Warren Buffet's Leadership
1 Executive Summary
Warren Buffet is known as the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., a legendary investor, one of the wealthiest people in the world and a philanthropist. He is also a major shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway, a multinational conglomerate holding company. Under his leadership, Berkshire Hathaway has grown to become a respected and profitable company with its stocks highly sought after. Due to the organisational structure of Berkshire Hathaway, the report will cover not only Berkshire Hathaway but also its present and past subsidiaries so as to exemplify Buffett’s leadership style and enhance our understanding of it.
The purpose of the report is for us to show our understanding of the leadership theories learnt in the module and to analyse a world-class leader based on what we have learnt. We used 3 biographies as our primary sources, namely “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life” by Alice Schroeder, “The Making of an American Capitalist” by Roger Lowenstein and “The Real Warren Buffett: Managing Capital, Leading People” by James O’Loughlin. Supplementary sources from newspaper articles and Internet websites were used so as to include the latest information regarding Buffett.
Firstly, we start with a biographical sketch of Buffett; from his childhood to just before he started his journey at Berkshire Hathaway. It also includes the people who have greatly influenced Buffett and how they did. Buffett’s personality and leadership traits are very much influenced by his upbringing, thus this section shows how his early years shaped the Buffet that we know today.
Secondly, we analyse Buffett’s personality traits according to the Big Five personality dimensions by showing how he exhibits the traits while leading his followers.
Thirdly, we show which influence tactics Buffett use, whether he is inclined towards hard or soft influence tactics and how he uses them to aid in his leadership.
Fourthly, we examine how he empowers
Warren Buffet is known as the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., a legendary investor, one of the wealthiest people in the world and a philanthropist. He is also a major shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway, a multinational conglomerate holding company. Under his leadership, Berkshire Hathaway has grown to become a respected and profitable company with its stocks highly sought after. Due to the organisational structure of Berkshire Hathaway, the report will cover not only Berkshire Hathaway but also its present and past subsidiaries so as to exemplify Buffett’s leadership style and enhance our understanding of it.
The purpose of the report is for us to show our understanding of the leadership theories learnt in the module and to analyse a world-class leader based on what we have learnt. We used 3 biographies as our primary sources, namely “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life” by Alice Schroeder, “The Making of an American Capitalist” by Roger Lowenstein and “The Real Warren Buffett: Managing Capital, Leading People” by James O’Loughlin. Supplementary sources from newspaper articles and Internet websites were used so as to include the latest information regarding Buffett.
Firstly, we start with a biographical sketch of Buffett; from his childhood to just before he started his journey at Berkshire Hathaway. It also includes the people who have greatly influenced Buffett and how they did. Buffett’s personality and leadership traits are very much influenced by his upbringing, thus this section shows how his early years shaped the Buffet that we know today.
Secondly, we analyse Buffett’s personality traits according to the Big Five personality dimensions by showing how he exhibits the traits while leading his followers.
Thirdly, we show which influence tactics Buffett use, whether he is inclined towards hard or soft influence tactics and how he uses them to aid in his leadership.
Fourthly, we examine how he empowers