Even though we all know that Steve Jobs was undeniably a great leader that had the vision to bring Apple to the next level, it seems the only caveat to his legacy was that...ok lets face it, people thought he was a jerk. We've discussed this very topic in class and now its the subject of a New York Times article that aims to analyze the real nature of Steve Jobs leadership style.
According to the article, its no secret that Jobs had an aggressively controlling nature and would put down anyone he didn't like whether it was business related, personally motivated, or both. But was this just a character flaw that people put up with because of his brilliance, or was this very nature the reason for his success? Walter Isaacson, author of the biography "Steve Jobs", recently wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review arguing for the former while listing all the lessons one could learn from Jobs' management style. According to him, what Jobs did best was the following.
I think a lot of what it also comes down to is that Jobs knew how to "get the right people in key seats"as Collins said in the Businessweek article we read several weeks back. These "right people"don't need to be tightly managed as Jobs pointed out, are passionate about the company and its work (hence they can put up with Jobs management style), and understand the difference between a "job" and what they are truly responsible for and how they give their firm intrinsic value (ex. Jobs told people what his vision was then left them to their devices so they could turn it into reality.)
Jobs was also the kind of leader who transformed Apple's strategy from the day to day grind of constantly trying to beat out its competitors into a long-term vision of providing the best CVP it could in the markets Jobs had the foresight to radically change. And this is exactly how he put leadership back into strategy...he failed at previous attempts to simply claim value, so he began to create value, whether it was through breakthrough computer-animated movies or little mp3 players that revolutionized the music industry.
It's tough to argue that Jobs was wrong because of the results he posted. And for all his faults, he still managed to inspire people. At the end of the day when asked about if he could be nicer, Jobs' reply was "But that's not who I am." But what do you think? Was his rudeness and perfectionist attitude the reason for his success (and the fact that he stayed true to himself), or could he have been an even better leader by curbing what was seen as his fault?
According to the article, its no secret that Jobs had an aggressively controlling nature and would put down anyone he didn't like whether it was business related, personally motivated, or both. But was this just a character flaw that people put up with because of his brilliance, or was this very nature the reason for his success? Walter Isaacson, author of the biography "Steve Jobs", recently wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review arguing for the former while listing all the lessons one could learn from Jobs' management style. According to him, what Jobs did best was the following.
- Simplifying Products
- Taking Responsibility from end to end
- Tolerating only "A" players: Jobs had a firm belief that if he had really great people working for him, he shouldn't have to micromanage them. If he expected great things from them, they would do great things.
- Focusing on only a few good products
- Bending Reality: many employees talked of Jobs having the ability to make them believe almost anything.
I think a lot of what it also comes down to is that Jobs knew how to "get the right people in key seats"as Collins said in the Businessweek article we read several weeks back. These "right people"don't need to be tightly managed as Jobs pointed out, are passionate about the company and its work (hence they can put up with Jobs management style), and understand the difference between a "job" and what they are truly responsible for and how they give their firm intrinsic value (ex. Jobs told people what his vision was then left them to their devices so they could turn it into reality.)Jobs was also the kind of leader who transformed Apple's strategy from the day to day grind of constantly trying to beat out its competitors into a long-term vision of providing the best CVP it could in the markets Jobs had the foresight to radically change. And this is exactly how he put leadership back into strategy...he failed at previous attempts to simply claim value, so he began to create value, whether it was through breakthrough computer-animated movies or little mp3 players that revolutionized the music industry.
It's tough to argue that Jobs was wrong because of the results he posted. And for all his faults, he still managed to inspire people. At the end of the day when asked about if he could be nicer, Jobs' reply was "But that's not who I am." But what do you think? Was his rudeness and perfectionist attitude the reason for his success (and the fact that he stayed true to himself), or could he have been an even better leader by curbing what was seen as his fault?
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