Hi, I’m Zara Fatima
Social Politician.

GET PAID IN CRYPTOCURRENCY?

As cryptocurrency gains acceptance, more people are vying to get their paycheck and other benefits in bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital currencies. Famous athletes, politicians, and everyday employees are now getting all or part of their salary this way.

“Whether you’re the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, or you’re driving Uber, you can get paid in bitcoin,” said Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike, a digital finance company.

New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams recently tweeted that he wants to receive his first three paychecks in bitcoin. And Miami Mayor Francis Suarez tweeted earlier this month that he’s taking his next paycheck in bitcoin as well.

In the sports world, the Sacramento Kings are set to become the first major sports franchise to offer employees and players a bitcoin payment option. Former Carolina Panthers lineman, Russell Okung became the first NFL player to be paid in bitcoin after converting half of his $13 million salary last December. Since then, other top professional athletes have followed suit, including NFL players Aaron Rodgers, Trevor Lawrence, Sean Culkin, Saquon Blakely, and NBA player Cade Cunningham.

Cryptocurrency, explained with major companies, like Paypal and Microsoft accepting payments in bitcoin, the cryptocurrency is also becoming an accepted means to pay wages and other fringe benefits like bonuses and retirement savings for rank-and-file employees.

“With the broadening support for use of cryptocurrencies in payments, it’s natural you’d start to see more people saying, ‘well, if I can buy the proverbial cup of coffee now with cryptocurrency, maybe I should get paid in it,’” said Garrick Hileman, head of research at Blockchain.com. But if you have the option to get paid in bitcoin, would you go for it?

Source: CNN

WHAT IS YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE?

Leadership styles are the patterns that a leader uses to command or influence his or her people. However, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all leadership style; each leader and company has its own set of styles and requirements. Autocratic, bureaucratic, and charismatic leadership are the three types of leadership most commonly found among leaders.

Apple is a company that I have admired for many years. Yes, their products are of the highest quality, but I have to admit that I admired Steve Jobs, Apple Inc.’s Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO. I thought he was a revolutionary leader, even if I didn’t agree with his leadership style. (Kasim, 2020) cited Richard Branson saying  “Steve Jobs’ leadership style was dictatorial; he had a fastidious eye for detail and surrounded himself with like-minded people who would follow in his footsteps, but what made him one of our generation’s best leaders?

1) Establishing objectives and training coworkers on how to achieve them
2) Everyone is aware of their responsibilities and roles.
3) Steve Jobs determines the vision, goals, and tasks.

The aspect of autocratic leaders that most people dislike is that if objectives or goals are not met, the implications for the team can be disastrous.

Winston Churchill is a well-known figure who does not require an introduction. He stood up to the role of Prime Minister on the eve of war (World War 2), when no one wanted to be in charge of Britain, and is still recognized as one of the best prime ministers in history. Churchill was a bureaucratic leader. Churchill saw that, like a business going through a difficult period owing to market conditions or other external factors, a sense of structure, careful control, and regular consistency was required to prevail (Fata, 2020). The issue with this leadership style is that it isn’t always the best kind of leadership that people respond to, and it might differ from one business to the next.

The term charismatic leader is frequently misunderstood because it sounds charismatic; certainly, it can be beneficial and transformative, but it can also be the opposite. Adolf Hitler, in my opinion, was a charismatic leader who was dominating, confident, and had strong convictions. Unlike ethical leadership, charismatic leadership makes no decisions about whether the vision is good or sustainable (Luenendonk, 2020).

I’ve been working for 18 years and have been in management for over ten of them. I had never given any thought to my leadership style before. I consider myself to be a mix of autocratic and bureaucratic in nature. I tend to be the one who establishes the vision and assigns the responsibilities, but I’m open to suggestions from my team members, and I prefer to be the one who makes the final decisions. Furthermore, if duties do not go as planned and the vision or scope of the project we are working on does not match the initial concept, I am likely to be dissatisfied. When there is a problem at work, on the other hand, I often find myself throwing myself into it and volunteering to take on the situation until it is resolved. I’m not sure my coworkers like me for it, but I relish the challenge that everyone else in the company believed was unachievable.

