The Social Network
The social Network movie is a biography of the co-founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg. The movie is based on the book written in 2009 by Ben Mezrich. The name of the book was “ The Accidental Billionaires”. The movie was released by Aaron Sorkin in 2010. The movie received eight Academy Award Nominations. The movie highlights the various incidents in Mark Zuckerberg’s life. He created a messaging application at the age of 12.
While at Harvard University, he developed an application named as Facemash, but it was shut down by the university because it was inappropriate and violated the privacy of the university. Then, his three fellow students asked him to join them to develop a website called Harvard Edu. He agreed but then decided to create own website named Facebook, which crossed 500 million users to the date. From the movie, we can see that he always appreciates his friends. He is never jealous of anyone. He made his friend Eduardo Saverin, a 30 percent shareholder who had no contribution to the development to the website. He made him CFO of the social networking website.
Also, he was fully concentrated to the website, he left the college to focus on the project. He was never after money, when his friend Eduardo asked him to generate revenue from the website, he said no. His concern was to create a strong social connection among people through a website where they can make friends, chat with them and get to know each other. His follow mates accused him of stealing their idea. Despite of various legal disruptions, he did not lose his focus and continued working hard to make the newly launched website a success. He always motivated his co-workers. Based on this movie, I am going to describe the vision, motivation, dilemma , ethics and leadership effectiveness of Mark Zuckerberg. I would also list my personal leadership development and lessons learned from the life of Mark Zuckerberg which I can apply in my own life, which will be effective for my personality development.
Vision and Motivation
The messaging is the heart and principal of future of the website. According to Mark Zuckerberg himself, his vision behind Facebook is to create a social network which is private and where people can interact securely. He wants a strong social connection among people on the Globe. Initially, the website was designed for the students of Harvard University, so that they can know each other well, come close and interact with each other firmly. But now it is for the people sitting anywhere on the globe, the vision is to create a social network, giving power to people to build a community, to communicate with each other, to share their views, to know what is happening around.
Motivational Theories: Based on the movie , it can be said that the Theories that are applied to the story are Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Herzberg’s two factor theory and Gregor’s Theory X and Theory Y, following are the point to prove this.
-
Mark Zuckerberg motivates his employees by fulfilling their physiological needs. The Facebook headquarters are designed like small cities with gyms, dental clinics, bike repair shops, candy shops, restaurants, dry cleaners and coffee-shops. This gives the employees a feeling of relatedness.
-
Facebook ensures the safety of the employees. It has created a global safety Q&A group. It helps the employees to express what they feel and also welcome the safe environment to work in. It gives the authority to people to decide what to share, with whom to share.
-
99.3% of employees in Facebook love Mark Zuckerberg, this is because of the fact that he meets the entry-level employees and make them feel integral part of the company. He does not assign roles based on experience and age but on capability
-
Mark has broken the traditional hierarchies. There is no barrier between managerial people and employees. All are treated equally. He appreciates a direct approach to his employees.
-
He always encourages his team to acknowledge their potential give their fullest. Having a leader with clear vision motivates the employees to strive for the best.
Ethics
Ethics play a vital role in the behavior of Mark Zuckerberg. When his three fellow mates gave him proposal of developing a website named Harvard Edu, he agreed but later dropped and came up with own social networking website, he did not steal their codes and ideas. He was very fair. Also, when he, in frustration, called his girlfriend, he apologized her when he saw her at a party. Also, when his best friend and co-founder of Facebook, Eduardo Saverin, froze the bank account to stop Mark using money, Mark did not do anything against him because he knew it was out of anger and frustration, he did not blame him, but instead ask him to join him to have some contracts signed. When Eduardo accused him, he settled it down and restored him as co-founder of Facebook. Also, when his friend Shawn suggested him that he should take a revenge on his girlfriend and tell her that she is a bitch, he was in dilemma, he got some cards printed with written” I am CEO, Bitch”. But, then, he tore off the cards, because for him it was unethical.
Leadership Effectiveness
Mark Zuckerberg is an effective leader. 99.3% of his employees gave him approval ratings because of his behavior and leadership style. Following are the secrets to this:
-
No Traditional Hierarchies: Mark broke the traditional Hierarchies. He is not a CEO with guards at his door. In his office, employees can approach him directly. They need not to ask the other executives to arrange a meeting with Mark Zuckerberg. He does not assign the duties based on age and experience but on the basis of capabilities. According to one of his employees, when he was working on a project, Mark himself reviewed his project twice. He was open to new experiences.
-
Legitimacy: Mark Zuckerberg is a legitimate person; he lived his dream. He by himself, created an idea and carried it forward and with his dedication, concentration and hard work made it a success. He built one of the biggest empire out of his dorm, he had a lot of hurdles along the way, he faced them bravely and overcome them. He was accused a number of times, but nothing could deviate him from accomplishing his mission. He gathered most talented employees of the world and built a billion-dollar company.
-
A clear Vision: A leader can have people behind him only when he can show a clear path ahead. He always listened to others and readiness to help other. He had high score at Agreeableness .Mark Zuckerberg had a clear vision , he wanted to build a very powerful social networking community, where people can share their views, become friends and come know what is happening around the globe and what matters to them. His vision was to create a privacy network where people can communicate securely. So, he has openness to new ideas and experience
-
No useless workplace traditions: Mark did not have any dress code at workplace. He never judged his employees from what they are wearing, he himself, sometimes, wears jeans or hoodie. He judges his employees on the basis of quality of their work. So, it can be said that he had practical intelligence because he values Practical skills.
-
Motivation to employees: He motivates his employees by giving perks and verbal encouragement. The headquarters of Facebook are like small cities with their own centers of doctor clinics, dental clinics, coffee shops, restaurants, dry-cleaners and bike repair shops. This gives the employees a feeling of relatedness to the company and they work to their fullest to strive the goals. This knows his emotional intelligence.
Contingency Theory
Transformational Leadership Theory: Mark first developed Facemash theory, where the people had to compare two pictures and select which one more attractive. He wanted to use his emotional intelligence skills to understand what people want. He discovered that people were not interested to know about the people whom they do not know but they are interest to know more about the people known to them. It proves that Mark was capable of monitoring the emotions of others. He used this information to guide the behavior and thinking of others. Mark inspired his fellow mates. They were very curious to join him, that is why so many people took part in the hacking competition organized by Mark because they could see the capability in Mark despite of the fact that Facebook was very new, and no one knew whether it would be a success or not. His unusual vision inspired many people to share the same vision and to strive the goal.
Personal Leadership Development
The Social Network was indeed an inspirational movie. The character of Mark Zuckerberg has taught so may things. First of all, we should have a clear vision in our lives. We should be sheerly dedicated and concentrated on what we are doing. No matters what the outcomes will be, we should strive for the best like Mark Zuckerberg. He did not know what Facebook may do, what it will do, but still he made prediction that it will be a great success. So, it can be said that when we work hard, give our best, work in organized and systemic way, the results will be in our favor. Second, we should not be deviated by the hurdles in our way, we should bravely face those obstacles like Mark Zuckerberg. He was accused many times, but he did not stop but continue to go ahead and succeeded in the end. Also, I learned that I should not be so reactive to the things which I easily do. I should handle the situations calmly.
References
Leadership Attributes Of Mark Zuckerberg. (2016, Sep 20). Retrieved fromhttps://studymoose.com/leadership-attributes-of-mark-zuckerberg-essay
