Leadership Meaning, Leadership Style and Definition, Azim Premji Leader

LEADERSHIP MEANING, LEADERSHIP STYLE AND
DEFINITION, AZIM PREMJI LEADER
INTRODUCTION
The first major study of leadership styles was performed in 1939 by Kurt Lewin who
led a group of researchers to identify different styles of leadership (Lewin, Lippit, White,
1939). This early study has remained quite influential as it established the three major
leadership styles: (U.S. Army, 1973):
Authoritarian or autocratic - the leader tells his or her employees what to do

and how to do it, without getting their advice
Participative or democratic - the leader includes one or more employees in the

decision making process, but the leader normally maintains the final decision
making authority
Delegative or laissez-fair (free-rein) - the leader allows the employees to make

the decisions, however, the leader is still responsible for the decisions that are
made
LEADERSHIP MEANING
Leadership involves:
establishing a clear vision,
sharing that vision with others so that they will follow willingly,
providing the information, knowledge and methods to realize that vision, and
coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members and

stakeholders.
A leader steps up in times of crisis, and is able to think and act creatively in difficult
situations.
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LEADERSHIP DEFINITION
The individuals who are the leaders in an organization, regarded collectively.

The activity of leading a group of people or an organization or the ability to do
this.
Unlike management, leadership cannot be taught, although it may be learned and
enhanced through coaching or mentoring. Someone with great leadership skills
today is Bill Gates who, despite early failures, with continued passion and
innovation has driven Microsoft and the software industry to success.
The act of inspiring subordinants to perform and engage in achieving a goal.
LEADERSHIP STYLE MEANING
A leadership style is a leader's style of providing direction, implementing plans, and

motivating people. There are many different leadership styles proposed by various authors,
that can be exhibited by leaders in the political, business or other fields. Daniel Goleman
(2000) in his article "Leadership that Gets Results talks about six styles of leadership.
LEADERSHIP STYLE DEFINITION
Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing

plans, and motivating people. As seen by the employees, it includes the total pattern of
explicit and implicit actions performed by their leader (Newstrom, Davis, 1993).
AZIM PREMJI LEADER
Azim Premj, the fourth richest person in India, is credited for diversifying Wipro,
which was originally a manufacturer of vegetable and refined oils in Amalner, district Jalgaon
in Maharashtra. The 69 year old business tycoon took charge at a young age of 21 and since
then has been imparting many of the lessons he learnt during his career with India's youth. BI
India puts together 5 life lessons that every budding entrepreneur can learn from him. They
are as follows.
Know Your Strength
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Stay Grounded
Be Far-Sighted!
Stick To Your Values! & Have Faith!
Know Your Strength
While it is important to know one's weaknesses, it is equally important to know one's

strengths as well. Azim Premji has followed this throughout his life and turned what was then
a $2 million hydrogenated cooking fat company into the $ 7 billion company, with a presence
in 60 countries. At an event organized by AIMA and Bombay Management Association, he
had said that it important to cherish the good in us because it is only our strengths that helps
us correct our weaknesses.
Stay Grounded
Every entrepreneur can become successful. But what is important is to not let success
go to your head. Or so says Premji. He has always advised young entrepreneurs to remain
down to earth because the moment one lets success get into the head, he is already on his way
to failure. He has also stressed on the fact that failure is as much a natural phenomenon as
success is. So, when you encounter failure, always learn your lessons and move on!
Be Far-Sighted!
The 69 year old philanthropist believes change is inevitable. And so he advises

everyone to develop their own early warning system, which sets the alarm and prepares one
for the changes ahead. He believes 'being forewarned is being forearmed' even when things
are going right.
Have Faith!
Azim Premji has always believed that it is important to have faith in one's own ideas,
even when everyone around tells you it is impossible. It is this faith that has helped him
diversify Wipro and make it an IT giant, not just in the country but across the globe.
Stick To Your Values!
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He has believed that one's value system forms the core of the business. Premji has
time and again emphasized on the need for sticking to values because he firmly believes that
success in business eventually but inevitably follows.
He has said that once you stand by what you believe and don't compromise with it
under any circumstances; he becomes resilient to stand up to crisis, a quality much adored in
entrepreneurs!
CAREER
In 1945, Muhammed Hashim Premji incorporated Western Indian Vegetable Products

