Entreprenurial Leadership

Entrepreneurial Leadership

The French novelist Honore de Balzac was once quoted as saying, "Behind every great fortune lies a great crime." In today's economic world, it is easy for one to see the greater emphasis placed on profitability and the bottom line of an organization. However, upon further analysis, it is easy to see how profits and priorities don't have to be mutually exclusive and the Balzac's belief may indeed be reinforced yet disproven.

To illustrate a profit-oriented approach to business and support Balzac's point, there is no one better to focus upon than the world's richest man, Mr. Carlos Slim Helu. Slim, as he is called by many, is indeed the epitome of an earnings focused entrepreneur. Dissimilarly, the entrepreneur of choice to almost completely contrast this business approach would be the late Paul Newman, a man whose humanitarian zeal is beyond admirable.

Slim's beginnings derive from a moderate Lebanese-Mexican family. As a young person, his father Julian taught him valuable economic principles. Julian required Slim to record all his childhood purchases and expenses on notebooks. Slim presently still retains some of them on one of his office's shelves (Mehta, 2007). He retains those lessons to this very day and has passed them forward to his children. The basic ideal of saving, developing his own niche, finding business bargains and then act accordingly comprise the foundation of Slim's knowledge base. These principles have, in turn, lead to a ruthless business approach and an unprecedented level of professional success, the likes of which are without equal in modern society.

The business interests of Mr. Slim Helu are vast and wide. They expand far beyond that of his native Mexico and pervade all of South America. The Telegraph, the online version of one of the United Kingdom's more storied newspaper publications, states that Slim has his hand in virtually every business within Mexico as well as numerous others outside of the country. "Through a sprawling empire of more than 200 companies - he has said he has "lost count" exactly how many - which encompass banking, retail, airlines, mining, printing, construction, restaurants and particularly telecoms, he has developed an economic stranglehold on his native country so vice-like that a new word - Slimlandia - had to be created to describe it." (Leonard, 2010)

Balzac's earlier assertion of large fortunes coming from crime can be directed at Slim to a degree. Although Slim was a multi-millionaire well before his 30th birthday, his major business coup and criticisms derive from his ascension to the status of a billionaire. During the collapse of the Mexican economy in the early 1980's, Slim continually bought depleted businesses and stockpiled them as assets. His biggest accomplishment during this turbulent period was to acquire the previously state-owned telephone company by very favorable terms. He purchased the company at below market valuation and was granted a seven-year guarantee of monopoly status even though competition was present and ready by neighboring U.S. corporations. He is believed to have gotten these favorable terms through the cozy political contributions and relationship formed with the then ruling party of Mexico. By essentially securing an unfair advantage in this particular business, it lead to the incredible expansion of his other interests as well as into the wireless industry where he now controls the vast majority of home & wireless communications in all of Latin America. Although these acquisitions proved to be legal by the standards of that time period, the moral and ethics questions easily will lead one to see Slim as the culprit who helped create the favorable terms to which his benefit is unparalleled (Mehta, 2007).

The leadership style that Slim has utilized to bring him success is, in itself, pretty straightforward. He is quoted saying many things relating to his business acumen, however his most notable thoughts are simplistic in nature. This style has basis in ten principles that he has lain out and is the bedrock of his notable business conglomerate Grupo Carso. Among them are: create an organizational structure with simple, minimal hierarchies; money that leaves the company evaporates, therefore reinvest profits; and stay focused on modernization, growth, quality and continuous improvement (Official Site, 2007). His actions show a lack of following the crowd or market. Instead of this, he gets into businesses and markets when everyone else is leaving. By streamlining processes and cost-cutting measures, his leadership eschews the mindset of professed experts. This allows him to control his own destiny with the utilization of a basic bottom-line approach in all facets of his life.

Differing from Slim Helu's approach would be that of the enterprise owner Paul Newman. He is most notable, not as a business owner, but instead for his enduring career as an actor. The winner of numerous awards including multiple Golden Globes and the Academy Award, his fantastic skill in this art form is only out shadowed by his business acuity.

Newman's foray into entrepreneurship came just as it exists today, through giving. During the Christmas of 1980, Newman and a friend poured his homemade salad dressing into empty wine bottles to be given away as personal holiday gifts. The recipients of the gifts come back asking for more. This initial action became the genesis of his entrepreneurial pursuit, which has now spanned more almost 30 years of consistent profitability and strict philanthropy (Official Site, 2011).

The leadership techniques and business principles of businesspersons can be very distinct or closely resemble that of noted experts or predecessors. Unlike the presumed