This document contrasts the leadership styles of Tim Cook and Jeff Bezos. It analyzes how each leader influenced others, noting that Cook emphasized diversity while Bezos represented motivation for entrepreneurs. Both will be remembered for growing their companies, though Cook focused on quality while Bezos experimented extensively. The document argues that while both leaders were effective, Bezos displayed more traits of a servant leader through perseverance and sharing power, influencing employees' professional and personal growth.

1. Running Head: CONTRASTING LEADERSHIP STYLES
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CONTRASTING LEADERSHIP STYLES
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CONTRASTING LEADERSHIP
STYLES
Westcliff University
Harsh Sinha
BUS 500: Organizational Leadership
David Johnson, Ph.D.
31st March 2019
Table of Contents
Introduction 3
Effective leaders 3
How They Influenced the Lives of Others 3
Will be remembered in History 4
Servant Leaders 5
Conclusion 6
Peer reviewed
sources………………………………………………………………
……………..7
References 8
Introduction
Leadership style is the manner and the approach through which
the individuals can be motivated with the help of the direction
and the implementation of the leadership styles. As observed by
the employees the total pattern of the implicit and the explicit

2. nature of the leaders will decide the style of the leadership they
will follow. In general there are three major leadership styles
namely autocratic, democratic and delegative. The success of
whether a small business or giant enterprise, the leadership
plays a vital role in the success of the business. This report will
address the leadership styles of two famous leaders who
changed the world in terms of technology and innovation. Tim
cook and Jeff Bezos are the two leaders who will be in focus for
the entire report (Nawaz & Khan, 2016).Effective leaders
Leadership requires the skills as one makes a progress in his/her
career and so have been the leadership of Tim cook and Jeff
Bezos. In terms of effective leaders both leaders have one thing
in common are both the leaders are willing to take the risks and
focus is the key driver that drives in the veins of the leaders.
Both the leader; Tim Cook and Jeff Bezos understands the
importance of taking risk and bearing the rewards after that. At
times the leaders need to take the most difficult decisions and at
the same time the trust factor shall not be detained. Hence, the
most common style that can be seen in the two leaders is the
ability to take the risk to grow (Rubens, Leah & Schoenfeld,
2016).
Tim Cook: Admit when you are wrong. This is what the Tim
cook has taught as a leader and strongly believes that admitting
when you are wrong; its acceptance is a talent. He is one of the
democratic leaders (Lifehack, 2017).
Jeff Bezos: Have Perseverance and Resilience is what Jeff
Bezos has taught as a leader. This not only inspires us to
become one of the most influential leaders but also shows a path
that can lead to the growth of the individual personality. He
follows the delegative leadership’s style (Chris, 2019).How
They Influenced the Lives of Others
The common thing that both the leaders have to influence the
lives of the others is to work with sheer dedication and honesty.
Without honesty the growth is inevitable.
Jeff Bezos: Everyone has the role model and idol that motivates
and inspires the person. Jeff Bezos had been role models for

3. many and represents himself undeniably as the biggest
motivation for the businessman and the entrepreneurs. The
biggest way in which he influences the people is with the
creative leadership style of not following anyone but becoming
the leader itself. According to Bezos one must not follow the
idea of setting up the fashionable start up; rather the creation
should be of such nature that it remains at the intersection of
the interests. Also he taught the people of how to be bold and
embrace the failure with dignity and power. He himself has
made billions of dollars’ worth losses at Amazon. The
leadership of Jeff Bezos is grounded on the basis of the creative
leadership, and to accept the failures of life as the stepping
stones of success (Beghetto & Kaufman, 2013).
Tim Cook: On the contrary TIM Cook the leadership style that
he followed to influence the people is the diversity. For him
diversity is the key for the growth and the future sustainability
with respect to time. Tim Cook as a leader of the company
founded on innovation and need the people who are creative
thinkers and are willing to provide a different perspective and
insight. The people shall be so diversified in their nature that
they can adapt themselves to any situation and can curtail any
hurdle. Most importantly Tim Cook influences the people to be
themselves. If one intends to become a leader, he must follow
the leadership style of Tim Cook “The old adage goes, you have
two ears and one mouth; shall be in the proper proportion (Rao,
2016).Will be remembered in History
Both the leaders will be remembered for the building of
community and having a commitment for the overall growth of
the company as well as individuals however there are certain
aspects for which the leaders will be known and remembered
(Mishra, 2016).
Jeff Bezos: Jeff Bezos will be remembered as thick skin, in
terms of the innovation and always as an experimental investor
who kept on investing the billions of dollar in figuring out the
right fit. He is total opposite of the what Tim Cook, the CEO of

