Walter Isaacson reveals Steve Jobs' 14 management lessons - The Mac Observer (2023)

FAQs

What are the leadership lessons of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson? ›

In this essay Isaacson describes the 14 imperatives behind Jobs's approach: focus; simplify; take responsibility end to end; when behind, leapfrog; put products before profits; don't be a slave to focus groups; bend reality; impute; push for perfection; know both the big picture and the details; tolerate only "A" ...

'Steve Jobs' leadership style was autocratic; he had a meticulous eye for detail, and surrounded himself with like-minded people to follow his lead. ' His creative awareness, his 'meticulous eye for detail', was clearly a driving force in Apple's success.

Steve Jobs said, “It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” Hiring smart people will make your organization stronger and more innovative.

Yes, he could be rude, unreasonable, fickle, and arrogant. He even took credit for others' ideas. The list of his weaknesses is quite long.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

Steve Jobs' innovative leadership style

“Great things in business are never done by one person; they're done by a team of people.” [Read our tips on improving the hiring process.] At the same time, Jobs knew he had to be the best leader possible to his teams.

In terms of the more academic leadership styles, Steve Jobs' approach is best defined as autocratic. He had a “my way or the highway” approach to leadership, and he believed that he was solely responsible for the decisions and direction of his team.

Two, despite the observations of some about Mr. Jobs' arrogant style, I believe that he had at least three qualities that great executive leaders have: a clear vision, a passion for the company and its people, and an ability to inspire trust. This is what I would consider his leadership character.

“Apple at the core – its core value is that we believe that people with passion can change the world for the better.” “That's what we believe. And we had the opportunity to work with people like that.

He created resentment among employees by turning some into stars and insulting others, often reducing them to tears. Mr. Jobs himself would frequently cry after fights with fellow executives".

How did Steve Jobs motivate his employees? ›

He directed efforts of others through tasks and structures. Steve influenced his employees with a strong desire for hard work, shared passion, and clear vision. Jobs was driven by his desire to create great products as opposed to what the customers thought they wanted.

There are countless dots out there to connect, but if you are looking in the same places as everyone else, you're going to end up being just like everyone else.

Steve Jobs was a known bully and would often fly off the handle at those under him. He would publicly question the intelligence of anyone he found fault with. Steve would snap and bark at those under him, park in handicap spaces, flaunt the rules and more…

And even after he had cleaned up his personal appearance, Jobs would have never tolerated going through a formal assessment process. His rebelliousness, hostility to authority, and impatience would have caused him to reject the process outright and see the assessors as bozos and the company as *&it.

Some of his personal traits that enabled him to achieve success in his career were focus, passion and his exceptional imagination. Besides, his communication skills were amazing because he could entertain, inform and inspire his audience at the same time.

Steve Jobs was a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer era. With Steve Wozniak, Jobs founded Apple Inc. in 1976 and transformed the company into a world leader in telecommunications. Widely considered a visionary and a genius, he oversaw the launch of such revolutionary products as the iPod and the iPhone.

As an ENTJ, Steve tends to be charismatic, direct, and logical. Steve likely enjoys taking charge, working to achieve goals, and encouraging growth from others.

Jobs's innovations made a profound impact. He redefined computing, enhancing the user experience, and created products and services loved by millions around the world. He reshaped the music industry with the iPod, the mobile phone industry with the iPhone, and the movie industry with Pixar Animation Studios.

Apple co-founder and chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios, Steve Jobs, is one of the most influential situational leaders. He had the knack for foreseeing trends. And, he is one of the leaders behind the technological evolution that we see today.

Why Steve Jobs is a transformational leader? ›

The results of our analysis show that people remembered Jobs as a leader per se, and that they ascribed at least three attributes to him that are commonly associated with transformational leaders: “creative,” “visionary,” and “passionate.” Indeed, Jobs' eye for design, his ability to imagine new products and ways of ...

The Great Man Theory believes that the inherent traits that one is born with contribute to great leadership. Situational Theory recommends leaders to adopt a leadership style depending on the situation at hand, while the Behavioral Theory is all about the learning the skills necessary to become a good leader.

The trait theory of leadership suggests that certain inborn or innate qualities and characteristics make someone a leader. These qualities might be personality factors, physical factors, intelligence factors, and so on.

Steve Jobs was proactive and thrived on setting goals and working hard. He was determined, ambitious, self-motivated, energetic and enterprising, spearheading companies like Apple, NEXT & Pixar.

Apple Company has remained a successful company under the leadership of Steve Jobs due to his charismatic ethical leadership that enabled him to motivate employees.

