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 Steve Jobs : A Creative Leader

Abstract

This ode to the CEO of Apple exemplifies the influence and

charisma extreme fans of Apple products (the so called apple
fanboys) attribute to Steve Jobs. However, apparently he is hated
with similar eagerness by others, exemplified by the existence of a
We-Hate-Steve-Jobs petition site. So, who is this person that
creates such extreme emotions?

Steve Jobs is a co-founder of Apple Company in 1976 (with a

childhood friend Steve Wozniak)3. He was forced to leave the
company in 1985, after internal power struggles, and returned
twelve years later. Meanwhile, he had very successfully led the
Pixar animation studios4.

Apparently, Steve Jobs is, despite his success, or maybe therefore,

a controversial individual. Maybe a first approach to answering
why this is can be found in a Harvard review blog entry by Bill
Taylor: So in terms of the impact his products have had on the
world, Steve Jobs represents the face of business at its best. And
yet, in terms of his approach to leadership, Jobs represents the
face of business well, if not at its worst, then certainly not as
something worth emulating.

We will attempt to analyze his leadership style and his traits based
on the information available to us.

Brief History of Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco in February 24, 1955. He was
an adopted son of the Jobs couple from California. Jobs attended
Homestead High School in California and often went tothe after
school lectures by Hewlett-Packard Company. It was there that he
met his eventual partner, Steve Wozniak. Jobs would have his early

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beginnings working at Atari as a technician building circuit boards.
In1976, he would start the company Apple Inc. with Steve with
funding from a millionaire investor. In 1984, he developed the
Macintosh, which was the first small computer with graphic
interface in its time. It had promise to revolutionize the whole PC
industry. However, bad business decision and internal conflict with
his CEO would eventually cause Jobs to leave his own company. He
went on to start two other companies; NeXT and Pixar. Pixar would
be acquired by the Disney Company and NeXT would be acquired
by his own Apple Computers Inc. With the acquisition, he returned
to Apple Computers Inc. in 1996 as interim CEO. From that time
on, the rise of Apple Computers began again as the iMac would be
developed. Under his leadership, Apple Computers Inc. became a
force to be reckoned with in 2009, Jobs would have a personal net
worth of $5.1 billion. However due to the need for a liver
transplant, Jobs took a break from his work since January.

Steve Jobs, former CEO, Chairman, and co-founder of Apple, Inc.,

passed away on October 5, 2011, after a protracted battle with
pancreatic cancer. Many Apple customers likely learned the news
as Smith did, through some type of Apple device that Jobs had a
hand in bringing to the marketplace. After his passing, Jobs was
eulogized in the popular press through newspaper and magazine
articles, blog postings, and even outdoor billboards (Turner, 2011).
In these remembrances he was compared to other inventors such
as Henry Ford (Dotto, 2011; Goldberg, 2011) and Thomas Edison
(Dotto, 2011; Hart, 2011; Goldberg, 2011; Matthews, 2011; Stone,
2011). He was also mourned as a dramatic public figure in a
manner with comparisons made to the deaths of Princess Diana
(Casey, 2011) and John Lennon (Petriglieri, 2011). Many reports in
the days that followed discussed his impact on technology (Apple
co-founder, 2011; Keizer & Shah, 2011; Hart, 2011; McCullagh,
2011; Cassidy, 2011) and business (BizEd, 2011; Farmer, 2011;
Bersin, 2011; Shaw, 2011), and reflected on his legacy (Tabakoff,
2011; Smith, 2011; Cusumano, 2011; Casey, 2011; Dotto, 2011;
Goldberg 2011; Isaacson, 2001.). A few articles explored his
leadership style (Petriglieri, 2011; Ullas, 2011), which is commonly
referred to as transformational. simple internet search reveals that
Steve Jobs name often comes up in popular discussions of
exemplary transformational leaders. When assessing Jobs
leadership style, analysts also tend to characterize his leadership

