Steve Job's Leadership Traits

The aim and objective of this literature review was to highlight the important aspects of the Trait Theory of Leadership and to review its application in the modern day organizational leaders for example, managers and supervisors.

Steve Jobs on the other hand has a very innovative leadership style; he was a perfectionist who had the courage to change his mind. Steve was a very unconventional leader, he was very `high-maintenance’ who demanded excellence from his staff and was known for his

Jobs and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak are widely recognized as pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. When Steve Jobs running the business of Apple and NeXT organization, many studies were made some researches to find down the way he managed organization and the administration style of him. Consequently, the result of those studies show that the leadership styles of Steve Jobs related to transactional leadership, transformational leadership and charismatic leadership. Trait approach is first systematic attempts to study leadership. To be a successful leader, traits approach is the necessary actions which able to provide people with excellent and potential to perform. This style of leadership has the inherited personality traits distinguish leaders from subordinates. Trait approach just focus on the person who is leading and the leader always have several common traits such as self-confidence, initiative, intelligence, self belief. This style of administration of Steve Jobs was shown clearly in the case that it happened during his early years at

* Steve jobs is very good at team relationship. He is criticized as the autocratic boss, however he is the “product picker” and the persuader as well. Steve mostly works with his top expert team. He suggests that one hundred members in one team are perfect for him to manage and everyone focusing better. He knows his employees very well especially in their ability. Steve does not know about either how to design hardware or

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.

Leadership can also be conceived as a process where one or more persons influence a group of person to move in a certain direction. The word leadership has been used in various aspects of human endeavor such as politics, business, academics and social works. Messick and Krammer(2004) debated about the degree to which the individual exhibits leadership traits depends not only on his characteristics and personal abilities but also on the characteristics of the situation and environment in which he finds himself. Bill Gates was born in 1955, had a love of computers and began programming mainframe computers when he was 13 years old. The text below will consist of an analysis of the leadership style of bill gates according to an existing leadership style theory.

Throughout his life, Steve Jobs’ milestones have been applauded and criticized on a grand scale. A majority of the scrutiny has involved Jobs’ leadership after the founding of the Apple Company. Undoubtedly, Jobs’ risk-taking has led to the creation of revolutionary products such as the Apple II, iMac, iPod and iPad. However, Jobs’ was not as successful with his short-lived ventures with NeXT company. Although it is well suggested that Jobs’ failures helped him mature into a well-seasoned leader, his mistakes are also equally highlighted as an example of the defectiveness in his leadership style. However, history has decided to remember Jobs in a positive light. Hence, this leave the question: is Steve Jobs the iconic, revolutionary and effective leader the mass media portrays him to be? This paper will attempt to expose to the reader that although Steve Jobs did in fact have great number of weaknesses as leader of Apple, Job’s strengths overcame his weakness resulting in Jobs becoming an effective leader. The content analysis of Jobs’ various media reporting revealing the strengths and weaknesses in his background, vision, leadership traits and employee relations will be employed to express the validity of the thesis.

Steve Jobs used inspirational motivation to inspire people to think big and diversity to build the right mix of talent to make his companies successful. Visionary leaders have a talent for leading their teams towards a common goal. They create a positive image of their future and inspire their followers with their vision. Steve had a true talent to

Character: “Leadership is the capacity and will to rally men to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence.”

Great leaders are able to identify their leadership style, and through continuous assessment of their own abilities as leaders, they are able to develop and understand their own abilities and strengths. When someone is able to understand his or her strengths and limitations, then they are able to develop and grow themselves into effective leaders. This also helps them to challenge themselves to find new skills to improve themselves through practice. After an assessment of my own abilities and strengths, my personal theory states that a leader should be a transformational person, acting on a set of both ethical and moral values. He or she should be able to be an inspiration, and empower others to achieve their goals. Various traits and skills are the guiding values, which inform my personal theory. This paper will discuss into details leadership traits, skills and values in my personal model.

Steven Jobs was one of the founders of Apple Computer. Apple Computer's initial strategy was to target specific sub-segments of the market that the company's management believed could be best served by the company. Apple Computer focused on these sub-segments, addressed the needs of these users, and developed a loyal following for the company's products (Fortune, 2011). The senior executives at Apple Computer, led by Jobs, reinforced a customer focus within the company. This customer focus was largely responsible for the success of the company's initial strategy.

We will examine the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ leadership styles & role, strengths & weaknesses at different levels of Business Success defined by Bill McBean (2012); also briefly illustrate some of the relevant theories relating to drivers of job performance, Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) models, qualities exhibited by him.

Encourage and inspire trust in the team that is going to put into practice those

Section two contains background information relating to Jobs, Apple and the overall market in which they have operated in. Section three delves into the characteristics of Job’s leadership, including personality, development and behaviour. Section four of the discussion details alternative leadership theories, methods, styles and behaviours that potentially provide stronger impacts on followers and the overall situation, followed by recommendations.

In order to define leadership and develop an effective leadership style, it is necessary to identify the leadership qualities one already possesses. Over several decades many studies have tried to delineate specific characteristics attributed to definitive styles of great leaders. Thankfully, these studies have not produced a magical formula for leadership or a set