Communication in the Information Age
Running head: COMMUNICATION IN THE INFORMATION AGE
Communication in the Information Age
ORG 300 – Applying Leadership Principles
Colorado State University – Global Campus
Howard Major
June 6, 2013
1
COMMUNICATION IN THE INFORMATION AGE
2
Communication in the Information Age
Leaders are people, and people are different. We may all do one thing differently and come to the same conclusion, thus the intended result is the important point. A leader will be considered a leader based on the outcomes that he produces, rather than the decisions he makes to reach the outcomes. An example of this is Steve Jobs’ preferred methods of leadership versus
Larry Page and Sergey Brin’s methods: tyrannical versus open-minded. Both Apple and Google are leading players in the mobile phone field, but are run with completely opposite mentalities.
Steve Jobs is quoted as being “interpersonally immature” (Katzenbach, 2012, para. 4) and described as “the antithesis of the ‘servant leader’ model” (Katzenbach, 2012, para 4). If I had no prior knowledge of Apple’s success, I would assume Jobs’ management style to be ineffective. How can you treat people poorly and expect them to continue to follow you?
Katzenbach (2012) says that Jobs’ brilliance allowed him his management style, and that it most likely would not work for most businesses. Jobs’ proved that he knew exactly what the customer wanted even before they did, and his attention to detail and perfectionist attitude did not allow deviation from his superior plans.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, co-owners of Google, are known for their unique culture in the workplace and heavily rely on their teams of employees for innovation. The teams focus on brainstorming and improving current products (Google, 1998). Page and Brin did not dictate how to get to the finish line. “Instead of looking for a company to start, look for a problem and solve it” (Shontell, 2011, para. 8). They did not invent the search
Communication in the Information Age
ORG 300 – Applying Leadership Principles
Colorado State University – Global Campus
Howard Major
June 6, 2013
1
COMMUNICATION IN THE INFORMATION AGE
2
Communication in the Information Age
Leaders are people, and people are different. We may all do one thing differently and come to the same conclusion, thus the intended result is the important point. A leader will be considered a leader based on the outcomes that he produces, rather than the decisions he makes to reach the outcomes. An example of this is Steve Jobs’ preferred methods of leadership versus
Larry Page and Sergey Brin’s methods: tyrannical versus open-minded. Both Apple and Google are leading players in the mobile phone field, but are run with completely opposite mentalities.
Steve Jobs is quoted as being “interpersonally immature” (Katzenbach, 2012, para. 4) and described as “the antithesis of the ‘servant leader’ model” (Katzenbach, 2012, para 4). If I had no prior knowledge of Apple’s success, I would assume Jobs’ management style to be ineffective. How can you treat people poorly and expect them to continue to follow you?
Katzenbach (2012) says that Jobs’ brilliance allowed him his management style, and that it most likely would not work for most businesses. Jobs’ proved that he knew exactly what the customer wanted even before they did, and his attention to detail and perfectionist attitude did not allow deviation from his superior plans.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, co-owners of Google, are known for their unique culture in the workplace and heavily rely on their teams of employees for innovation. The teams focus on brainstorming and improving current products (Google, 1998). Page and Brin did not dictate how to get to the finish line. “Instead of looking for a company to start, look for a problem and solve it” (Shontell, 2011, para. 8). They did not invent the search
References: Colorado State University-Global Campus. (2013). Module 6 – Communication and Leadership [Blackboard ecourse]. In ORG 300 – Applying leadership principles (p. 3). Greenwood Village, CO: Author. Google. (1998). Ten things we know to be true. Retrieved June 1, 2013 from http://www.google.com/about/company/philosophy/ Katzenbach, J. (2012, May 29). The Steve Jobs way. Retrieved June 8, 2013 from http://www.strategy-business.com/article/00109?gko=d331b Shontell, A. (2011, May 4). 13 unusual ways Sergey Brin and Larry Page made Google the company to beat. Retrieved June 8, 2013 from http://www.businessinsider.com/historysergey-brin-larry-page-and-google-strategy-2011-3?op=1