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style as primarily transformational. To the extent that Steve Jobs
becomes a paradigm case (Berg & Robb, 1992) of a
transformational leader, the memory of his life and work stands
to shape how we think and talk about transformational leadership.
According to Craigs (1999a, 1999b) metadiscourse theory, that
means it also stands to shape how we teach and theorize about
transformational leadership. Although Jobs may be called a
transformational leader, this paper examines the extent to which
the key characteristics of a transformational leader were actually
ascribed to Steve
Jobs in the popular discourse after his passing. The results indicate
that while people tend to highlight personal characteristics of Jobs
that align with other transformational leaders (such as creative,
passionate and visionary [Hackmann & Johnson, 2009]), they do
not necessarily remember him for the interpersonal characteristics
that are so important for transforming the lives of followers
(namely, interactive and empowering [Hackmann & Johnson,
2009]). The implications of these results for theorizing and for
teaching the concept of transformational leadership using Jobs as
a paradigm case are discussed.

Charisma

What is charisma? In Dubrins book on leadership he suggests that

charisma involves a relationship between the leader and the
people being led6. He furthermore points to the importance of
management by inspiration as he calls it and he point to the
different communication styles of a charismatic leader7. In
essence, charisma is a key aspect of leadership, as Dubrin
discusses.

Steve Jobs is famed for his ability to give speeches and captivate
the audience attention8. He is able to captivate his employees
and audience with the ability of an evangelist. In this respect we
can observe that he possess the charismatic abilities that Dubrin
demands by communicating his ideas using metaphors and
analogies and storytelling9.

Interestingly, when presenting the new Apple product iPad he

would sit down on a couch as some of us would have at home and
create a scenario that helps the viewer and listener to imagine a

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Sunday-morning scene at home, using this new product while
reading a paper. Jobs then also started by opening the webpages
of an American newspaper. By creating these stories in our head
he communicates the advantages of his products most efficiently.

He is a gifted speaker with an uncanny ability to confound his

employees and the public with an almost evangelistic delivery
(referent power10).

Jobs charisma is largely dependent on his deep knowledge and

understanding of the technology he is immersed in (expert
power11). Jobs technical knowledge might not be that of his
engineers, however, Jobs has been the founder of Apple together
with Wozniak, and together they developed the very first
hardware. Certainly Jobs understanding of the technologically
possible, combined with a visionary gift help him to develop his
visions and then efficiently communicate them, for execution, to
his employees.

His charisma enables him to whip up the enthusiasm of his

employees (job involvement) to achieve more by doing seemingly
impossible tasks, and also convince customers to buy Apple
products.

Personalized Leadership

His charisma type could be described as being personalized. This

means in accordance to Durbins explanation, that one serves
primarily own interests and exercises only minor restraints on the
use of power. In Jobs case this means that he does not only
motivate by storytelling but also by force. Jobs is described by
some as being manipulative, dishonest, and boorish13.

An indication for this can be found, when he says, for instance:

My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better.
My job is to pull things together from different parts of the
company and clear the ways and get the resources for the key
projects. And to take these great people we have and to push

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them and make them even better, coming up with more
aggressive visions of how it could be.14 He wants people to
follow him, expects obedience and much of it seemingly out of the
self-interest, since working at Apple is what he considers a
valuable goal in his life15.

In conclusion, we can say he is a visionary type who

communicates his visions well in this story telling fashion16. This
vision, and the way that he can communicate it is the main
attribute that makes Jobs being perceived as Charismatic.

Leadership Behaviors

Because of his manipulative behavior he is considered by some

of his employees as autocratic. His behavior in meetings for
instance is described as being rude, authoritative and
obnoxious17.

Dubrin explains the importance of consideration and, what he

calls, initiating structure18. Considerations stands for the degree
that a leader offers emotional support, while structure is the way
work is organized, i.e. by schedules, orders, guidelines etc.
Getting the job done is highest on their priority list.

