Leader’s Ability Essay

The level of difficulty a new leader will experience throughout the progression of business growth will depend on the leader’s ability. Any person can become a successful leader either through luck or through hard work. Luck may come in the form of inheritance or support from a family member or a close contact. Ability will be earned through hard work and dedication, which will reward the leader with knowledge and respect. To compare the two, luck may be a quicker way to success, however, ability through hard work and dedication will surely build a stronger foundation for ability to maintain the earned power; thus, allowing the leader to have a firmer grip on his position and enable him to keep his power for longer. The leaders employees having seen him progress through different stages, growing and working towards his goal of obtaining power will have respect for him, because the average employee can relate to him having seen the leader do the employees work in the past. Chapter 6 elaborates on a theme of personal ability. â€Å"Virtà ¹Ã¢â‚¬  is the Italian word Machiavelli uses to describe a successful leader, the meaning of which does not have an English equivalent; however, comes closer in meaning to the Latin word virtus,†virility† in English. Although the exact meaning of â€Å"virtu† has not been specified, it is understood to describe ability, skill, energy, forcefulness, strength, ingenuity, courage, or determination. Virtà ¹ is the quality which defines a successful leader, and is the quality one must possess in order to succeed in the world of business. Having to evaluate any successful leader of the current times, each one of them possesses this quality, taking for example Donald Trump whom inherited his fortune, or Warren Buffett whom grew his account from nothing to billions of dollars. Also, it is stated in this chapter that virtà ¹ without opportunity is wasted, and opportunity without virtà ¹ is wasted as well. This suggests that having all the qualities of a successful leader will not guarantee that one will become as such without being given the opportunity. Alike with being given numerous opportunities, one will not succeed without having the qualities, or at least having the potential of the qualities required to become a successful leader. All the opportunities without the ability to take advantage of them will be wasted. Business Relevance The following are two examples of acquiring power; one is through inheritance, the other through hard work and dedication. Trump was born in New York City in 1946, the son of real estate tycoon Fred Trump. Fred Trump’s business success not only provided Donald Trump with a posh youth of private schools and economic security but eventually blessed him with an inheritance worth an estimated $40 million to $200 million. Donald Trump then went in his father’s footsteps to become the next real estate tycoon before continuing on elsewhere in his career. This is a classic example of inheriting a parent’s fortune and using it to obtain power through taking advantage of opportunities made available to Trump through his father’s success in real estate. Born in Omaha in 1930, Buffett worked at a grocery store run by one of his relatives for a good period of time. He even sold assorted products as a door to door salesman. He used some of the money that he earned to fu nd a bank account. He also used some of his money to buy different items that he could invest in with the intention of earning money. It is estimated that he had earned about five thousand dollars from his work when he graduated from high school. Later, Buffett created Buffett Associates, Ltd. in 1956. He was able to get a few partnerships with some businesses during this time and eventually got to where he had nearly $300,000 in capital around the end of that year. The partnership of Buffett Associates, Ltd. helped make Buffett a millionaire in 1962. Nearly a million dollars of the $7 million that the partnership had came out of his money. This example explains Buffett’s success through hard work and dedication. Buffett grew his account from zero to millions over the period of thirty years. He did not inherit a fortune, therefore he had to work from the bottom up. People around the world respect him and seek his expertise on becoming successful. Regular folk can relate to him because they know he used to be one of them, he too used to no money, and a great amount of determination to become successful. Right or Wrong Machiavelli explains that the level of difficulty a new leader will experience throughout the progression of business growth will depend on the leader’s ability. This is true for both Donald Trump and Warren Buffett because they both became successful leaders through luck and through hard work respectively. For Donald Trump, success came in the form of inheritance from his father, which was a quick way to gain knowledge and power. However, there are a lot of people who view Trump as an amoral capitalist. This supports Machiavelli’s theory of quick success and how it brings about disrespect. Donald Trump’s case however is not supported by Machiavelli’s theory of short lasting power. The reason for this is that the theory cannot be always accurate, there are exceptions. Also, at this time and age, having the knowledge and the funds to gain power, will give one the ability to keep their power. For Warren Buffett, his ability was earned through hard work and dedication, which rewarded him with respect. Buffett’s dedication to succeed surely built a stronger foundation for ability to maintain the earned power. This has turned Warren Buffet into an investment guru whom people all around the world look up to and respect. His investment strategies are highly successful and are adopted by investors everywhere. Warren’s power came from working from the bottom up and demonstrates a well-built foundation for acquirement and maintenance of power and success. This supports Machiavelli’s theory of long earned and long lasting power directly. In conclusion, Machiavelli was right; however, his theory does not apply to every single case and thus, is not a completely reliable way to evaluate or forecast one’s position in an industry or the potential of gaining power and becoming successful.