Leadership

Leadership Qualities – Styles, Traits, and Skills of Larry Ellison

by Ratul Sinha

Larry Ellison is one of the most wealthy leaders of the world. But money does not speak success, career does. Larry Ellison from his childhood was ambitious and learned a lot about programming by himself. But he was not that bright in informal education. He has had his queue in coding since teenage. He first started practicing programming at Amdahl Corporation, a technology company. Since day one Larry Ellison was competitive about every aspect of his life. And that it was made sure that his hunger for knowledge is growing at a rapid pace. The company that has made Larry’ Oracle was co-founded by him in the year 1977.

Leadership Qualities – Styles, Traits, and Skills of Larry Ellison

Being Visionary: Larry Ellison saw the bigger picture when no one else was even thinking about it. He made Oracle what it is, from the bottom. He had the vision and dared to work for it. He taught the world to look at the future while everyone is sneaking into what has been already done.

Never stop growing: Since day one he had the courage to become the best. No competitor is important when you have the zeal to win. You’ll win if you work for it. The psychology is different from other leaders. When people weren’t used to talking about competitors in the face, he slammed Oracle’s competitor. He has taught the world that growing isn’t an option, it’s a passion. He never stopped learning and never stopped growing.

Being competitive to win the championship: Larry Ellison is a very competitive man. He gives his one hundred percent in everything to get it done before anyone else in the field. It made Oracle this successful. The fact that he pushes the boundaries and always has an eye on the championship, is what we should learn from him.

Being Generous: Even though he is bold with his statements and furious about these actions, he keeps his charitable donations a secret. Unlike other billionaires, he doesn’t show off what he has done for the society which is of great quality in a human being. He has donated a billion dollars for the growth of the society and never really talks about it. He believes charity is a personal matter.

Not Retiring: Larry never mentions retirement. He has been the CEO of Oracle since 1977. A 75-year-old business person would’ve easily been forgotten by the public. But he has made sure that he doesn’t fade away. He has become a business magnet because he never thought about the end. He only thinks about the present and his organizational goals.

Leadership style of Larry Ellison

Larry Ellison was an aggressive and a man full of determination. He had the hunger for winning every the time he does something. As a competitive person who doesn’t like to lose, Ellison uses every power in his hand to get the job done. If we evaluate the actions of Ellison, then it can be easily realized that he was an autocratic leader. A leadership style where the leader takes all the major decisions and the workforce has not scoped for opinion. Even if there is some scope, the options are narrow and the leader’s decision is the final decision. Larry is a determined, competitive man who only believes in living another day winning. For that, he takes all the decisions as a leader and his subordinates are just there to follow his orders.

Top 3 leadership traits of leader Larry Ellison

Commitment and Passionate: Larry Ellison is a committed and passionate person. He makes sure he wins every time he is in a competitive situation. That is what makes this person other than the rest. He dares to take challenges, and make it happen. This might have to lead him to uncomfortable situations many times but this trait of his has brought him success in a competitive market like technology.

Decision-Making Capabilities: Oracle was a startup company and now in a matter of years, it has turned into a billion dollars industry. All of this was possible for Larry Ellison’s decision-making capabilities. He evaluates every aspect of the alternatives. Picks the right one and makes sure it works. He is stubborn but stubborn with the right decision.

Creativity and Innovation: Innovation is what differentiates a leader and a follower. In the modern world where life changes at a rapid speed, creativity in the technology field are cherished by every one of us. Oracle’s co-founder Larry Ellison showed his creativity with the innovation and proved that this is one of his strongest traits of being an ideal leader.

Other Traits and Characteristics of Larry Ellison

Apart from upholding the key traits, Ellison has other traits too. He has honesty and integrity in his work. Moreover, he is bold and confident about the decisions he makes. So, he makes sure the exact order is given which makes him a good communicator. Accountability is a big part of his leadership approach. His visions and purpose are very clear and he knows how to keep the team on the same page to achieve his visions which inspired everyone around him.

Leadership Skills of Business Leader Larry Ellison 

Larry had the key skills that make a business leader an ideal. Some of them are stated below.

Effective communicator: Larry Ellison was an effective communicator. He made sure everyone is one the same page. Besides he’s a perfectionist. So he has to make sure that the words are conveyed properly. He used to take his time to think sometimes by totally going out of the network but always came back with the best solutions possible.

Knowing the people: If you want to run a successful business, you have to know your capabilities. Larry used to hire the smartest ones from the interviews because he knew what he would do with those people’s smartness. Knowing his people helped him be aware of his capabilities and step forward towards success.

Passion and intellect: There is nothing left to say about the passion Larry has surrounding his business. He is a passionate and confident person who made Oracle grow this big. Leadership requires intellect to succeed in business and Larry had it all. He is innovative, humourous, has a clear vision, and extremely passionate about his work.

Taking ownership and responsibility: Larry is the kind of person who leads the whole workforce from the front. He acts like a boss since he’s very aggressive about his approach. He remains responsible for the actions he takes and ensures everything remains under his observation. These leadership skills have made him one of the most successful business leaders.

Bottom Line

Larry Ellison is one of the few people to be this aggressive and successful. He made everything look so easy but took every step with precaution to reach his goal. He’s a business magnet. His approach towards the business might not be similar to most of the modern business analysts, but the success statement he has made with his bold actions in the past speaks how leadership can be so versatile. As people of this century, we should have a broad knowledge of different businesses and leadership approaches. Larry Ellison has made it clear that textbook leadership and real-world leadership has a huge difference between them in real life.

Related

Reference

  • https://www.coursehero.com/file/p7g8bus/Larry-Ellisons-leadership-style-can-be-described-as-autocratic-The-autocratic/
  • https://www.businessinsider.com/11-things-larry-ellison-taught-the-world-2014-4