transformational leader – Andy Grove
By: Alexander Brik
Intel has grown into the world’s largest chipmaker, with 78,000 employees and more than $30 billion in annual revenues. A company usually has to have a leader to achieve such prosperity; for Intel, it was transformational leader Andy Grove. Current Chairman and former CEO of Intel, Andy Grove inspired his Intel employees constantly by sharing with them a brilliant vision.
His vision? The microprocessor. A technology which involves millions of transistors being etched on one tiny wafer of silicon. Dubbed by Time Magazine as the “world’s most important product,” microprocessors are what changed computers from giant boxes studied by men in lab coats, to consumer products such as laptops and smartphones. In 1971, the first microprocessor (Intel 4004) was released, and the high-tech industry was created.
Andy Grove is proof that great transformational leaders can build their vision and charisma on top of a foundation of transactional leadership. “He has a courageous passion alloyed with an engineer’s analytic coldness,” (Watter Isaacson, Time Magazine).
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RUNNING HEAD: CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP Charismatic Leadership Connie King Leadership 7001 Foundations of Leadership Assignment 1 NOVA Southeastern University November 18, 2002 Abstract Many leaders, past and present, have been identified as charismatic leaders. The author explains the history of charismatic leadership and its characteristics. Different charismatic leaders and their leadership ...
He likes to call his style of management “high output management.” Andy always wants to make sure that his employees, as well as his corporation, are being very productive and meeting deadlines (task-oriented management).
However, there is more to Andy Grove’s leadership than just high output; he is is mostly a transformational leader. A true visionary, those that work under him can’t help but to see his vision too, and therefore share his motivation and drive.
Grove is also very charismatic. A Hungarian refugee who grew up having to deal with World War 2 and the USSR, many people find he symbolizes the American Dream. Grove spent a lot of his time as Intel CEO battling prostate cancer; he even researched prostate cancer, and read up on its treatments, so he could decide what his treatment would be. His strength of will and personal energy helped him to connect with people on an emotional level and forge personal relationships with everyone around him. By building transformational leadership on top of excellent transactional leadership, Andy Grove became one of the world’s greatest leaders.
Grove’s vision and charisma make him a great transformational leader; he was dubbed “most influential business leader of the past 25 years” by Wharton and Nightly Business Report in 2004. Grove also has a strong transactional leadership foundation: he is fully capable of making sure that optimal productivity is achieved. A man with a vision, transformational leader Andy Grove led Intel into great prosperity, as well as paving the path for the computer industry.
