Leadership Lessons From Steve Jobs

Having recently been awarded the CEO of the Year 2009, Steve Jobs is certainly a leadership profile that may be a worthy leadership lesson to study.

Steve Jobs, the CEO and co-founding father of Apple could be a highly autocratic, or ‘CEO-centric’ leader. Instead of working alongside his peers and  subordinates, Jobs select to steer his team from the front, spearheading the innovation and constantly renewed products of the company. The autocratic nature  of his leadership conjointly bears some transactional traits, like using verbal lashings at employees. Jobs was also infamous for creating an atmosphere of  concern in the corporate when he carries out rounds of ‘executions’ to remove less competent staff. This has led to some staff dreading to stumble upon him  in the elevators, for fear of receiving a letter of dismissal subsequently. The success of the company and the CEO stems less from a participative or  democratic vogue of leadership, but very abundant additional from Job’s ability to repeatedly innovate and build things happen.

This brings us to a higher concept, of innovative leadership. Instead of resting on his laurels and be content with their market leadership, Jobs  recognises the need for constant innovation and renewal so as to stay at the front. Being in market with viable alternatives and robust competition, Jobs  understands that it is necessary to direct the focus on the corporate on innovation 1st, everything else later. This has resulted in Apple to be the primary  in several product classes, like for iPhones, iPods and the recent iPads. In this case, his emphasis on innovation supersedes even the structural growth of  the company.

A key trait born by Steve Jobs that build the Apple concept thus wildly successful is his ability to create a vision for the corporate, one that each  member can relate with and work towards. His vision, “to begin a revolution in the manner the common person processes information”, has led to the creation  of a multi-million business from a mere idea or wish. It has brought into the hands of billions around the world, ergonomic product that wildly increase  their accessibility to every alternative and data, furthermore reshape their style of life. A sturdy vision like this can be a standard trait shared among  successful companies, and it is completely integral for any leader who wished to unite his team and offer his team direction to master.

Whereas not like the conventional transformational or participative leaders we have seem so far, Steve Jobs is actually a leadership model worth learning  from. Successfully utilising the autocratic vogue, compounded with a specialize in innovation and visioning, it is evident how Steve Jobs can successfully  take Apple to bigger heights.