Jobs' goal when he re-joined Apple was to make the company he founded successful. But that goal only mattered in that it informed his work: Building beautiful products that solved problems, made people's lives better and easier, and (not coincidentally) made money.

If you don't already know then Jobs' reply may surprise you. He said that he was 'most proud of his team – The Apple Team – that had created award-winning products time and again. '

Gates later shared that he was jealous of Jobs, saying in an interview with Armchair Expert: "He was such a wizard at over-motivating people⁠—I was a minor wizard so I couldn't fall under his spells⁠—but I could see him casting the spells, and then I would look at people and see them mesmerised. "I was so jealous."

The untimely death of Steve Jobs from pancreatic cancer at the age of 56 in October 2011 was highly publicized (Kane and Fowler, 2011; Markoff, 2011).

What was Steve Jobs IQ? ›

"Steve Jobs likely had an IQ roughly 160 or above. In Walter Isaacson's biography, near the end of 4th grade, Jobs was tested. Jobs said: 'I scored at the high school sophomore level. ' This means he was a 4th grader performing at the 10th grade level.

There are countless examples of Steve Jobs's dismissive, arrogant and condescending behavior, due in part to his attitude of not caring what other people thought. He would ask flabbergasting personal questions in interviews to intentionally put prospective employees under stress; he would fire people without warning.

But the biggest and best decision that Jobs took was to change the focus of the company from being a computer manufacturer to being a consumer products company. Looking back on his history, it's no surprise that he was capable of making such a move. At NeXT, he eventually went from selling hardware to selling software.

Dropbox CEO Drew Houston famously turned down Steve Jobs when Jobs offered to acquire the company. After the rejection, Jobs not-so-subtly implied that he'd have to put Dropbox out of business instead.

I'm truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs' death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work. Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives.

Steve Jobs once said, “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.

It was Steve Jobs remarkable emotional intelligence that helped him truly figure out people and what made them tick. He was able to do it effectively and negotiate most situations to his benefit (Chauhan, 2021).

Steve Jobs was legendary for a lot of things -- one was the value he placed on brutal honesty. That translated not only into him being sometimes painfully honest with those who worked for him. It also meant he demanded others tell him the unvarnished truth about what was going wrong at the companies where he worked.

Differences between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs:

Steve Jobs offers an autocratic leadership style while Bill Gates applies a democratic and participatory leadership style. Steve Jobs's leadership style is described to be harsh; he is an authoritarian, a dictator, who solely takes decisions.

Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they're not fond of rules…

What are the components of Steve Jobs leadership? ›

Jobs' arrogant style, I believe that he had at least three qualities that great executive leaders have: a clear vision, a passion for the company and its people, and an ability to inspire trust. This is what I would consider his leadership character.

Theme of the biography was focus in what you believe in.Jobs had spent most of life just focusing on building to help people find the combination between the arts and technology of it all.

A drop out himself, his talk comprised of three stories from his life divided into his accidental adoption, his love for his job and ouster from Apple and ultimately being diagnosed with cancer. In between, he speaks extensively about what helped him survive it all: an enduring love for what one does.

People. Progress., nearly 300 C-level business leaders across the globe cite, 'leaders who lead by example,' 'clear purpose,' 'clear communication,' and 'trust' as key elements that influence highly effective workplace cultures. These four elements, when strengthened, build effective leadership skills.

Jobs' speech followed three stories from his life: one, in which he tells an anecdote about dropping out of college; another, about the lessons he learned from being fired by Apple in 1985; and lastly, his reflections on death.

In the first story, Steve jobs talked about his adoption and his college life at Reed College. He started out talking about how he dropped out of college after six months. Then, stayed around as a drop in for about eighteen months before he actually quit.

Charismatic attitude, passionate demeanor, risk-taking temperament, and non-traditional conducts define Steve Jobs' personality who lived from 24 February 1955 to 5 October 2011. His work has often exhibited his fidelity towards his work.

Jobs famously described the ‌iPhone‌ as an iPod with touch controls, a phone, and a breakthrough internet communications device, three distinct areas that no device at the time managed to tackle all at once.

What life lessons can one learn from Jobs third story? ›

Walker thinks there are seven traits they all have in common, and they are remarkably close to the language we use to talk about leadership in the army: Doggedness, rule-bending, servant leadership, communication, moral courage and emotional control.

Major Point: Captains embody 3 C's in leading their team: Caring, Courageous, and Consistent. Being named a team captain is quite the honor. The position of captain is given to those athletes whom the rest of the team respect and trust to lead the team in the right direction.

A good leader should have integrity, self-awareness, courage, respect, empathy, and gratitude. They should be learning agile and flex their influence while communicating and delegating effectively. See how these key leadership qualities can be learned and improved at all levels of your organization.