Leadership – Steve Jobs
Robbins, DeCenzo and Coulter state that the "behavioral theories of leadership approach would provide more definitive answers about the nature of leadership" (301). In this paper, we will use behavioral theories from different authors to analyze a few events in the life of Apple’s former CEO, Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs was the mastermind who created Apple and helped shape half a dozen industries – personal computers (the Macintosh and iMac), music sales (iPod and iTunes), computer animated movies (Pixar), tablets (iPad), and cell phones (iPhones). He was a multi-faceted, controversial leader, as shown in his biography written by Isaacson. We will describe each of the “Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership” and related commitments cataloged by Kouzes and Posner, in their book “The Leadership Challenge”, and link with anecdotal evidence from Steve Jobs’ life.
The first practice of the exemplary leadership is model the way. Kouzes and Posner state that exemplary leaders “Clarify their Values", as a means to find their voice and to affirm shared values (68). Not doing so is considered as copying someone else. Clarification of values is the commitment to assert the integrity of the leader. Leaders should watch their discourse and ensure that their actions do not contradict and follow the commitment to “Set the Example”, as to establish a model (96). In other words, their actions must follow and not be in conflict with their shared values, and set the
There is a great importance put on business leadership, this is directly due to how a business not only functions but in how fruitful the company can become. A great leader essentially can take a business plan that is weak yet turn it into a success, whereas a poor leader stands a higher chance of ruining the best of business plans. That is why it is essential to develop effective leadership throughout a companies entire management program at all levels. How does one develop or retain strong leadership? Companies must be focused on hiring strategies that encompass very specific parameters, building from within whilst creating a strong foundation for employee development and succession planning. Leadership is essential in any organization. The style and theory embraced determines whether the company will or will not achieve their goals. in all cases theory must be embraced, as a companies theory, style, and strategy is greatly dependent on the industry the company is in (Sadler, 2014). “The behavioral theory is one of the widely used theories of management. It suggests that leaders are made and not born. It gives room for training to install leadership traits in leaders at the expense of denying them a chance. There are various leadership styles embraced by companies (Cyert, & March, 2005).” This paper takes a look at the management styles of two specific
Apple is a company that everyone in the world knows about today, and most people own at least one Apple product, but Apple did not start out as a huge company. It started out with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak working on computers in the garage of Steve Jobs. Jobs and Wozniak
I want others to be able to see my leadership philosophy at work. To do this, it is important that I be able to connect with those I seek to lead, as “The Relational Leadership Model” states, “Relationships are the focal point of the leadership process” (Komives, Lucas, & McMahon, p. 74). One way I hope to develop a relationship with my followers is by “Modeling the Way” (Kouzes, Posner, 2008). I will do this by clarifying my values and leading by example. Clarifying values is important because “To earn and sustain personal credibility, one must be able to clearly articulate deeply held beliefs” (Kouzes, Posner, 2008, p. 29). By clarifying my values, those I seek to lead will understand my mission and will believe I have a goal in mind. Leading by
Leadership style is a leader's style of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people. There are many different leadership styles such as leaders in the political, business or other fields. Steve Jobs (24th February, 1955 – 5th October, 2011) is one of the most remarkable leadership people in modern history and he is well-known as the co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Apple Inc (Misa, 2011, p. 919). In any cases, Steve Jobs had displayed personal characteristics as a leader. Steven Jobs returned back to Apple when the company was going through a terrible
Good leadership is a process of influencing ans encouraging people to work as a team with efficiency to achieve the organizational goals (Drouillard & Kleiner, 1996). Different leaders has different leadership styles, a good leadership style can be very efficiency for an organization which can develop and encourage employees. According to Darling and Leffel’s (2010) framework, this essay will discuss how Steve Ballmer as a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Microsoft, the leadership styles as both Creator and Connector made him such a successful leader of Microsoft. This essay will argue that Steve Ballmer has the leadership style as Creator and Connector, and he has the abilities to develop well, encourage people to towards the Microsoft to success.