4. Apple who offers few product and Amazon is exactly the
opposite of Apple as the owner Jeff Bezos thinks to be
resourceful and encourages his team to invest at the same time
with intelligence, determination and integrity. For the
delegative leadership style where the employees are allowed to
take the decisions is what keeps him as one of the strong leaders
and the flexible leader to work with (Logan & Halverstadt,
2002).
Tim Cook: While on the other side of the coin, Tim cook will be
remembered more in terms of the non-friendly yet not a bossy
leader. A blend of both is what Tim Cook followed. Instead of
simply following the legacy of autocratic leadership style, Cook
has played over the strengths and kept emphasis on enhancing
cooperation among Apple's arsenal of talent. He will be
remembered for doing the few things great rather than shifting
to grab a large amount of the products. His idea basically
reflects too few things with perfection. Therefore he will be
remembered for focusing over the quality (De Schaveling,
Ciulla & Nijhof, 2018).Servant Leaders
There are different characteristics to be a servant leader either
for the country or for the organization. The servant leaders are
basically those who possess the traits of thee perseverance and
conceptualization.
Jeff Bezos: The leaders like Jeff Bezos have this quality and
inherent trait of listening to the opinions and the ideas of the
employees and having the stewardship for the resources of the
organization. Jeff Bezos have perseverance and resilience and
this style though considered as the hard-headed yet flexible. For
the Amazon to be one of the top leaders it is important to have
the constant motivation and the mindset to not to give up easily.
Jeff Bezos had taught to be stubborn enough to deal with the
situations and find the solutions at each and every step. He
added that it is best to have the ability to combine this two and
the key here is to when to use one over the other (Mishra,
2016).
Tim Cook: On the other hand Tim Cook can be called as the

5. servant leader though he follows the democratic style yet he
lacks the perseverance and the ability to persuade the people at
the time of the complex situation (Umar, 2015). While in
traditional leadership styles there is a great accumulation of
power at the extreme level and at the top rungs, servant
leadership is created to put other people’s need first and shares
power with them which Tim Cook lacks (Rubin,
2013).Conclusion
From the above analysis it can be concluded that though both
the leaders are apt on their respective terms yet Jeff Bezos takes
over in case of the leadership styles and he influences the
people to develop and grow in not only the professional lives
but also at the personal level. Further what are more important,
are the traits of the servant leader which Jeff Bezos has
inculcated in him in comparison to Tim cook.
Peer Reviewed Sources
1. Beghetto, R. A., & Kaufman, J. C. (2013). Fundamentals of
creativity. Educational Leadership, 70(5), 10-15.
2. Logan, R., & Halverstadt, J. (2002). 100 Most Popular
Business Leaders for Young Adults: Biographical Sketches and
Professional Paths. Profiles and Pathways Series. Libraries
Unlimited, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881.
3. Mishra, A. S. (2016). The Role of Corporate Leadership in
Business Growth. Effective Executive, 19(2), 5.
4. Nawaz, Z. A. K. D. A., & Khan_ PhD, I. (2016). Leadership
theories and styles: A literature review. Leadership, 16, 1-7.
5. Rao, M. S. (2016). Hard versus soft leadership? Examples
and illustrations. Strategic HR Review, 15(4), 174-179.
6. Rubens, A., Leah, J., & Schoenfeld, J. (2016). Using
Biographies to Teach Leadership Skills: A Classroom

6. Example. Journal of the Academy of Business Education, 17.
References
1. Chris, J. (2019). 8 Jeff Bezos Leadership Style Secrets -
Joseph Chris Partners. Retrieved from
http://www.josephchris.com/8-jeff-bezos-leadership-style-
secrets
2. De Ruiter, M., Schaveling, J., Ciulla, J. B., & Nijhof, A.
(2018). Leadership and the Creation of Corporate Social
Responsibility: An Introduction to the Special Issue.
3. Lifehack (2017). 11 Leadership Lessons We Can Learn From
Tim Cook. Retrieved from
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/11-leadership-
lessons-can-learn-from-tim-cook.html
4. Matthews, B. L., Harbin, J., & Daigle, J. (2018). The New
York Times Versus Amazon: Is Jeff Bezos' head still in the
clouds?. Journal of Organizational Psychology, 18(3).
5. Rubin, E. N. (2013). Assessing your leadership style to
achieve organizational objectives. Global Business and
Organizational Excellence, 32(6), 55-66.
6. Umar, A. M. (2015). LEADERSHIP AND
CHANGE. LEADERSHIP.
CLA2
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You should use content from your CLA2 report as material for
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