MGT3LWM Leadership Essay

Introduction

The purpose of this essay is to deconstruct the leadership style of Mark Cuban, a successful, self-made US businessman, a billionaire, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and a potential presidential candidate for the upcoming United States elections. In lieu of his historical achievements it is indeed noteworthy. The model that will be used for analysis is the traits theory regarding which Mark Cuban’s business, personal and public profile will be assessed to gauge whether or not he is in reality a true leader by virtue of what the theory offers. 

Additionally, what is noteworthy also is a small link to the great man theory which finds itself interconnected with the traits theory. Mark Cuban showcases with his actions and attributes manifestations of how a great man behaves, from his very childhood to where he stands in his career now, his public profile also having been taken into account. The purpose of this paper is hence to study Mark Cuban with respect to his traits and understand how his internalizing of these traits has made him into becoming a great leader, fit to be analyzed as a role model to be followed by others. 

As per Forbes (2019), Mark Cuban stands at a current US $ 4.1 billion in net worth, after having a childhood where he sold stamps at the doorstep to sustain his student life-style. Forbes also notes that he co founded the video portal called “broadcast.com” in 1995 which was crucial to his growth, sold the company Microsolutions, a start-up which kick started his career as an investor. Additionally, Forbes also stresses upon his current ownership over the Dallas Mavericks and also his Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of the US soldiers or military personnel who were seriously injured or killed during combat which has donated upto $ 5 million for them. 

Body Content 

The deconstruction of Mark Cuban’s leadership style will be done structurally, firstly will be specific actions pertaining to the leadership model of the traits theory which will be analyzed. Following that, will his two key challenges and how he managed this be highlighted. How he could have dealt with them differently will also be analyzed. Lastly, what was learned by understanding this leadership style will be analyzed, along-with Mark Cuban’s leadership spectrum and capabilities. Evidence will be provided throughout the course of the deconstruction to complement the findings and strengthen the leadership theory in connection to the leadership personality in this case Mark Cuban. 

The original theory which will be addressed is that of Pervin (1994) who concludes that he trait theory is indeed useful, although having some loopholes. He predicts that common traits found in leaders are the reason behind them being successful leaders. Epstein (1994) takes this a step forward by illustrating how Pervin did the rudimentary work, and adds on top of his explanation, his own explanation which stresses upon the already mentioned total theory of personality while also considering 5 traits which are essential for success. Epstein notes that traits are as important and as strong as the whole, essentially meaning that if one possesses such traits, particularly orderliness they are bound to become great leaders and showcase immense success. 

According to Epstein (2010) who comes back with another piece of great analysis, the differences between Pervin and Block’s critiques can be understood, additional to Epstein’s own analyses which is based on the perils of adopting a purely descriptive approach to personality. Having the fundamental similar attitudes as other people such as eating, drinking, going to a good school or college are not precursors for successful leaders, simply because they have all these things in common. In fact, this worked in a reversed fashion with Mark Cuban who was not interested in going to a good college, and he dropped out only to attend a lower ranked one simply because it was cheaper. Hence, the purely descriptive approach is not used.

Extraversion is another trait highlighted by McCabe and Fleeson (2012) in that it integrates other leadership and personality traits to come together to make a strong leader with  a strong leadership style. Mark Cuban can be analyzed as having cultivated such a style, through the qualities of “orderliness” and extraversion”, the traits which helped him become the leader that he is today, and in this papers understanding of his leadership style. DeYoung (2010) illustrates the importance of traits in his work, also mentioning that in every person the same traits may also manifest differently, and so Mark Cuban’s representation can be understood via his life examples. 

The first leadership trait that is being analyzed is that of orderliness which Mark possessed from a very young age. Whether he was a school going or college going student or even a young entrepreneur Mark placed a great emphasis on valuing the time he had in his hands, and organizing his daily activities in an orderly fashion (Pinsker, 2016). Pinsker further notes in his question and answer session with Mark Cuban, that upon asking the question of what struggles he faced most at the onset of his wealth accumulation, he states that his biggest challenge was overcoming his ability to compare himself to how much other made in the field; Mark’s realization then, that if he employed money into yielding more time than, he ended up appreciating both more. Quintessentially, Mark’s key point was to be value time, as it not only generates but enables money of greater worth, and this is a direct link to orderliness, as one only one who values orderliness and time management, values time. 

Mark’s other quality is extraversion, that gives him the benefit of becoming an effective leader, given that he currently owns a basketball team, a military donation fund and a top US investor profile, his job itself is demanding of the part. Mark’s early challenges in life, such as learning to sustain himself through his hard work, to the point that he had to sell garbage bags at the doorstep (Pinsker, 2016) were the rudimentary foundation of his social skills, which he refined through continued engagement with people/his customers via his constant and diverse endeavors to make money. Hence his two challenges of having few resources and staying true to his values despite a different mainstream currents, and his overcoming them via his time management, extraversion and introspective nature give him the added edge of becoming an effective leader.

With his excellent time-management skills and extraversion - both traits which produce an effective leadership style that he has - his obvious preference by the audience/voters in the US upcoming elections for the presidential seat can also be validated through the moral exemplification theory out forward by Clifford (2014). Clifford denotes that moral exemplification has a lot to do with audience preferences and the ability to get his personality across. Having a close linkage to charismatic leadership, what this theory articulates is that, the voters/ supporters are inspired by the leader’s presence. As a leader, Mark Cuban possesses the essential skills of orderliness and extraversion, and this coupled with his later trait of extraversion gives him the added ability to convey to his audiences his view, drawing on charisma to support his leadership style, making him an effective leader. Mark therefore, falls in the category where the trait theory corresponds with the great man theory to the extent that he is able to manifest his traits uniquely in the way that he becomes a great leader worthy of inspiring his audiences. 

Novikova (2013) additionally informs the analyst that personality traits are a commutation of habitual practices put together over a period of time, and in order to understand Mark Cuban’s leadership style there can be no better example. Spector (2015) also denotes the similar via trying to utilize the contemporary leadership discourse and bringing together elements of both the trait and great man theory to illustrate how one constitutes the whole, each leadership trait is the reason behind a great man. 

Understanding Mark Cuban’s example, and more importantly his philosophy can one realize his leadership style and potential. Placing a huge value on time over money (Pinsker, 2016), buying Netflix shares on its very onset with the aim that he will never sell them (Reuters, 2014) and emphasizing the value of investment which cannot be impacted by tax-cuts, an opinion both logical and contradictory to the current US president Donald Trump (Trotta, 2017), Mark Cuban illustrates a farsightedness and intuition both unique in expression and his actions which yield him the leadership style and impact he possesses by standing at a $4.1 billion net worth (Forbes, 2019). 

Conclusion 

Conclusively, Mark Cuban’s contributions can be understood with his a ability to create a highly motivating environment and influencing others, as he currently owns a basketball team which has been going through a tough time, and keeping them motivated, as well as through creating a strong and unique corporate culture whereby placing importance and value on time over money. His emphasis is that if one focuses on generating more time, he adds value to both his money and time, and so his unique investments which are businesses that operate on a vision rather than a product are what drive change. As a presidential candidate he is also well-suited, as he is both organized as well as extroverted, in that he able to express and convey his farsightedness and pragmatic insight. His individual traits are indeed what qualify for making him an exemplary leader.