Elon Musk As Leader And Motivator
Elon Reeve Musk born June 28, 1971 (age 47) in Pretoria, South Africa is an entrepreneur, engineer and businessman. He currently holds citizenship in South Africa, Canada and the United States. During his time as an entrepreneur he has co-founded X.com in 1999 which is now PayPal. He is the co-founder, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, Inc. He is the founder, CEO and lead designer of SpaceX. Musk also founded the Boring Company in 2016. As of 2019, Elon Musk’s net worth is estimated to be 22.2 Billion U.S dollars. In 1989, at the age of 17, Elon Musk moved to Canada and attended Queen’s University. In 1992 he left Queens University to attend the University of Pennsylvania to study Business and Physics. Elon graduated with an undergraduate degree in economics and stayed for a second bachelor’s degree in physics. After Elon Musk left the University of Pennsylvania, he attended Stanford University in California so that he undertake a Doctor of Philosophy in energy physics. His move was aligned perfectly with the outbreak of the internet and he left just two days after starting to launch his first company, Zip2 Corporation.
Never say die attitude – Elon Musk is very self-driven and motivated. When things may not go the right way he is determined to push on and make things happen. This never say die attitude gives him the ability to push forward. Work ethic- He works 100 hours a week to ensure that he is working harder than all of his competitors. Aims for the bigger picture- Sets goals that will help him and his business. Extremely persistent- Works hard so that he can achieve full potential. For example, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 had four years of take offs and crashes and he persisted to make it work. Committed- He is extremely committed to all of his businesses.
Zip2 Corporation- Elon Musk launched his first company, the Zip2 Corporation in 1995. This was a company that provided and licensed online city guide software to newspapers. The business was for computer users to find local businesses. Elon launched this company because of technological development and the boom of the internet. The source of this business opportunity came from the dot-com bubble in the United States which was a period of extreme growth in the usage and adaption of the internet.
Tesla- Tesla was co-founded by Elon Musk in 2003, he is also the CEO of Tesla Inc. Tesla was originally called Tesla motors and was created to demonstrate that Electric cars can be sustainable, quicker and more fun to drive than petrol cars. As well as vehicles they also produce clean energy generation and storage products. Tesla believes that when the world moves towards a zero-emission and sustainable future it will be a better place. This business was created because there was a gap in the market as there was nothing as technologically advanced like the Tesla motors company. More reasons for the business being created would be technological development and research and development in terms of a car being environmentally friendly and using sustainable energy.
SpaceX- In 2002 Elon Musk founded his third company Space Exploration Technologies Corporation with the intention of building spacecraft for commercial space travel. He also intended reducing space exploration costs and enabling the colonisation of Mars. This business idea would have come about due to a personal passion of Elon Musk as well as the technological development in space exploration.
The main source of motivation that Elon Musk had for starting the majority of his businesses was a personal passion in a certain area of interest and a big work ethic. For example, when Musk first founded the companies of Tesla and SpaceX it was because he had a passion for technology, space exploration and a sustainable future.
Another way in which Elon Musk becomes motivated with his businesses is he is obsessive with his work. He becomes so involved with the businesses that part of his motivation is to keep up. He is passionate about his work, he is obsessed. He treats his work like oxygen, he devotes nearly every waking hour in his life to shaping his ideas and executing them. He pushes himself beyond his limits so that he can achieve perfection. He believes that if you strive for excellence, then you will be able to set yourself apart from those who are willing to play safe and accept well enough.
For example, motivation and work ethic helped Elon Musk and his SpaceX business. On May 22, 2012, Musk made history when the SpaceX Company launched its Falcon 9 rocket into space. The vehicle was sent to the International Space Station, marking the first time a private company had sent a spacecraft to the International Space Station. Musk was quoted as saying, 'I feel very lucky. ... For us, it's like winning the Super Bowl.' This achievement was due to motivation, hard work and perseverance.
