Steve Jobs
Week 2
Josh Banta
Ottawa University
Intro
Some people say that Steve Jobs was not a nice person. Some people say that he was mean to his employees and had unrealistic expectations. What no one can argue is that Steve Jobs pushed his company to do some amazing things. In the following writing I will briefly discuss Steve Jobs, his leadership approach and how he used that to turn Apple into a powerhouse.
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs cofounded Apple in his parents’ garage in 1976, was ousted in 1985, returned to rescue it from near bankruptcy in 1997, and by the time he died, in October 2011, had built it into the world’s most valuable company. Along the way he helped to transform seven industries: personal computing, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, retail stores, and digital publishing (Isaacson, 2012).
Since his death everyone has been trying to draw leadership and management lessons from his legacy. A Harvard Business Review article discussed how people are focusing too much on the rough parts of his personality and not what made him a great leader. In their article they described the essence of Steve Jobs as this: He acted as if the normal rules didn’t apply to him, and the passion, intensity, and extreme emotionalism he brought to everyday life were things he also poured into the products he made. His petulance and impatience were part and parcel of his perfectionism (Issacson, 2012).
In all my study of Mr. Jobs the key word I see over and over is “Focus”. My getting Apple to focus on four major products he saved the company. Colleagues and family members would at times be very upset at him as they tried to get him to deal with issue such as a legal problem or a medical diagnosis. But he would give a cold stare and refuse to shift his laser like focus until he was ready (Issacson, 2012).
Conclusion
Focus was ingrained in Jobs’ personality and had been
Josh Banta
Ottawa University
Intro
Some people say that Steve Jobs was not a nice person. Some people say that he was mean to his employees and had unrealistic expectations. What no one can argue is that Steve Jobs pushed his company to do some amazing things. In the following writing I will briefly discuss Steve Jobs, his leadership approach and how he used that to turn Apple into a powerhouse.
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs cofounded Apple in his parents’ garage in 1976, was ousted in 1985, returned to rescue it from near bankruptcy in 1997, and by the time he died, in October 2011, had built it into the world’s most valuable company. Along the way he helped to transform seven industries: personal computing, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, retail stores, and digital publishing (Isaacson, 2012).
Since his death everyone has been trying to draw leadership and management lessons from his legacy. A Harvard Business Review article discussed how people are focusing too much on the rough parts of his personality and not what made him a great leader. In their article they described the essence of Steve Jobs as this: He acted as if the normal rules didn’t apply to him, and the passion, intensity, and extreme emotionalism he brought to everyday life were things he also poured into the products he made. His petulance and impatience were part and parcel of his perfectionism (Issacson, 2012).
In all my study of Mr. Jobs the key word I see over and over is “Focus”. My getting Apple to focus on four major products he saved the company. Colleagues and family members would at times be very upset at him as they tried to get him to deal with issue such as a legal problem or a medical diagnosis. But he would give a cold stare and refuse to shift his laser like focus until he was ready (Issacson, 2012).
Conclusion
Focus was ingrained in Jobs’ personality and had been
References: Isaacson, W. (2012). Retrieved from http://hbr.org/2012/04/the-real-leadership- lessons-of-steve-jobs/