Because of his quest for perfection, Jobs has domineering

presence which makes some of the employees fear him. This
would let us assume that his consideration level is rather low (else
he would care about peoples fear and try to counteract it) and his
initiating structure level appears rather high, as we saw in the
former paragraph on charisma, when we saw him saying My job
is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better. My job
is to pull things together from different parts of the company and
clear the ways and get the resources for the key projects.19

However, in his later years, he shows more warmth and less

vindictiveness towards his employees. In fact, a current rating of
approval by his employees shows Jobs to get a 90% approval
rating20. Nevertheless, it is not at all clear that this rating is based

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on him being softer on people today or simply on peoples
admiration for him due to his success.

Leadership Style

Autocratic versus participative

Jobs seems to micromanagement at Apple. Jobs admits that there

are an incredible amount of up to 100 individuals reporting directly
to him21. As mentioned above, he is perceived as autocratic. The
fact that so many individuals report to him directly is
representative for his will and eagerness to hold all the strings in
his hands. Total control is certainly the basis for this leadership.

Dubrin describes an autocratic leader as one who tells people

what to do, asserting themselves, and serving as a model for team
members22. In contrast, a participative leader would be
interested in hearing everyones opinion and integrate them into a
group-decision either in a democratic way (let a vote decide), a
consensus finding manner (strive for an agreement of
compromise) or consultative (consult with all group members, then
decide)23.

We assume that the amount of Jobs participative leadership is low.

Anecdotes rumor that he is a rather rude participant in meetings
and extremely impatient24. This behavior certainly does not
contribute to people wanting to voice their opinion and participate.
In contrast, Dubrin explains that a participative leadership style
demands for teamwork approach where the leader does not try
to dominate the group.

From the documentary The triumph of the nerds we may

conclude that his humility levels are very low, bringing his
personality in conflict of the requirements for a participative
leadership style26. This documentary has Jobs talk about some of
his less successful episodes, blaming others for the losses.)

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Entrepreneurial

At the same time Jobs is being described as entrepreneurial: Jobs

may be a multibillionaire, but that hasnt cut into his work ethic.
He brings an entrepreneurs energy to tasks many CEOs would see
as beneath them27.

Dubrin defines an entrepreneur as someone with a strong will for

achievement and a sensible risk taking, high degree of
enthusiasm, tendency to act quickly on opportunity, being
impatient, visionary, amongst others28. From the above discussion
we have seen already, that Jobs can be described as being
enthusiastic and a visionary, being impatient and having a strong
will for achievement. Additionally, Jobs has taken risks and seized
on opportunities many times in his career, for instance when
leaving Apple (though being forced to) and leading Pixar to
success, just to come back to Apple some years later and saving
the day for a company in dire straits at the time29.

His continued entrepreneurial spirit is also shown by the fact, that

he repeatedly introduced products to the world that revolutionize
the entertainment industry, and the way entertainment media is
distributed (e.g.: the iPhone and iPod as media devices, and iTunes
as distribution channel).

Transformational leader

Dubrin defines a transformational leader as one who brings about

major, positive change for the group, organization or society30.
As we just heard, Jobs has transformed several companies over
the years. He has transformed Pixar into a success story31.

He has all the necessary attributes to be considered one, based on

some requirements that Dubrin mentions32: he leads by example,
he practices empowerment, he has a vision and as mentioned he
can be perceived as charismatic.

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However, he appears to lack the humane qualities of a
transformational leader, which are also mentioned as a
prerequisite for a transformational leader by Dubrin33, namely:
emotional intelligence, personal encouragement, building trust
(Apple is famous for its secrecy, even admitted by Jobs himself: It
is generally not Apples policy to trumpet our plans for the future;
we tend to talk about the things we have just accomplished) etc.

Power Motives

In asking why someone strives for power, Dubrin explains two

major motives, the personalized and the socialized power
motive35. In Jobs case neither seem to fit completely. The
personalized power motive would require the striving for status,
money and luxury, something that is hard to pin on Jobs.
Socialized power motives on the other hand would require the use
of power for the greater good, or to help others.

We may leave the description of his motives to himself, by citing

his words:
Your time is limited, so dont waste it living someone elses life.
Dont be trapped by dogma which is living with the results of
other peoples thinking. Dont let the noise of others opinions
drown out your own inner voice; and the most important, have the
courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already
know what you truly want to become. Everything else is
secondary36.