Ltd, based at Amalner, a small town in the Jalgaon district of Maharashtra. It used to
manufacture cooking oil under the brand name Sunflower Vanaspati, and a laundry soap
called 787, a byproduct of oil manufacture. In 1966, on the news of his father's death, the
then 21-year-old Azim Premji returned home from Stanford University, where he was
studying engineering, to take charge of Wipro.
The company, which was called Western Indian Vegetable Products at the time, dealt
in hydrogenated oil manufacturing but Azim Premji later diversified the company to bakery
fats, ethnic ingredient based toiletries, hair care soaps, baby toiletries, lighting products, and
hydraulic cylinders. In the 1980s, the young entrepreneur, recognising the importance of the
emerging IT field, took advantage of the vacuum left behind by the expulsion of IBM from
India, changed the company name to Wipro and entered the high-technology sector by
manufacturing minicomputers under technological collaboration with an American company
Sentinel Computer Corporation. Thereafter Premji made a focused shift from soaps to
software
RECOGNITION
Premji has been recognised by Business Week as one of the Greatest Entrepreneurs
for being responsible for Wipro emerging as one of the world's fastest growing companies. In
2000, he was conferred an honorary doctorate by the Manipal Academy of Higher Education.
In 2006, Azim Premji was awarded Lakshya Business Visionary by National Institute of
Industrial Engineering, Mumbai. In 2009, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from
Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut for his outstanding philanthropic work. In
2015, Mysore University conferred an honorary doctorate on him. In 2005, the Government
4
of India honoured him with the title of Padma Bhushan for his outstanding work in trade and
commerce.
In 2011, he has been awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award by
the Government of India.In 2013, he received the ET Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2015,
University of Mysore conferred the honorary doctorate to Azim Premji. Listen to the citation
read out at the 95th convocation held on 17 April 2015 Dr.Azim Premji-University of Mysore
convocation-2015 on YouTube.
CONCLUSION
Although good leaders use all three styles, with one of them normally dominant, bad
leaders tend to stick with one style, normally autocratic. This style is used when leaders tell
their employees what they want done and how they want it accomplished, without getting the
advice of their followers. Some of the appropriate conditions to use this style is when you
have all the information to solve the problem, you are short on time, and/or your employees
are well motivated. Some people tend to think of this style as a vehicle for yelling, using
demeaning language, and leading by threats. This is not the authoritarian style, rather it is an
abusive, unprofessional style called bossing people around. It has absolutely no place in a
leader's repertoire. The authoritarian style should normally only be used on rare occasions. If
you have the time and want to gain more commitment and motivation from your employees,
then you should use the participative style.
REFERENCES
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/leadership.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadership_style
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadstl.html
http://www.businessinsider.in/5-Life-Lessons-To-Learn-From-Azim-
Premji/articleshow/43402591.cms
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azim_Premji

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LEADERSHIP MEANING, LEADERSHIP STYLE AND

DEFINITION, AZIM PREMJI LEADER

Authoritarian or autocratic - the leader tells his or her employees what to do

Participative or democratic - the leader includes one or more employees in the

Delegative or laissez-fair (free-rein) - the leader allows the employees to make

establishing a clear vision,

coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members and

The individuals who are the leaders in an organization, regarded collectively.

LEADERSHIP STYLE MEANING

A leadership style is a leader's style of providing direction, implementing plans, and

LEADERSHIP STYLE DEFINITION

Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing

AZIM PREMJI LEADER

Know Your Strength

Stick To Your Values! & Have Faith!

Know Your Strength

While it is important to know one's weaknesses, it is equally important to know one's

The 69 year old philanthropist believes change is inevitable. And so he advises

Stick To Your Values!

In 1945, Muhammed Hashim Premji incorporated Western Indian Vegetable Products

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