Mark Zuckerberg shows transformational leadership in action. Although he was featured as a punk traitor in the movie the Social Network, he founded Facebook and turned it into a billion-dollar company, which is lording over the world now! How did he do it?
Have a vision and believe in it. Mark Zuckerberg was only 22 years old when Yahoo tried to buy Facebook from it. Thankfully, he did not allow it. In fact, a lot of people in the dot com industry felt that he made a very big mistake. Yet, he said that he wanted to “build something for the long term.” So he stuck with his company and did all sorts of things just to make it grow. He just said that “we really just believe in what we’re doing.” Interesting answer right?
Innovate but make sure you execute. Facebook built on the innovation of previous social networking sites and created new features out of those in the new platform of Facebook. Because of that, Facebook’s growth in terms of number of users simply grew by leaps and bounds!
Mistakes won’t undo you unless you let them. Zuckerberg has certainly made a lot of mistakes. He even admitted that, himself. And yet, Facebook continues to take the world by storm. For every mistake made by Facebook, however, Zuckerberg always looked for ways to turn those mistakes into opportunities for growth!
Sweat the small things. Look at the details of your projects. Sometimes, the details can undo a project. Even the campus on which Facebook’s 1,600 employees work, you could see the details at work. Facebook has a laundry room plus several cafes where employees could get food. It’s somewhat similar to what Google is doing. But Facebook is certainly catering to the wants and even whims of its employees.
Facebook is now worth $35 billion. And it may still grow in the next years. Facebook has not issued an IPO. If it ever did, a lot of people will get rich. Facebook has been assisted by venture funding. But if Facebook suddenly becomes owned by shareholders, then Zuckerberg will have to change his leadership style.
Mark Zuckerberg is but 26 years old. But he is already worth $4 billion. Imagine that. As he continues to run Facebook, he will continue to develop as a leader and as a CEO. He still has to face a number of issues and tough choices ahead of him. Yet, he is showing the world that he is up to the challenge.