His motives appear selfish, but without the typical requirements of

the personalized power motive. It would possibly be fair to assume
that power is not his driving force, at least, when we trust his own
words, but rather that for him, power is something that is a
necessity for what really drives him: achievement in itself.

Personality Traits of Steve Jobs

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Self-confidence: intimidatingly high

Humility: incredibly low. (The documentary The triumph of the

nerds can be used for reference38. This documentary has Jobs
talk about some of his less successful episodes, blaming others for
the losses.)

Trustworthiness: probably low, if the mentioned secrecy he

exhibits in dealing with the world outside the company is in any
way a reflection of how he deals with flow of information within the
company (which is likely, since many projects remain incredible
enough, secret until they are unveiled, like exemplified in the
recent introduction of the iPad39).

Authenticity. true authenticity is based on self-reflection, which

requires a degree of humility we can safely assume from the
already analysed not to be found in Jobs.

Extraversion. his self-confidence may at first be mistaken for

extraversion, however, extraversion in a socially interested way
appears not to be extractable from the above analysis.

Assertiveness. the description of how he runs meetings and the

aggression with which he motivates his employees speaks for a
high degree of assertiveness.

Enthusiasm. his speeches and his entrepreneurial behavior

indicate a large degreeof enthusiasm.

Sense of Humor. he never exhibited it, in case he possess it.

Steve Jobs Leadership

Steve Jobs is the Chairman and CEO of Apple Computers Inc. and
arguably one of the worlds most successful businessmen today.
He founded Apple in the 1970s, got chased out by his own board
of directors, but returned eventually as Apples CEO. Since then,
he has revolutionized the IT industry with his creations like the
Mac Book, the iPod and the iPhone. Since his return, hehas brought
Apple Computers Inc. from a fledgling company to a global force to

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be reckoned with. The 10 Lessons of Steve Jobs are excerpts from
Walter Isaacsons,

The Real Lessons of Steve Jobs

Simplify, those are Control the Experience, Innovate

Ignore Reality
Have Confidence
Rethink Designs, Team with Winners
Collaborate, Vision, and Rebel.

Steve Jobs as Innovative Leader

In order to understand the leadership style of Steve Jobs, it will be

appropriated to mention one of Job's quotations, which may shed
the light on his leadership characteristics 'Innovation distinguishes
between the leader and the follower'
(Deutschman, 2001) This quotation is the key to the leadership
style of Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs has proved that being a leader is a
complex of various aspects and visions. The fact that he founded
is Apple computer in 1976 and by the year 2005 the company
already had around 15,000 employers is the evidence of the
successful leadership features which Jobs was able to use in his
career making both him and his company successful.

Steve Jobs as Charismatic Leader

A charismatic leadership style can appear similar to a

transformational leadership style, in thatthe leader injects huge
doses of enthusiasm into his or her team, and is very energetic in
drivingothers forward. Steve Jobs is a strong charismatic leader. As
a charismatic leader, he isexceedingly inspirational, likes using
stories to motivate, and his passion for perfection isinspiring
(Roche, 2007). Young, (2005) proposed that when relying on

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behaviours thatemphasize the directive style, Steve does not hold
back his thoughts about the direction of a project or someones
ideas on how to resolve a problem.

Charismatic leaders
are seen to have a powerful vision, a great deal of self-confidence,
a strongconviction that they are right, and an assertive, even
dominant, personality. This makes themhighly effective in crisis
Situations or periods of significant change. But it can also make
thempotentially dangerous especially if they choose the wrong
vision. (Kappenberg, 2002) Steves 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. 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. Young (2005) states, He had a salesman s
enthusiasm for the product, an evangelist s bible-thumping
passion, azealots singularity of purpose, and a poor kids
determination to make his business a success. In that stew of
characteristics laid [sic] both the seeds that would make Apple a
success and the poison that would turn so many people into Steve
Jobs enemies.
Steve Jobs as Transformational Leader

Transformation leadership involves inspiring achievement is more

widespread, and the insight torealize the vision that bring into line
stooge around, take care of creative ideas and sensitive tothe
needs of others (Bass & Avolio, 1993; Bennett, 2009). A
transformational leader is charismatic and intuitive. Its been
proven that transformational leadership results in increases in
productivity as well as employee satisfaction and employees
prefer to work for leaders with this style (Bennett, 2009). Its in
line with MacGregors Theory Y and Ouchis Theory Z leadership
style.

