iLeadership: Leading the Steve Jobs’ Way

by Vicki Wrona, PMP:

In the book, The Steve Jobs Way: iLeadership for a New Generation, we gain insights on Steve Jobs’ management style from Jay Elliot, a senior executive who was with Jobs from the beginning. This book provided an interesting history of Apple and of Jobs’ evolution as a leader, including the years he was away from Apple. I will admit that I had not read much about Apple or Jobs before, and I found the book fascinating.

What intrigued me most was the insight into Steve Jobs’ leadership style. Arguably, many people would not be able to work for and with him, given his high expectations, perfectionist style and stubbornness. Yet, there are many admirable qualities we can all learn from. My respect for Jobs has increased from reading this book as well as has provided me with ideas and directions in running my own company and in managing my various teams.

Even in the early days of Apple, Steve Jobs was able to find people who worked hard for the sake of doing good work. These people wanted to develop new, exciting things and be part of something larger than themselves. That is how he convinced several key players to come to Apple before Apple was dominant, including his hand-picked CEO. Before Apple was a large player in the market, Jobs used his influential style to ask the question whether that person wanted to continue doing what they did (selling soda, for example) or whether they wanted to be part of something great. He could paint a clear and compelling picture of the future he saw, one that excited people and convinced them to join his cause. His vision directed the company.

However, that vision did not always hold everyone together, especially in the early years. If he disagreed with the direction or emphasis of Apple and could not convince other senior management (especially the CEO) to see things his way, he would continue to act in what he was convinced was the best interest of the company, thus creating  factions within the work force. He was not always a binding element.

Steve Jobs was also a workaholic. He was passionate about the mission and extremely driven. He worked continuously. As one of his senior staff put it, “If you are not going to come in on Saturday, don’t even bother coming in on Sunday.” Jobs was also very hands-on and involved in the details. He would stop in and check out the work of each team member, constantly pushing and questioning the staff. This constant checking and micromanagement is a difficult style for some employees to accept.

Because he was actively involved in the details and chose to work all the time, Jobs would come up with ideas at all hours of the day and night. He would often call a team member after hours to discuss ideas he had or a solution he was thinking about. He was respectful of the team member’s time and would ask up front, “Is this a good time?” but the impression I got from the book is that your answer didn’t matter; you would make it a good time. Then Jobs would launch into the technical details of what he was thinking about. If he called in the middle of the night, be ready to take notes because this wasn’t going to be a light-hearted discussion.

One interesting aspect of Jobs’ leadership style was his approach to finding, recruiting and then keeping the best talent inside and outside of his organization. As referenced before, there are good descriptions in the book of how he identified talent with the right attitude and on the leading edge of technology, even if, and especially when, they worked for a competitor. The book describes how he would recruit this talent away from their current positions to work for Apple, which was certainly trickier in the early days of Apple. At the same time, he made sure his talent was not lured away by closely guarding the names of those working on new products or development.

I recommend this book. Steve Jobs is impressive, although admittedly not a person that everyone could work for.