Meg Whitman, CEO Ebay Meg

Meg Whitman, CEO eBay

Meg Whitman is one of the greatest leaders America has ever conferred and her tremendous work at eBay stands as relevant evidence in this direction. The chief executive officer is a complex manager, one in which several types of leadership interconnect to furnish the final CEO.

A first leadership style is the transactional one, based on which Whitman establishes clear relations with the employees. While being friendly and carrying, she also has the ability to separate the social from the professional. Within the corporate context, she is able to clearly point out her expectations, and ensure that the staff members deliver. Otherwise put, she is able to create a context in which the employees are motivated to perform their tasks, rewarded for the good results, but also punished for the failures. Additionally, she succeeded in enforcing a strong chain of command, in which all employees recognize her as the leader and as such strive to successfully complete their assigned tasks within the given time limitations (Changing Minds, 2009). When asked about how it feels to report to the CEO, an eBay executive manager stated: "I have numbers. I know them. They're very clear. And the expectations are high" (Change Competence Business Case).

The second feature revealed by the managerial acts of Meg Whitman is best characterized as authentic leadership. This component of the managerial trait is extremely difficult to define, but its emergence can easily be pegged to the rapid pace of change that characterizes the contemporaneous business community. In other words, the third millennium, with its globalization and technological revolution, has imposed a rapid pace of development. The traditional approaches of managers are no longer viable and the new techniques are not around for long enough to be considered noteworthy. In this context then, Meg Whitman implements strategic decisions based on the unique features of her organization, the people at eBay and the objectives of the company. The CEO's managerial authenticity has been obvious at numerous points in time and through several approaches, such as the decision to take a commercial plane and leave the company jet to an ill executive, or the allowance for employees to personalize their cubicles.

The third element which characterizes Meg Whitman's managerial decisions is revealed by transformational leadership. The concept basically refers to a situation in which the leader not only reveals visionary thinking, but is also able to convince the employees to follow her vision, and feel reenergized and recharged in their professional endeavors (Van Wagner, 2009). In other words, Whitman's transformational skills were revealed at two distinct levels.

On the one hand, she was able to set visionary goals for eBay. These are best portrayed as the desires for "attracting more customers; expanding the goods traded on the site; spreading eBay to more global markets; making the user experience more fun, exciting and easier; and acquiring Internet companies to become a full-service retailer" (Change Competence Business Case). On the other hand, the chief executive officer was able to make the people believe in these goals, and work hard to support the company in reaching them. Even as early as the recruiting and selection processes, Whitman argues that they look for energetic people who are easily integrated and motivated by the company's mission. Ultimately, all employees see Whitman as a model worth following, as, through the force of example, she "makes you want to do the right thing" (Change Competence Business Case).

The superior managerial skills of Meg Whitman have proven their worth in numerous corporate endeavors, but even more so in the transformation of eBay from a virtual auction house into a general purpose shopping company. This movement was supported by the chief executive officer's ability to envision a greater future for eBay, a future in which the company would play a major part within the global market place of internet applications. She was able to foresee the success of online retailers and direct the company from a niche market to a global market place. It was also extremely important that she recognized the importance of the feedback provided by customers.

Furthermore, she capitalized on this input by allowing software developers to log on and modify the applications, with the direct outcome of improvements brought to the eBay website. Then, it was also essential to ensure a morality of the items traded and Whitman removed items related to Nazism or other murders. Finally, it was crucial to ensure that all operations and services provided are not only able to satisfy the customers, but they also generate income. Based on these financial resources, the company was further able to develop.