Jobs seemed to micromanagement at Apple. Jobs admitted that

there will be an incredible amount of up to 100 individuals
reporting directly to him. As mentioned above, he was perceived
as autocratic. The fact that so many individuals reported to him
directly was representative for his will and eagerness to hold all

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the strings in his hands. Total control was certainly the basis for
this leadership. Durbin defines a transformational leader as one
who brings about major, positive change for thegroup,
organization or society and Jobs has transformed several
companies over the years. He has transformed Pixar into a success
story.

Steve jobs is a Perfectionist Leader

Jobs perfectionism is seen through his vision of the company being

not only a competitor, but the company which brings killing
innovations into people's homes: he supposes that killing products
bring killing profits. (Benezra & Gilbert, 2002). 'You'd show Jobs
something and he might look at one part and say that just sucks
but he never said 'make that button bigger'. (Young, 2005) This is
the expression of Jobs's striving for perfectionism and his ability to
carry his ideas to his team who has to make them real.

Steve Jobs is a Visionary Leader

Steve Jobs was a visionary and creative genius. His brilliance,

passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that
enrich and improve all of our lives. He had successfully set a
vision, strategy and guided both Apple and Pixar on the right
direction of making the absolute best products with a focus on
quality and perfection, which enabled these companies to
differentiate and proved that they are the best in business.
President Barack Obama define his leadership qualities in such a
way Steve was among the greatest of American innovators
brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he
could change the world, and
talented enough to do it.

Comparison of Steve Jobss Leadership

from Corporate Leaders

Steve Jobs was indisputably a titan of the digital era. But how does
Steve Jobs stack up against the greatest leaders in history? We

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wont really know for years, of course, since nobodys sure where
technology will lead orwhat his company, Apple, may still achieve.
But Steve Jobs was clearly a visionary who changed much about
the way people use technology. His death from pancreatic cancer
at just 56 feels like a national loss. And hes one of the few people
in any field who can credibly be compared with worlds greatest
innovators and compared his leadership with worlds well-known
leaders. Though Steve Jobs professional field is not similar to all of
them, let compare his leadership with few of worlds great leaders
who are widely known for their superior contribution to their
individual fields.

The American author Andrew Keen wrote in his best-seller titled,

The Cult of the Amateur. Theres not an ounce of democracy at
Apple. Thats what makes it a paragon of such traditional
corporate values as top-down leadership, sharply hierarchical
organization and centralized Control. Its Steves company
pursuing his vision, at his pace, with his team, making his
products.

Conclusion

Steve Jobs was an unconventional leader. His leadership style

wasn't the stuff of university textbooks - he wasn't known for his
consultative or consensus building approach. He was a high-
maintenance co-worker" who demanded excellence from his staff
and was known for his blunt delivery of criticism. Jobs exerted his
control over every aspect of the business in the quest for
perfection. Steve Jobs control even extended as far as the design
of the company bus and the food served at the cafeteria too.
Employees were recruited into the company as specialists andput
into roles that made the most of their specific strengths and
abilities. I think the difference in leadership between Steve Jobs
and other business or social leaders is his spirituality, whatever
little there was. It is never covered in conventional leadership,
MBA courses or anything of the sort. Steve Jobs is a classic
example of where a singular purpose and dedication to an ideal
have paid dividends. Too often consensus and group decisions strip
away the creativity, imagination and driving purpose that is

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needed to create greatness and innovation. The world mourns the
passing of Steve Jobs and wonder what he could have done if he
would still be around for another few decades.

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