I believe that leadership is critical in every business; we must always have a leader who is paving the way for us to follow; nevertheless, I believe that leadership styles should be evaluated. Many factors, including culture, must be taken into account. Most importantly, I believe that someone like me needs to determine whatever leadership style is best for me and my business and then stick to it. Now I see that switching between leadership styles may not be the greatest strategy for me, my team, or my organization.

WHAT WAS AMAZON’S PRODUCT SECRET?

From selling books to DVDs, electronics, and now nearly anything, including groceries, can be found on the site. Amazon has a 12 million product inventory that is growing by the day. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, not only used technology to create an online platform that made it easier for shoppers to shop electronically and at low prices, but he also created a platform that would introduce, sell more, and sell further for many small and large businesses, regardless of where they were located. Many Amazon sellers don’t even have a physical location; they just sell online.

According to (Greenspan, 2019), Amazon used Porter’s Five Forces analysis to identify rivals who were direct and indirect competitors. As a result, the focus is on the threat of new entrants, buyer bargaining power, replacement products or services, supplier bargaining power, and rivalry among current rivals. It may be nearly hard to replace or overtake Amazon in the online retail market today, given the prospect of new competitors. Furthermore, Amazon’s operations are “Data-Rich,” allowing them to process information that helps them to expand into new markets and achieve enormous success.

The Four (4) Key Strategies Amazon Used:

• Regularly entering into new niches and segments
• Continuously strengthening Amazon ecosystem
• Uncompromised focus towards customer service
• Focusing on Amazon Leadership values

According to (Dudovskiy, 2020), Amazon has a razor-thin profit margin but is successful because of economies of scale, continuous amendments and improvements to business processes, and constant company diversification. In a word, Amazon is successful because it is not a static firm, but rather a dynamic one that evolves its business plan over time. The online retail sector, prime, and web services, according to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, are the three primary foundations of his company. If you look closely, you’ll notice that their other firms are spin-offs from these three.

Amazon’s Roadmap

The first pillar demonstrates the wide range of products available in their online retail store, which has one of the world’s largest retail inventories. To develop a deeper link with their customers, they diversified into cloud computing services and AmazonVideo in September 2006 and AmazonMusic in September 2007. Following that, they began offering self-developed, creative products including the Kindle e-paper reader, the KindleFire tablet, the AmazonFireTV-Stick, and AmazonEcho (Escoda, 2018). Amazon’s concentration on customer-centric viewpoints has helped them to break into new markets with minimal cost, allowing them to overcome entrance hurdles and establish themselves as a major player.

The second pillar — In order to attract clients, pricing was an important concept. They offered the greatest pricing on the internet while maintaining a high level of product quality. They were the first business in this market area to offer free deliveries to purchasers and to ensure on-time delivery, resulting in a massive increase in market share (Escoda, 2018). Amazon Prime shipping was a huge success, as it killed two birds with one stone. Customers who choose Amazon Prime not only get to stream their favourite shows, but they also get same-day or next-day delivery on their retail purchases, which has prompted many new customers to sign up.

The third pillar — The company’s focus on convenience has resulted in significant R&D investments, allowing them to better understand their customers’ needs and persuade them to acquire products or services from their online store. Furthermore, Amazon was one of the first businesses to measure consumer behaviour in order to actively improve customers’ purchasing experiences and overall satisfaction. Last but not least, provide consumer reviews and feedback forms for each product offered.

Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.

– Jeff Bezos

If you ask me if I believe Amazon will or can continue to be successful, I honestly believe it will, and I believe the company will do even better in the next years if the R&D expenditures stay feasible and the return on investment is evident. However, I believe that if the company’s competitive edge can be maintained at its current levels, competitors will find it extremely difficult to beat Amazon.