on the productivity of employees. Enterprises with high levels of ethical behavior outshine their counterparts. The exceptional performance is attributed to the existence of a focal point of shared hierarchy of values (Pinot, 2011). Additionally, it is fundamental the CEOs values match with the mission and objective of the organization. Lastly, the values of the CEO play an important role on the success of the organization. The CEO determines the standards of operation that the company will adopt.
5. Determine the CEO’s three (3) greatest strengths and three (3) greatest weaknesses.
Mr. Paige leadership style focuses on the culture of the company created by its founders. Mr. Paige has exceptional communication skills. Communication is a critical component of successful leadership. Communication does not just entail speaking and sharing information. It also entails active listening. Mr. Paige encourages the employees to share their innovative ideas. The CEO gives his employees the opportunity to express themselves rather than wait for instructions from their superiors.
The second strength that Mr. Paige illustrates is the creation of an ideal environment. An organization may have the most qualified employees, but it may lack the correct environment for performance (Pinot, 2011). A negative environment can breed a negative culture that affects employee performance. Paige managed to create a strong organizational culture that fosters employee creativity, growth, and subsequent success of the organization.
Larry Paige also demonstrates high levels of trustworthiness. The greatest mistake that most leaders make is to assume that their followers trust them because of their position. Trust is not a benefit that comes automatically when an individual takes a leadership position. Leaders must work hard to earn the trust of their followers. Larry Paige earned the trust of his employees because of his ability to perform. The ability to perform as well as the emergence of attractive results culminates to increased trust among employees, shareholders, and customers. The public believes in the appropriateness of the leader. The public perceives Larry Paige as shy and researched; however, he has proved his performance.
`Larry Paige also demonstrates several weaknesses that he may consider and opt to correct. The first weakness revolves around his inability to be an all round leaders. Paige is an introvert and thus prefers to keep him. Paige thus has minimal interpersonal relationships with the employees. Paige relates with his employees on a work-related platform. The deficiency of interpersonal skills means that the employee-management relationship can be affected negatively.
The second weakness of Larry Paige is that he is fast-paced. Whereas the characteristics can mean that the company remains ahead of its competitors, it can also result to negative consequences. Paige strives for continued innovation thus pushing employees to be highly innovative. The high levels of innovation can drive employees to development. However, the over-persistent on innovation can result to burn-out and fatigue. Employees need to rest and unwind (Pinot, 2011). Additionally, employees deserve to work in an environment that foster work-life balance. The desire to remain competitive might drive employees to under-perform thus reversing the purpose of innovation and hard work.
The third weakness with Page is that he is overly attached to the transformation leaders. It is critical for a leader to adopt of mix of leadership styles. The effective running of a business requires a leader to adopt the authoritative form of leadership so as to command the adherence of rules. In some instances, he can apply the transformational and transactional form of leadership. A mix of leadership styles enables the leader to be flexible enough when handling different situations.
6. Select the quality that you believe contributes most to this leader’s success. Support your reasoning
Larry Paige stands out as a risk taker. Paige instilled in his employees the need to think beyond their comfort zone. The risk taking initiative has been successful for the company as its inventions have attracted additional clients. Paige is also focus oriented and aims to attach the performance of Google to the visions and mission of the organization. Paige ascertains that the employees are familiar with the mission and visions and thus engage in initiatives that enable the organization to succeed. Paige changed the operations of the organization, by re-routing the innovations of the company to fit with the organization’s mission and vision (Lowe, 2009).
Paige also strives to delegate duties rather than perform all duties by himself. The delegation of duties enables employees to test their potential while acquiring new knowledge. Paige is also an introvert and to the public he appears shy and researched; however, business analyst believes that introverts make the best leaders because they have excellent communication skills. Paige is an ideal example of an introvert leader who has driven Google to continuous success. Paige listens to his employees, in relation to their creative ideas. The level of innovation among employees remains because workers know of the existence of a leader who listens and appreciates their input. Paige has an insatiable appetite for fast-paced innovations; a desire he ensures that his employees know. The employees thus work as a team to achieve the goal thus remaining competitive (Greenberg, & Baron, 2000).
7. Assess how communication and collaboration, and power and politics influence group (i.e., the organization’s) dynamics
To-date Google is the largest search engine with millions of searches done every day. Communication, therefore, a critical factor in the delivery of quality services to the Google customers. The management at Google appreciates the growth of the company that they associate to dedicated customers. Effective communication enhances information sharing among managers, employees and across the management–employee boundaries. Google does not have an upward or downward communication channel. The company adopts a horizontal communication structure in which employees can communicate with the supervisors with ease and vice versa.
The management is easily accessible as Mr. Paige is known to organize regular meetings with the employees. The management encourages its employees to contribute their ideas prior to the passing of any decision. The ideal way to reduce conflict within the organization is to engage the employees (LaGesse, 2005). Employee engagement on matters related to organizational decision is fundamental to the success of the organization. Employees appreciate an employer who values their contribution to the development of the organization. Employees can provide profitable input that if well implemented can result to success and prosperity in the company. The management at Google has given its employees the opportunity to contribute to organizational development through innovation and decision making. To-date, Google is the leading search engine and remains unmatched to its competitors.
Google Inc. is a data service company full of creativity and collaborations. Their work environment is an adult playground, and once you start working there, you would not want to leave. There are many offices, dog walking facility, restaurants and all kinds of healthy food for you for free breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There is a massage area, and some desk have treadmills by them for quick exercising while brainstorming for another great idea

Reference
Bragg, S. (2011). The New CEO corporate leadership manual. Hoboken. John Wiley and sons
Greenberg, J., & Baron, R.A. (2000). Behavior in Organizations, 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
Hirsch. E. & Lyons, C. (2010). Perceiving discrimination on the job. Law & Society review. Vol. 44(2): 269-298
LaGesse, D. (2005). Engine of Fun and Profit. (Cover story). U.S. News & World Report, 139(16), 26
Lowe, J. (2009). Google speaks: Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Hoboken. New Jersey. John Wiley and sons
Pinot, A. (2011). Leveraging the power of difference. Workforce diversity. SCMS journal of Indian management. Vol. 8(2):27-39
Spears, L. (2010). Character and servant leadership: ten characteristics of effective caring leaders. The journal of virtues and leadership. Vol. 1(1): 25-30
Stewart, J. (2013). Looking for a lesson in Google perks. New York Times. March 15th

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