The next big era of leadership theories was the Rational Management era. When the previous era failed to determine exact traits that could consistently be identified in great leaders, a shift occurred to begin looking at how these leaders behaved, and what made them into great leaders, rather than who they were in a specific sense. This was a major shift from thinking that people were born leaders, to now considering that perhaps leaders could be made, or trained to become leaders. The first of these theories, beginning in the early 1950’s, were the behavior theories. The focus of these theories was to study what these leaders do, and
For centuries leaders have been analyzed in order to determine what the traits and characteristics of a successful leader are. Leadership, as defined by Koontz and Weihrich (2008) is “the art or a process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically toward the achievement of group goals” (p. 311). Leadership plays an important role in employee’s participation, creativity, recruitment to an organization, their commitment to the organization, and productivity levels. Over the years, there have been a number of theories surrounding leadership such as the “Great Man” theory, which, according to Riaz and Haider (2010), “assumes that leaders are born and have innate qualities, therefore, leaders
Empirically based, the writers begin the book by offering five practices of exemplary leadership: Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act and Encourage the Heart (p. 14). In their
Effective leadership is one of the most important key factors for success and longevity in every organisation. So it does not come as a surprise that the topic of leadership has continued to be a subject of interest in the modern world both from practitioners as well as academics and the extensive research for decades has not exhausted the topic (Bennis W., 2007).The purpose of this essay is to apply the three relevant leadership theories in relation to Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc., one of the most admired leaders of recent times. The essay firstly introduces the concept of Charismatic leadership, transformational leadership and transactional leadership and then briefly reviews Jobs and his leadership styles in relative to the theories.
The following sections provide specific examples and are based on the five exemplary leadership practices as outlined by Kouzes and Posner: Challenge the Process, Inspire a Shared Vision, Model the Way, Encourage the Heart, and Enable Others to Act (13). In all of the instances subsequently noted, it is acknowledged that the examples should not be confined to any one of the categories. Shackleton?s practice of these strategies demonstrates that an effective leader blends all of the elements into a unified theme.
Bill Gates was the former CEO of the computer software giant Microsoft. It was not purely on inherited merit or luck that he was able to lead and maintain Microsoft, one substantial attribution to the success of Microsoft was due to the leadership style of Bill Gates. The main philosophy that Bill Gates used was autocratic leadership. Autocratic leadership can be defined as: a person who maintains most of the decision making process for themselves (DuBrin A.J., 2013). An advantage of the autocratic leadership style was that corporate decisions were made more efficiently, if Bill were a democratic or consultative leader, it might have taken longer for Microsoft to seize primary markets of interests. Gates was also competent in delegating tasks to the right people, such as allowing the engineering teams to work at full capacity to meet their production goals. Microsoft’s success can be linked to the proper delegation of duties to the correct personnel, and a focus on goal-based decision making.
Leadership is “ critical in codifying and maintaining an organizations’ purpose, values, and vision. “ ( PM World Today Journal ). Having good leadership methods in place at an organization is vital in bringing success to a company. Steve Jobs is highly stimulated and has a strong idea of what he wants for Apple to achieve in upcoming periods. He is a transformational leader, and this, “ represents the most popular current view of leadership. This leader is characterised by a capacity to create a highly motivating and absorbing vision of the future, and has the capability to energise others to pursue the vision. “ ( Claremont McKenna College Journal ). Jobs has put in a huge effort to create a strong framework of control and direction, for example, “ Since returning to Apple, Steve has put as much energy into creating a strong management structure as he has into the products. “ ( www.ft.com ). This is highly effective leadership, trying to improve the design of the organisation in order to achieve more efficiency.
There is no consensus that has been reached regarding this controversy, but many theories are centered on it. Chronologically, popular leadership theories include the great man theory, trait theory, behavioral theories, role theory, participative leadership, situational leadership, contingency theories, transactional leadership, and transformational leadership. Each of these theories presents a unique perspective of what comprises leadership. The main focus of this research paper is, however, the trait theory (Bass & Stogdill, 1990).
From Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela’s charisma, to Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King’s intelligence and Steve Jobs’ analytical nature, there can be as numerous ways to lead as there are leaders (Crossman, 2010). Leadership is a hot debate both in the business world and other areas of the society. Throughout the world's, there have been as many leadership models as there have been their commentators (Burns & Peltason, 1966). Fortunately, psychologists and businesspersons have established useful frameworks that refer to the main ways of leadership.
The purpose of this paper is to reflect and make an analysis of the general strengths and weaknesses of a leader, provide recommendations, thoughts of overall performance to improve on this person’s leadership style in which practices and theories were utilized most effectively. Upon such, draw conclusions and provide an integration of this leadership practice into my own leadership practice. The accomplishment of this will be achieved by identifying several key practices from published documents surrounding and encompassing the leader, and comparing them to known relative concepts for a holistic view of the approach.