LEADERSHIP

Leadership



Leadership

Introduction

Steve Jobs is a difficult man to be indifferent about. As Apple's spokesman, he is a superstar; adored by his constituents, they hang on every word during his flawless and dynamic keynotes, and they analyze every letter published looking for hidden meaning. As a boss, he is critical, demanding, driving, and surprisingly inspirational (Kahney, 2010). As a businessman, he is cold and cunning. His tactics are merciless and his business sense is impeccable. In all areas, he is never hesitant to speak what is on his mind.

In spite of his polarizing effect, or maybe because of it, Steve Jobs' leadership ability is unequivocal. What is it that makes him such a dynamic and charismatic leader? How has his leadership style remained consistent and changed since the 70s when he incorporated Apple? This analysis of Steve Jobs' leadership style will cover his personality type and reflective leadership characteristics. It will also cover how Steve Jobs led Apple during its formative years and how they caused him to be ousted from his own company. Finally, it will cover how Steve Jobs has changed since he came back to Apple and has led the world in the development of personal technology.

Along with Steve Wozniak, Jobs founded Apple Computer, Inc., in a garage in 1976. With Jobs as its chairman, Apple Computer quickly became a major competitor in the high-tech world. He helped make California's Silicon Valley a world-renowned center of high technology. After leaving Apple in 1986, Jobs founded NeXT Software, Inc., and Pixar, an Academy-Award-winning animation studio. He returned to Apple in 1997 as CEO and initiated a number of successful new hardware and software products.

Leadership Style

Steve Jobs is a strong charismatic leader. As a charismatic leader, he is exceedingly inspirational, likes using stories to motivate, and his passion for perfection is inspiring. When relying on behaviors that emphasize the directive style, Steve does not hold back his thoughts about the direction of a project or someone's ideas on how to resolve a problem. Steve's charismatic personality has pulled Apple through crises, periods of change, and even compelled employees to work 90-hour weeks (joyfully) in order to meet seemingly impossible deadlines (Wozniak, 2010). His charisma, conviction, and dominating influence also caused him to be fired from Apple when he adamantly refused to change the course he believed Apple needed to go.

In the typical manner of a charismatic personality, Steve did have difficulties to overcome as a youth. He was an adopted child and struggled with identity issues in his early years. This quest for his personal identity was tied in with his devotion to Eastern philosophies, a quest for truth. Dan Kotke, a close friend of Steve Jobs in the 70s, said Steve Jobs “felt some kind of unresolved pain over being adopted. That was the period he hired a private investigator to try to track down his mother. He was obsessed with it for a while.” (Young, 2005)

Steve's Leadership and a Shiny, New Apple

Steve Jobs and ...