Essay About Mark Zuckerberg

Introduction

Leadership is the process of inspiring and motivating individuals to enable and empower them to carry out their tasks and responsibilities. A good leader is distinguishable from the rest by his attitude, his behavior and peculiar habits and traits. A good leader of any organization/community/etc. envisions the future of the same with a course of action and harbors good faith and welfare for the organization/community. The leader can essentially be credited as the puppeteer of the organization who has to be accountable for every decision and consequence faced by the organization. The article in case here is the leadership pf Mark Zuckerberg; the founder and CEO of Facebook. It is common knowledge that Mark Zuckerberg is the most prolific internet figures of the modern world. The Harvard drop-out revolutionized the space of social networking with his genius mind and his amazing problem-solving abilities. Although he was a very smart computer engineer, he was not the best of a leader due to lack of maturity and unexpected exponential growth of his company. This paper is aimed at analyzing the cultural, ethical, social and technical aspects of Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership and how it may have impacted his employees.

Mark Zuckerberg is known for his casual approach in the office by his decentralized ‘no walls office’ structure in the Facebook headquarters. Mark follows a combination of leadership styles namely: paternalistic and laissez-faire, which tells us a lot about his leadership ability. However, there are several instances where his leadership failed both him and his brainchild- Facebook. The most recent one was the data breach by Cambridge Analytica where the company used data obtained by Facebook inappropriately to build voter profiles. The social and ethical repercussions of this particular scandal are huge and mark Zuckerberg was responsible for letting such a big scandal cook up right under his nose. Mark Zuckerberg gives his employees a lot of freedom, but during this decentralization the distribution of accountability and responsibility stays largely central i.e with Zuckerberg. A leader should delegate tasks and maintain a neutral stance with his employees while making them aware of their ethical and social responsibilities. Employees were not aware and vigilant which caused the scandal to slip past them. Although some critics say the leader should not be blamed for his employee’s downfall, a leader is responsible for the actions of his employee’s, for he is the role model for them. Micromanagement should be undertaken by the leader. The leader should take into consideration the cultural, social and intellectual differences among his employees and lay down an action plan which would be perceived by all employees similarly. Effective and concise communication can improve the functioning of any organization clearly. The leader should consider all biases that would hinder the reception of his message and work past that communicate clearly and coherently.

There was a lot of criticism on Mark Zuckerberg and some even called him the ‘apprentice rather than the sorcerer’. Loss of control can damage the reputation and command a leader inherits. Mark Zuckerberg is a very liberal, creative and innovative leader who is open to criticism. The manipulation of the 2016 presidential election by the Russians was another blow for Facebook. Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg were slammed by the press and the Government for being careless while managing personal data. Though Mark Zuckerberg testified against the Congress for both the issues, his position as a leader took a serious hit. There was mistrust within the organization and employees started leaving the organization. The ethical, social and political impact of this mishap were beyond reckoning. According to studies, leadership has transformed from the traditional values and virtues to a more dynamic and all-round position. The emphasis on function is limited while there is a growing expectation of the external demands and….

In the field of health care especially, transformational and situational leadership is of prime importance. The leaders should make their team members aware of their ethical and professional responsibilities while carrying out their duties and tasks. A strong emphasis should be made on working as a unit and never letting personal inhibitions come in the way of your work. By streamlining their perspective with the leaders and providing sufficient motivation, any leader can excel in health care.

References

1. https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-employees-quitting-whatsapp-instagram-cambridge-analytica-report-2018-4
2. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-scandal-fallout.html
3. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2018/04/12/how-mark-zuckerberg-can-sharpen-up-his-leadership/#54232a931c51

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