"Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected." -Steve Jobs
Fortune has a feature on Steve Jobs, titled "Steve Jobs speaks out" that looks at some of Jobs’ perspectives on leadership. In the article Mr. Jobs divulges some interesting insights into Apple and his leadership principles.
I doubt you could say that Steve Jobs is the epitome of high morals. He has been known to park in handicap spots and berate his employees in public. He can be known to be condescending and egotistical. Jobs’ style can have a negative affect on the climate in the workplace and, in turn, on the performance of the employees. They can become overwhelmed and burned out, yet, some have been known to say that Steve Jobs is a dynamic and charismatic individual and they love working for him.
I do believe that Jobs builds relationships between the products he is producing and his employees. He gets them to buy into his ideas and to create ones of their own that they are proud of and want to build on for its consumers. In an exclusive interview, Apple's CEO talked with Fortune senior editor Betsy Morris, "When I hire somebody really senior, competence is the ante. They have to be really smart. But the real issue for me is, are they going to fall in love with Apple? Because if they fall in love with Apple, everything else will take care of itself. They'll want to do what's best for Apple, not what's best for them, what's best for Steve, or anybody else (Fortune, 2008).
Jobs also has the skill of knowledge building and sharing. In the same interview with Betty Morris, Jobs states, “We've got 25,000 people at Apple. About 10,000 of them are in the stores. And my job is to work with sort of the top 100 people, that's what I do. That doesn't mean they're all vice presidents. Some of them are just key individual contributors. So when a good idea comes, you know, part of my job is to move it around, just see what different people think, get people talking about it, argue with people about it, get ideas moving among that group of 100 people, get different people together to explore different aspects of it quietly, and, you know - just explore things" (Fortune, 2008).
Many may not agree with Steve Jobs’ management skills or the way he treats his employees, but it is hard to deny that he gets the job done. It may not always seem that he intends to make a positive difference in the lives of his employees, but he has been known to push them to their highest potential. They may think that they have reached their limit, but he shows them that they can go the extra mile and gets the best work out of them. He believes, “When you hire really good people you have to give them a piece of the business and let them run with it. That doesn't mean I don't get to kibitz a lot. But the reason you're hiring them is because you're going to give them the reins. I want [them] making as good or better decisions than I would. So the way to do that is to have them know everything, not just in their part of the business, but in every part of the business” (Fortune, 2008).
Jobs has always aspired to position Apple and its products at the forefront of the information technology industry by anticipating and setting trends, at least in terms of innovation and style He wants what is best for the customer, ensuring that they are buying the best his company can offer The way he approaches this may not be conventional, but it works for him and the Apple Industry.
References:
Morris, Betsy (2008). Steve Jobs Speaks Out. Fortune, Retrieved February 20, 2010 from
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/...jobsqna.../index.html
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Cassandra,
ReplyDeleteHaving very little knowledge of Steve Jobs prior to reading your blogs except for his affiliation with Apple, I found them very enlightening, especially this last one. Yes, it is true that he gets the job done, but I am certain that I would not like working for him.
His leadership style is commanding. According to Fullan, "...commanding (do as I say) leaders might have a short-term positive impact under certain conditions, but they fail sooner rather than later because they demotivate people--they do not develop capacity and commitment" (p. 2). I would like to know employee turnover rates for Apple employees who work closely with Jobs.
As you mention, Jobs seems to have the ability to get his employees to buy into his ideas, despite his negative and commanding style, which is different from my leader, Bill Clinton, whose style is more positive and democratic.
References
Fullan, M. Leadership and sustainability. http://www.cdl.org/resource-library/articles/ldr_sustainability.php
Steve Jobs is apparently quite a character. He doesn't seem to treat people well yet he has developed a leadership style that works for his company. He has a true passion for innovation and cares about the final product. His people skills seem somewhat lacking but apparently those who work for him are able to look past his shortcomings. They can obviously recognize someone who transcends the norms of leadership and are willing to follow him to help develop his vision.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I am an Apple and Steve Jobs fan. I am certainly not the expert you are and I found your posts interesting and informative. It makes me think that being a good leader means different things in different arenas. Steve Jobs is a leader without a doubt. However, Jobs is a business man. He has to balance those two things. Can you be Mr. Nice-Guy and run a billion dollar company? I'm not sure. There must be a piece of Jobs that enables his employees to overlook his short comings.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Janel, I am a huge fan of Apple and Jobs, but I was unaware of his leadership tactics until I read your blog. The most impressive part of this post for me was the fact that he encourages his employees to "fall in love with Apple". That is such a simple, yet brilliant and effective tactic! Everyone knows that people will do extraordinary things for something they care about or feel passionately about and, luckily for Jobs, it is easy to love Apple. Especially since it doesn't sound like it is very easy to love him as a person!
ReplyDeleteI was surprised at this side of Jobs. You have opened my eyes to his history through your blog and I have taken every opportunity to click on links and videos. From viewing his address to the 2005 graduating class at Stanford I would never have imagined he would treat his employees with disrespect. He seemed to genuine and heart-felt when he gave that speech. It was enlightening and inspiring. I can grasp what you are saying about his morals here. The speech still fits the man, but in a different context.
ReplyDeleteI have personally been a leader in corporate America and know that he feels he has to do what he is doing. There is no room to make friends when you may need to fire one or lay one off. However, I feel that how he is as a leader is very specific to corporate America and not necessarily what any of us would aspire to be as an educational leader.
I believe we all aspire to be a different kind of leader, individual to ourselves, but also overall different than Jobs. Educational environments require a great deal of trust. I don't think he earns this from his employees. I would not want to work for him, but I certainly did enjoy learning more about him.
Steven Jobs is a controller/analyzer. “The person-situation approach to personality assumes that behavior is a product of learning and that people are both a product and a producer of their environments. Leaders with this type of personality assume that that can influence the behavior of others through the process of reinforcement (“Leadership styles of," 2010).”
ReplyDeleteSteven Jobs characteristics as a leader work for him as leader. The views we are reading are perspectives of other people, I’m leaning to the concept that leading styles are reflective of what works in the situation that needs guidance. There are times when strong control is needed to succeed.
Leadership styles of lee iacocca and steven jobs. (2010, February). Retrieved from http://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1689081.html
Cassandra,
ReplyDeleteSteve Jobs is a leader who isn’t settled at being good. He works and makes decisions everyday for Apple to become great! Too many people are settled with being “good”. But just think, if we continue to do what we have always done we will continue to get what we have always gotten. The quest for excellence is a leadership quality that must be standard among leaders.
Steve’s innovation is also astounding. Apple has a knack for creating new products that we can’t live without. His ability to stay on the edge of the fastest changing field in the world ensures his success. As educational leaders we must always look for instructional methods that will improve learning for our students.
Joe