Biography of Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Facebook, An Exemplar of Good Leadership

Today, nearly a billion users access their Facebook accounts on a daily basis (Facebook corporate profile, 2015), and this company continues to experience sustained growth due in large part to the enlightened leadership of its founder and chief executive officer, Mark Zuckerbreg. To gain some new insights about this corporate leader, this paper reviews the relevant literature to determine how Zuckerberg inspires the workers and managers at Facebook to emulate the positive attributes that have been reported in the leader's profile. A summary of the research and important findings concerning the leadership of Mark Zuckerberg's and its impact on Facebook's success to date are provided in the conclusion.

Overview of Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook

The youngest billionaire in the world, Mark Zuckerberg leveraged an idea for a new way to allow people to connect with each other and share information of mutual interest into a global enterprise that continues to enjoy sustained success in a highly competitive marketplace (Mark Zuckerberg biography, 2015). The chief executive officer of Facebook, Zuckerberg was born on May 14, 1984 in Dobbs Ferry, New York, the only son of Edward and Karen Zuckerberg who also had three daughters (Mark Zuckerberg biography, 2015). Based on an early interest in computers, Zuckerberg attended Harvard University where he collaborated with others to develop a social media network that was originally intended for Harvard students only, but which proved so popular that a social media network for everyone was born on February 4, 2004 in the form of Facebook (Mark Zuckerberg biography, 2015).

Positive attributes of Mark Zuckerberg

According to a survey of Facebook employees, Zuckerberg's positive attributes include the following: (a) he has eliminated traditional hierarchies, he has removed organizational barriers, he has established his legitimacy, he has a clear vision, he is fearless, he ignores pointless workplace traditions, he is generous with perquisites, he empowers employees, and he communicates and is accessible (Kux, 2014).

How Mark Zuekerberg models positive leadership behavior for others

To his credit, Zuckerberg "walks the walk" and keeps his glass-walled office door open at all times in order to remain accessible to any Facebook employees. In addition, the CEO also demonstrates consistent interest in the views and opinions of his employees irrespective of their position or tenure (Kux, 2014). Moreover, Zuckerberg has ensured that all employees have a voice in organizational changes in which they have a stake (Kux, 2014).

How would you model positive leadership behavior for others as a leader?

It is far easier to lead people to a common goal in which they may otherwise have no personal interest if leaders model the way. A useful analogy is the difference between a battlefield commander yelling "Charge!" while remaining behind the lines and one who yells, "Follow me, men!" and leads the charge. In other words, the best way to model positive leadership behavior is to apply the Golden Rule and treat subordinates in the manner in which the leader would want to be treated -- and this is the approach that is used by Zuckerberg: For instance, in an interview, the CEO emphasizes that, "I will only hire someone to work directly for me if I would work for that person. It's a pretty good test and I think this rule has served me well" (Zuckerberg gets employee engagement, 2015, para. 2).

How modeling positive leadership behavior allows leaders in general to set the standards of the organization

Organizational culture begins at the top, and modeling positive leadership behavior provides employees with the guidelines they need to know what is expected of them in the workplace and how they can achieve personal success based on these expectations.

The three most important qualities a leader who models positive leadership behavior must possess and supporting rationale

In order to lead any type or size of organization, leaders must possess the following qualities: