Leadership Analysis Paper: Steve Jobs Management: Leadership in Organizations May 2011

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs

Table of Contents

Table of Contents........................................................................................................ 2 Chapter 1: Introduction...............................................................................................3 Chapter 2: Leadership Practices..................................................................................8 Chapter 3: Analysis of Leadership Practices I: Leadership Style and Organizational Goal Achievement............................................12 Chapter 4: Analysis of Leadership Practices II: Leadership Style and Delegation...............................................................................15 Chapter 5: Conclusions..............................................................................................16 References................................................................................................................ 18

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs Chapter 1: Introduction The Early Years 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 other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. --Steve Jobs

Born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco to a pair of graduate students and immediately given up for adoption, Steven Paul Jobs grew up in a middle-class suburb of Mountain View, California. While at Homestead High School in Cupertino, Jobs became interested in electronics and computers, frequenting lectures at Hewlett-Packard. Once, he called Bill Hewlett, co-founder of HP, to get spare parts for his homework project. Impressed with the young man, Hewlett gave young Jobs a summer job. It was Jobs high school friend, Bill Fernandez, who shared Jobs interests in electronics, that first introduced him to Steve Wozniak, or Woz as everyone called him. At the time Woz was building his first computer board, which impressed the 14-year old Jobs. After high school, Jobs attended Reed College in Oregon, but dropped out after just one semester. In 1974, he got his first job at Atari. Jobs was impressed by the companys founder, Nolan Bushnell, who became an inspiration for Jobs to start Apple. He spent several months in India in search of spiritual enlightenment, come back a Buddhist, and experimented with LSD Jobs was the quintessential example of the counterculture that permeated the early to midseventies. Young and Simon (2006), in the iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business, write: Jobs rose from an outcast high school electronics nerd to become the driving force behind Apple and avatar of the computer revolution, only to be driven from the company in failure and disgrace. Then, having endured repeated personal and professional disasters, he went on to make an indelible mark on the entertainment industry, reclaim the throne at Apple, and, with

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs

the extraordinary success of the iPod regain his reputation as arguably the greatest innovator of the digital age. The Organization According to journalist Owen Linzmayer (2004), the author of Apple Confidential: The Real Story of Apple Computer, Inc., the company was founded as a partnership on April Fools Day 1976 by a Stephen Gary Wozniak and Steven Paul Jobs. Within two weeks of the firms start, Jobs got his first order for $25,000 for 50 computers from the Byte Shop, the countrys first retail computer shop. From these humble beginnings, Apple has grown into a global brand with the second highest market valuation of any company in the world. Major events in Apples company history include many industry firsts: 1976 Company started 1977 Incorporated 1980 Goes public at $22 per share (AAPL) 1984 Introduces the Macintosh computer 1985 Jobs forced out by Scully, starts NeXT 1990 Sales at $5.3 billion (milestone) 1991 PowerBook introduced 1994 Power Mac released 1998 Apple buys NeXT. Launches iMAC. 2000 Jobs becomes CEO of Apple again. 2001 iPod introduced. Apple Retail Store open. 2003 iTunes Store - online music $0.99 a song. 2006 MacBook released 2007 iPhone and Apple TV announced 2010 iPad introduced 2011 Verizon iPhone launched

Headquartered at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA in the heart of Silicon Valley, the company formerly known as Apple Computer, in now simply, Apple Inc. The company has 46,600 full time employees, 233 retail stores in the United States and 84 stores internationally, and it does business in over 140 countries around the globe. Apples products include Macintosh desktop and notebook computers, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apples TV, third party hardware and accessories, numerous software operating systems and applications, and digital content. The company sells its products through numerous retail stores, online stores, a direct sales force, third-party mobile phone companies, wholesalers, retailers and value added resellers (VARs). Apples customers include consumers, small and medium-sized businesses, education enterprise, government, and creative markets. Apples mission statement has been updated over the past two years and now appears at the bottom of each press release as follows: Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices. As expected of an industry leader, Apple continuously sets aggressive goals for itself. For 2011, the companys many goals include new product launches, sales targets, operational

improvements, new operations, and even shutting down certain projects. Some of the major items for 2011 include launching the Verizon iPhone and selling 10 million of them, selling 25 million iPads, recapturing smartphone market share from Google Android, launching the Apple TV App Store, and discontinuing the iPod classic. The Companys business strategy leverages its unique ability to design and develop its own operating systems, hardware, application software, and services to provide its customers new products and solutions with superior ease-of-use, seamless integration, and innovative industrial design. The company further states that it believes the continual investment in R&D is critical to its success. As a transnational company, Apple has a global presence. As with any large company, Webers Bureaucratic Model described by Certo & Certo easily applies to Apple. That is, the company is organized in such as way as to make it efficient to reach its goals and objectives. With headquarters in Cupertino, California, Apple has manufacturing facilities in Singapore and Ireland. It also has distribution facilities in the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe, Singapore and Japan. (Quick). It markets its products in over 140 countries, to business, education, government, scientific, and consumer customers. Oversight for the company is

provided by the board of seven directors, Steve Jobs and Al Gore among them. An eleven member executive management team reports directly to Steve Jobs and is responsible for running the 17 groups that make up the companys structure. While generally hierarchical in nature, the Apple organization has a number of matrices that facilitate organization efficiency. Leader Roles and Responsibilities

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs

The janitor gets to explain why something went wrong. Senior people do not. When youre the janitor, Jobs has repeatedly told incoming VPs, reasons matter. He continues: Somewhere between the janitor and the CEO, reasons stop mattering. That Rubicon, he has said, is crossed when you become a VP. --Steve Jobs (after an unsuccessful MobileMe launch)

Few would argue that Apples success is inextricably linked to Steve Jobs savant-like technology vision and leadership. At the CEO of Apple and Pixar, Jobs role is to drive organizational success and implementation of both companies mission, to realize the vision through creativity, focused leadership, and hard work. His responsibilities to the shareholders are to make a profit and grow the companies market shares. His responsibilities to customers are to continue to provide them with innovative, fun, high-quality, and easy-to-use products. His responsibilities to his employees are to lead, motivate, and support them in the achievement of organizational goals. The quote above, illustrates that as a leader, Jobs can be volatile when things go wrong. Culture The companys slogan Think Different provides a glimpse into its culture. As a result, if the technology industry has a soul, Apple's employees are its keepers. And more than a few companies have tried to replicate a little of the Cupertino, Calif.-based company's success by hiring Apple employees (Caulfield). According to Matt Asay (2007), COO of Canonical, the maker of Ubuntu Linux OS, Apple is Apple because of the fervor with which its employees believe in the corporate mission. Every employee carries an iPhone. Every employee has a MacBook/Pro. And every employee seems ecstatic to be doing so. You get the same corporate feeling at Red Hat. Ditto for Microsoft. Extreme ditto for Google. People believe in these employers. These companies are winners. They are winners because, first and foremost, their employees fundamentally believe in their products and the companies' mission. You can't buy that allegiance. You earn it (Asay). At the 2010 All Things D conference, Steve Jobs described Apples culture as that of a startup. According to

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs Nilofer Merchant (2010), high-performance cultures such as Apple innovate and win for the same reasons start-ups tend to. Jobs credits smart collaboration that underlies the creativity of innovation at Apple, and that is what exemplifies the companys culture. Culture is a shared understanding of assumptions and expectations among an organization's members, and it is reflected in the policies, vision, and goals of that organization", says David Caldwell, professor of management at Santa Clara University. A cultures important components are norms, values, customs, beliefs, attitudes, habits, skills, and level of education among other characteristics. And

while all of these components play a role, in the end, it is leadership that drives culture and culture drives success. In the May 29, 2010 New York Times Article, the CEO of Saks was quoted saying: Culture drives innovation and whatever else you are trying to accomplish within a companyinnovation, execution, whatever it's going to be. And that then drives results. According to Merchant, corporate culture is what enables winners to emerge. Through this culture, leaders are able to push the level of innovation, outcompeting the market and attracting the best people. As Brian Caulfield (2009) writes in an article named The Apple Mafia in Forbes.com, In Silicon Valley, Apple's quirky culture goes far beyond its walls. Inside the Valley, Apple is known for producing hard-nosed industrial designers, interface gurus and entrepreneurs who thrive on turning raw technology into a slick mass-market sensation--people a lot like Steve Perlman, who left Apple in 1990. Perlman, now chief executive of tech incubator Rearden LLC, developed much of the multimedia technology used in the color Macintosh (Caulfield). On a web site dedicated to the down side of Apples culture called Applepeels: A salty perspective on Apple, the author contrasts the changes in Apples culture over the years. For many years, the most challenging management task at Apple was keeping your employees from working themselves to death. Sixty to seventy hours a week was not abnormal for many Apple folks. Sometime starting with the difficult times at Apple in the middle nineties, the culture at Apple started to change. Some of the best people started to leave. Changes that came when Steve and his crew took over created a very different relationship between Apple, its employees and

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs

customers. The first was the all pervasive secrecy which often meant that Apple executives would brief customers on "future technologies" yet Apple field employees would be asked to leave the room. A comment reported from one of Apple's Senior VPs really is a defining thought for Apple. At a meeting, he first said that "Apple has no enterprise customers," and followed that with the comment that Customers don't know what they want, we have to tell them what to buy. This was a radical change from the culture of Apple of the early nineties where Apple spent a tremendous amount of time with focus groups and product advisory councils. It is well recorded that Steve came in, focused Apple on a few products, got those really right, and turned the company around (Sobotta). Chapter 2: Leadership Practices Vision Apple is inextricably tied with Steve Jobs. It is this mans guiding vision and raw talent that has transformed and invigorated not only Apple, but the technology industry as a whole. As Bolman and Deal (2006) state in The Wizard and the Warrior: Leading with Passion and Power, The qualities of great leaders are characteristics of mind, soul, heart and skill that evolve over a lifetime of learning and experience. There is no quick and easy route to leadership effectiveness (Bolman, et al.) At a 2008 industry conference Jobs was quoted, Focus is critical for effective leadership, with so many options, choosing the right one can be extremely difficult. People think focus means saying yes to the thing youve got to focus on. But thats not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. Im actually as proud of many of the things we havent done as the things we have done. The clearest example was when we were pressured for years to do a PDA, and I realized one day that 90% of the people who use a PDA only take information out of it on the road. They dont put information into it. Pretty soon cell phones are going to do that, so the PDA markets going to get reduced to a fraction of its current size, and it wont really be sustainable. So we decided not to get into it. If we had gotten into it, we wouldnt have had the resources to do the iPod. We probably wouldnt have seen it coming.

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs Jobs has always held a strategic view with respect to technology and its benefit to the

world. In the companys latest 10K annual report, he outlines Apples strategy as: The Company is committed to bringing the best user experience to its customers through its innovative hardware, software, peripherals, services, and Internet offerings. Jobs historical approach to strategy was never to focus on near-term fixes, but rather on building a high-performance culture by doing three things well: (1) focus the strategy to be about one thing, (2) eliminate passive aggressiveness, and encourage debate and the formulation of new ideas, born through the tension of the creative conflict, and (3) set up a holistic vision that leads to organizational cohesion, from concept to product to sales. It is almost impossible to conceive of a leader in the technology space that is more of a visionary than Steve Jobs. Based on the findings of Bennis and Nanus (1985) research, Jobs certainly fulfills the first criteria of transformational leadership as someone with clarity of vision (Northouse,182). Inspiration Jobs rates high on Factor 2 of Transformation Leadership, which is Inspirational Motivation. (Northouse, 179) "Why join the navy if you can be a pirate?" is one of Jobs great quotes. Over the past 35 years Steve Jobs has been an inspiration to generations of students, engineers, and of course Apple, Pixar, and NeXT employees. His 2005 highly inspirational commencement speech at Stanford has over 4.5 million views on YouTube. According to Carmine Gallo (2009) of Gallo Communications, Jobs is said to exert a reality distortion field- an uncanny ability to convince people to follow his vision. Its not magic. Its passion. Jobs has never been passionate about computers, but how computers can be used as tools to unleash human potential (Gallo). Goal Orientation In line with the Path-Goal Theory (Northouse, 125-146), Jobs is highly goal-oriented. To ensure that his goals have the proper resources, he is singularly focused on ensuring the only the most important projects are undertaken, and that these have the commitment of the entire

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs company. Two non-product related goals for the company set by Jobs and Cook, Apples COO, are the commitment to support education and environmentally focused green initiatives. As a

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serious gesture of his commitment, Jobs invited Al Gore, the former Vice President of U.S., Nobel Prize winner, and an environmental champion, to join the Board of Directors at Apple. Problem Solving Orientation As outlined in Skills Approach (Northouse, 44-48), Steve Jobs truly understands the concept of what it takes to solve problems. In 1984, hes quoted saying When you start looking at a problem and it seems really simple with all these simple solutions, you dont really understand the complexity of the problem. And your solutions are way too oversimplified, and they dont work. Then you get into the problem, and you see its really complicated. And you come up with all these convoluted solutions. Thats sort of the middle, and thats where most people stop, and the solutions tend to work for a while. But the really great person will keep on going and find the key, underlying principle of the problem, and come up with a beautiful elegant solution that works. Day to Day Operations Much about the situation approach of leadership (Northouse, 89-99) applies to Steve Jobs operational style. Of the 46,000 people at Apple, he works with about 100, from key individual contributors to vice presidents. As he describes it, When a good idea comes, you know, part of my job is to move it around, just see what different people think, get people talking about it, argue with people about it, get ideas moving among that group of 100 people, get different people together to explore different aspects of it quietly, and, you know - just explore things." Distilling his style into an SLII model, while he spends most of his days in the D4 quadrant, he does make his way to D1 when the project requires it. Relationship Orientation As the Ohio State LBDQ studies suggest, relationship behavior includes building camaraderie, respect, and liking between leaders and followers (Northouse, 70). As alluded to in the previous paragraph, much of Steve Jobs daily routine is spending quality time with a few

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs dozen key people, floating new ideas and engaging in creative dialog. Much about Jobs is not about the people, but rather the ideas and the vision thing. When it comes to work relationships,

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Edgar S. Woolard Jr. (2006), the former chairman of Apple offers his take. "People are misreading Steve Jobs," he says. "If he has a good relationship with you, there is nobody better in the world to work with (Burrows). Communication Style As with the rest of his management and leadership style, Jobs communication style varies to suit the situation. Hes reported to be a good listener and an assertive speaker. He identified passive-aggressive behavior as a cancer and has vowed to eliminate it from Apples culture. With employees he can be warm or harsh, depending on circumstance. But in the public eye is where his communication style really shines. What makes Steve Jobs such a good presenter at industry events are five key points: (1) Prepare carefully, (2) Create drama, (3) Use pictures, (4) Make it personal, and (5) Have fun. Rewards and Punishment As founder and CEO of Apple, a technology expert and a cult figure in the industry, Jobs enjoys Legitimate, Expert, Referent, Reward, and Coercive power to influence those around him (Northouse, 7). Using his reward power, he can provide raises, promotions, bonuses or perks. He has also been known to use coercion: yelling at employees and threatening to fire them. Collaboration Orientation While Steve Jobs is a big proponent of the use collaboration in the propagation of design ideas, he is also authority-oriented when it comes to making key decision on which projects to take on and which projects to pass on. In a 2008 interview, Steve Jobs told Fortune Magazine that optimal collaboration taps into the masses, but is refined through the experts. That is, it is not one or the other - it is the intelligent collaboration of both. Ethics Orientation There are some unique and identifiable differences between the product and customer focused and the personal and position focused ethics related to Steve Jobs. From a product and

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs customer perspective, Jobs ethics are beyond reproach; his commitment to quality and customer satisfaction is world renowned he truly lives the customer is always right motto. The issue becomes more murky when it comes to Jobs ethical obligation to his shareholders. As Bruce

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Wienstein, PhD (2008) writes, Stakeholders have an interest in the CEO's health. By interest, I don't mean a morbid curiosity, but rather a right to know whether or not the captain of the ship can physically perform the work expected. Jobs' medical condition, his treatment options, and his prognosis all fall within the rightful purview of stakeholders (Bloomberg BusinessWeek). Chapter 3: Analysis of Leadership Practices I: Leadership Style and Organizational Goal Achievement The Situational approach to leadership proposes that different types of situations demand different kinds of leadership. This approach stresses the directive and supportive dimensions and that each must be applied according to the situation. The essence of situational leadership demands that leaders match their style to the competence and commitment of the subordinates (Northouse, 89-99). The four leadership styles identified in the SLII model are: Directing (S1), Coaching (S2), Supporting (S3), and Delegating (S4). Each clearly matches directive and supportive behavior of the leader with subordinates competence and commitment. The Style approach to leadership focuses on the leaders behavior what they do and how they act. Two types of behaviors are identified: task and relationship behavior. Task behavior is about helping the team accomplish goals. Relationship behavior is about helping subordinates feel good about their team, their setting, and themselves. Ohio State and University of Michigan studies greatly contributed toward development of this approach. The Leadership Grid refined by Blake and Mouton in 1985 was designed to explain how leaders help organizations to reach their purposes through two factors: concern for production and concern for people (Northouse, 69-80). The leadership styles associated with this approach are identified by their location on the Leadership Grid: Impoverished Management (1,1), Country-Club Management (1,9), AuthorityCompliance Management (9,1), Middle-of-the-Road Management (5,5), and Team Management

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs (9,9). Two other styles: Paternalism/Maternalism and Opportunism are also described; the first using 1,9 and 9,1 styles without integration and the second using a combination of styles for personal advancement. Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) is an approach to leadership that conceptualizes leadership as a process that is centered on the interactions between leaders and followers (Northouse, 147-158). This approach focuses on vertical dyadic relationships and introduces the concepts of in-groups and out-groups. Research by Graen & Uhl-Bien (1991) suggested leadership-making as a prescriptive approach should be used to develop high-quality exchanges with all members rather than just a few, with the goal of moving every subordinate into the in-

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group. The approach would develop in three phases: Phase 1 Stranger, Phase 2 Acquaintance, Phase 3 Partnership, throughout which the Roles, Influences, Exchanges, and Interests would transition over time. Transformational Leadership, coined by Downton in 1973, is currently one of the most popular approaches. This approach, emerging from the 1978 work of James MacGregor Burns, focuses more attention on the charismatic and affective elements. Bass and Riggio (2006) suggested that its popularity might be due to its emphasis on intrinsic motivation and follower development (Northouse, 171-191). Transformational leadership is a process of changing and transforming people and involves emotions, values, ethics, standards and long term goals. It focuses on understanding the followers motives and satisfying their needs. This approach can be used to influence one-on-one relationships as well as entire organizations. On the Leadership Continuum, Transformational Leadership is the one side of the spectrum and Laissez-Faire Leadership on the other, with Transactional Leadership occupying the middle ground between the two. The four Leadership Factors associated with Transformation Leadership are: Factor 1 Idealized Influence and Charisma, Factor 2 Inspirational Motivation, Factor 3- Intellectual Stimulation, and Factor 4 Individualized Consideration. Team Leadership model provides a mental or cognitive roadmap that helps leaders to identify group needs, diagnose issues, and suggest appropriate corrective actions. It is based on the

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs claim that the leaders job is to monitor the team and then take whatever action is necessary to ensure team effectiveness and it attempts to integrate mediation and monitoring concepts with team effectiveness (Northouse, 241-266). To use this model, leaders need to be behaviorally

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flexible and have a wide range of actions and skills to meet the needs of the team. Hills Model for Team Leadership consists of four areas: Leadership Decisions, Internal Leadership Actions, External Leadership Actions, and Team Effectiveness, which provide a set of guidelines for if, when, and what type of actions is to be taken. Steve Jobs is the model of a transformational leader. He clearly satisfies the four factors associated with this leadership style. As a cultural icon, Jobs idealized influence is completely off the charts with his employees, suppliers, customers, the market, the media, and our entire culture at large. As the spiritual leader of Apple and Pixar and a frequent speaker at numerous technology industry events, his is the image and the persona that many identify with inspirational motivation. As the technology visionary and the original author of Think Different, he rates at the very top for intellectual stimulation. Throughout his 35-year career, Jobs has provided support, leadership, and coaching to countless technology and marketing people within the Apple, NeXT, and Pixar organizations. Currently working closely with his executive management teams on succession planning, Jobs also rates highly on the individualized consideration scale. In reviewing market position, level of innovation, financial performance, corporate culture, media exposure, and customer feedback of both Apple and Pixar, the data clearly supports the finding that the organizations are achieving and surpassing their goals in every aspect and that much of this is owed to Steve Jobs. Jobs leadership style and practices are indeed well aligned with both organizations goals. It is difficult to imagine how someone could improve the leadership style of Steve Jobs leadership style, given his surreal, bigger-than-life image. With 35-years of success and failure, personal defeats and professional victories, and all of the achievement that he has been credited with, Jobs has under his belt more natural abilities and honed skills than most of us will ever aspire

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs to. If anything, I would suggest that a bit of mellower approach (less dressing down of his team) when dealing with difficulties that all of us run into on an ongoing basis. Chapter 4: Analysis of Leadership Practices II: Leadership Style and Delegation.

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The situational approach to leadership stresses the directive and supportive dimensions. Of the four leadership styles in the approach, the SLII model defines the S4 delegating style as the low supportive low directive style. That is, the leader offers less task input and less social support, in effect giving subordinates more control without interference from leader. For this style to be effective, the subordinates must show high degree of competence and commitment. That is, they must confirm their understanding of the task, have the skills and experience to effectively and efficiently complete it, and they must acknowledge their commitment to the completion of the task. One would think that long term success in the technology space almost my definition would necessitate solid management and leadership skills, without which such success would be fleeting. No so much in the case of Steve Jobs. Jobs tends to be more of a micromanager at Apple and a delegator at Pixar. Careful by his very nature when hiring people, Jobs does a lot of hard work up front ensuring that only the right people work at Apple. After this difficult task is behind him, he delegates almost complete authority to the likes of Tim Cook and John Ive, while really getting his hands dirty when a product launch doesnt go exactly right. He sets the trust bar very, very high and most employees at Apple have a clear understanding of the repercussions of failure. A lot has changed with Jobs over the past half decade that has to do with his health. While prior to 2005, his delegation practices and concerns for the developmental levels of his followers left much to be desired, since that time, Steves unfortunate encounter with his own mortality has manifested changes in his approach. Over the past few years, hes worked closely with his executive team to develop in them a sense of his own instincts. For the third time in the past few years, hes handed over day-to-day operational control to Tim Cook, Apples COO. In The Steve Jobs Way: iLeadership for a New Generation, authors Jay Elliot and William Simon (2011) write,

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs

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Steve was on leave most of the time during the final stages of iPad development and launch. Even so, the iPad proved to be another ground-breaking product with sales topping billions of dollars in the first couple of months Steve was even less able to take part in development of the secondgeneration iPad he has just announced, yet a first look suggests that his team has successfully applied all the lessons they learned from working under him So far, its clear that Steve Jobs has created a team and structure that are capable of functioning splendidly even without him at the helm (Elliot, et.al). Given the unfolding events of the past year, and in light the information in the previous paragraph, I believe that Steve Jobs, driven as much by temporal necessity as his love of the company he created, has already put in place the required changes with respect to delegation practices that are appropriate and necessary for organizational success. Chapter 5: Conclusions This research paper provides a leadership analysis of Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple and Pixar. It starts out by examining his formative years, the influences that have shaped his skills and his psyche, and the road he traveled to his current leadership position. His interest in electronics and calligraphy, the early relationships he built and his highly individualistic and go after it approach is evident in his early years. The paper provides background information on Apple (and a little on Pixar) that illustrates the level of achievement that this leader is credited with. As the head of the second highest valued corporation in the world, Jobs has reached a pinnacle few have enjoyed. Leader roles and culture are explored as they relate to Jobs and what he has created at Apple. The paper explores Jobs leadership practices including vision, inspiration, goal and problem solving orientation, day-to-day operations, relationship orientation, communication style, his use of reward and punishment, and collaboration and ethics orientations. With Jobs highly public persona, many sources as well as Jobs own quotes are widely used. Five key leadership styles identified in the Peter Northouse text are then reviewed. Jobs clearly fits the transformational leader model. Lastly, the paper analyzes Jobs leadership style and delegation.

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs

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From a personal perspective, based on extensive research undertaken, the lesson Im taking away from this assignment is the importance of following your own vision. From the many books and articles that I read, I distilled the fact that Jobs has never worried much about what others think and what others want. One of his favorite quotes from Henry Ford states If I'd have asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me A faster horse'." While with most people, such blatant disregard for market needs, would surely spell out failure, in Jobs case, his vision and innate sense of what is next has enabled him to build a tremendous success. Boiling down what I learned about Steve Jobs, and applying it to my own life, I would say that it is very important to achieve clarity on where Im going, before engaging in the task at hand. And then, it is important not to allow anyone to reason their way into changing my course. There are always obstacles and nay-sayers it is important to follow my own North Star. In conclusion, my final thought is that this project, while taking the better part of a whole week to complete, has resulted in real learning that should have positive outcomes for my career and personal life.
Heres to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. Theyre not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you cant do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. --Steve Jobs (Think Different commercial)

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs References "Apple Computer, Inc." 2011. Hoovers Online: www.hoover.com Asay, M. (2007). The power of Apples culture. CNET News. Online: news.cnet.com

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Bolman, L. and Deal, T. (2006). The Wizard and The Warrior. (213-214). California: John Wiley & Sons. Bryant, A. (2010, May 29). For the Chief of Saks, Its Culture the Drives Results. The New York Times. Burrows, P. (2004, October 12). The Seed of Apples Innovation. Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Caulfield, B. (2009, February 18). The Apple Mafia. Retrieved from www.forbes.com Certo, S. & Certo, T. (2009). Modern Management Concepts and Skills. 11th edition. (125-127). India: Prentice Hall. Elliot, J. & Simon, W. (2011). The Steve Jobs Way: iLeadership for a New Generation. New York: Vanguard Press. Gallo, C. (2009). 7 Secrets of Inspiring Leaders: Lessons from the worlds greatest brands. Gallo Communications. Retrieved from gallocommunications.com Kawasaki, G. (1990). The Macintosh Way. New York: Doubleday Publishing Linzmayer, O. (2004) Apple Confidential: The Real Story of Apple Computer Merchant, N. (2010, June 14). Apples Startup Culture. Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Noce, J.E. (2002). Steve Jobs. Business Leader Profiles for Students. Volume 2. (246-250). Farmington Hills, MI: The Gale Group. Northouse, P. (2010). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Quick, A. (2002). Apple Computer, Inc. Company Profiles for Students. Volume 3. (58-63). Farmington Hills, MI: The Gale Group. Rabe, C. (2006). The Innovation Killer. New York: American Management Association. Scully, J. & Byrne, J. (1987). Odyssey. New York: Harper and Row. Sobotta. (2005). The Apple Corporate Culture. Applepeels: A salty perspective on Apple. Retrieved from www.viewfromthemountain.typepad.com

Leadership Analysis: Steve Jobs Stone, B. & Burrows P. (2011, January 24-30) The Essence of Apple. Bloomberg Businessweek. (6-8). The Apple Museum Online. (2011, April 4). Retrieved from: http://www.theapplemuseum.com/ Wozniak, S. & Smith, G. (2006). iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fund Doing It. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. Young, J. & Simon, W. (2005). iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business. New Jersey: Wiley and Sons.

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