Steve jobs as a prolific leader

A person who usually holds a dominant or superior position and can exercise a considerable amount of control and influence over others is known as a leader. Leadership is a trait that a person is typically born with and also inculcates through various experiences. Thus a leader not only motivates and supports but also balances conflicting interests and helps in getting out of difficult situations. This assignment is going to talk about a prolific leader, Steve Jobs.

Background of the Leader

Steven Paul Jobs or Steve Jobs was born in 1955 to parents who gave him up for adoption rendering him pretty direction less. However, being a smart kid, he dropped out of college to co-found Apple with Steve Wozniak. His invention of the mackintosh computer is history and has made him an iconic figure. Furthermore he created mobile phones and music players that took the world by storm as they were miniature macs. He also forayed into computer animations through Pixar, finally innovated the iPad with an aim to replace PCs. All this was possible because of his leadership style. He was a very unconventional leader mostly demonstrating transformational leadership style. He was passionate, a great visionary and charismatic which is the main reason for Apple being the ‘ numero uno’ brand even in the current times. He was also very involved with his team and set an example for them. He also made effective communication which was able to bring transformations. This is the reason his le3adership created value and brought about positive changes. There have been critics who have said that he was a very difficult person to work with, but his charisma ensured that he was able to pull off what he wanted.

Moral Intelligence and Credibility of the Leader

Being a leader is not easy, as an individual requires various factors to become an ideal leader and one of the biggest components of becoming an ideal leader is having high moral intelligence. Moral intelligence consists of four components such as the integrity, responsibility, compassion, and forgiveness. Steve Jobs, initially as a leader, lacked the moral intelligence required for being a leader, which caused him to be booted out of Apple, the company that he created from nothing, in 1985. According to Hammershoj (2018), Steve Jobs’ behavior at that time was volatile and hostile that was causing problems for the entire company. The reason for that behavior was that Apple was going through a difficult time and Steve Jobs was frustrated with that. However, after that Steve Jobs reflected upon his behaviors and actions and when he returned to Apple in 1996 as the CEO, Steve Jobs was a changed man. As pointed out by Klein (2015) his behavior was completely changed, and he exhibited integrity, responsibility, compassion, and forgiveness to all the co-workers and employees of the company. Moreover, it was due to his innovativeness, future vision, and leadership skills that Apple was able to stand back on its feet and become one of the most successful organizations globally, which cemented his credibility and moral intelligence as an ideal leader.

Value of the Leader in alignment with the Value of the Organization

Steve Jobs as a leader had high ethical values and constantly strived to ensure that his values and ethics would be reflected in the entire company and its culture. During Steve Jobs’ tenure as the CEO, Apple’s Mission and Vision stated that “ To contribute to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind”. Steve Jobs was a revolutionary and an innovative leader who wanted to ensure that the world would be able to get technologically advanced and not stay backdated. As opined by Ma (2016) the values and teachings of Steve Jobs are echoed by the company and its employees as they were trained in the culture of Steve Jobs’ moral vision that the world needs to be improved regarding technological aspect, which would immensely help in everyday activities of the common people. Steve Jobs’ attitude and behavior as an ideal leader is reflected in the company, which allows them to follow his footsteps and teachings to create a modernized futuristic world where everybody will have access to advanced technology.

Conclusion

This biographical study on Steve Jobs helped in understanding the true nature of a leader. The transformational style on which his leadership was based was not only very successful but also very positive. He was a visionary with moral intelligence that ensured that Apple which went through a rough patch bounced back as one of the top-notch organizations globally. Thus it is often said that a good leader can create history.