Leadership and Supervision Concepts Applied by Elon Musk

Leadership and Supervision Concepts Applied by Elon Musk
Student Name
Course
Institution
Date
Leadership and Supervision Concepts Applied by Elon Musk
Elon Musk is a well-known business leader around the globe, owning and being appointed as the CEO of multiple companies. As the CEO of Tesla and Space X, Musk accumulated immense wealth from the multiple industries he founded, such as Boring Company and Neuralink (Khan, 2021). After acquiring majority shares, he also took over Twitter as the owner and CEO. He hasn’t stopped yet, and his revolutionary innovation of the OpenAI shows how Musk is not new in leading organizations to become leading global brands. According to Andrew DuBrin, Musk implements several leadership and supervision concepts that have propelled his career as an industrialist and investor. Since taking over as the CEO at Tesla, Tesla has become a highly competitive brand in automotive and space innovations. Musk made Tesla shift from the local US market to become globally known with its innovations in Tesla models. Musk implements several leadership and supervision concepts in his organizational leadership and supervision.
Trait Approach
According to DuBrin, the trait approach suggests that certain traits or personalities are inherent to successful leaders or leaders who possess certain personality traits (DuBrin, 2016). Also, leaders who want to be successful in their careers must possess leadership traits such as self-confidence, integrity, sociability, and emotional stability (Muwara & Uddin, 2020). One of the key personality traits demonstrated by Musk is self-confidence. Musk is known for his high self-confidence in believing he can solve organizational issues and make them successful. As the CEO of Space X and Tesla, he stated during an interview in 2013 that he could solve complex problems dragging the two companies behind competitors (Nisen, 2013). He also mentioned that he did not only come to Tesla to solve their problems but also had the ambitious goal of colonizing Mars through his space innovations.
Musk is also known for his high intelligence and innovative thinking. In whichever company he was appointed as the CEO, he has left a legacy of innovations that made the organizations market leaders. His background in economics, physics, and computer science shows how Musk is intelligent to be an expert in several disciplines. His intelligence can be confirmed by his creation of companies such as Tesla, PayPal, and Space X, which are global brands in the market (Muwara & Uddin, 2020). According to DuBrin 2016, sociability is another vital trait for a leader. Musk is known to be very social and always stays active on his social media accounts, keeping his followers updated and motivating employees. Musk is described as an introverted leader who motivates and inspires his employees and communicates strongly. His sociability skills have made Musk also become an influential global leader.
Situational Approach
According to DuBrin (2016), as learned in class, the situational approach suggests that an effective leadership style depends on the situation. Elon Musk has demonstrated severally how a certain leadership style is effective depending on the situation. Musk is never rigid in his leadership style and regularly changes depending on the situation. He is known for his innovations and the development of new products, and as the working environment changes, he also changes and focuses on delegation. Delegation is one of the approaches he uses to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations in the organization. He successfully shifts the focus from being heavily involved to empowering employees and ensuring they take responsibility for situations.
The situation approach also suggests the level of competency and commitment of their followers (DuBrin, 2016). Musk is a visionary leader who sets high expectations for his followers but also works on providing the necessary support for them to perform. For instance, he is known for his “push to the brink” approach, in which he sets high goals and expectations for his employees and monitors closely to ensure they are doing the right thing to meet the goals (Khan, 2021). He is not a leader who sets expectations and never follows up, but he provides required guidance for his employees so that there is also crucial support when in need. In crisis situations, Musk doesn’t leave employees to deal with their own ‘shit’ but steps up and takes control of the situation (Moore, 2021). In some cases, for instance, when a project fails, he addresses the situation and ensures everyone is informed on how to mitigate the crisis. He is a leader who proves worth during a crisis, not only in flawless situations.
Path-Goal Theory
Path-Goal theory suggests that leaders help their followers to achieve goals by providing support and guidance (DuBrin, 2016). This means that effective leaders should adjust their leadership styles based on the needs of their followers. The followers might have a clear understanding of what is expected of them by their leaders, but they might lack the necessary support from them to achieve what is expected. This is why leaders should regularly contact their employees to ensure they have the right resources and guidance to achieve what is expected. Employee feedback is also essential, as it keeps the leader informed on issues affecting employees and what is needed to improve the situation. Musk is a legend in implementing path-goal theory as a leader. This approach has helped him streamline employee operations and his relations with employees. Miller (2019) suggests that his willingness to support his employees is what sets him a...