Jobs’s lessons continue to challenge and elevate great leaders.
Steve Jobs was far from perfect. It is well known that he could be arrogant, demanding, and even ruthless at times. His leadership style was often described as autocratic and relentless, with little patience for mediocrity. Yet, despite these traits—or perhaps, in part, because of them—he was an extraordinary leader who left an indelible mark on the world.
While some criticized his abrasive management style, there is no denying that Jobs possessed several qualities that define great executive leaders today.
1. He looked for people who challenged ideas
Jobs valued people who had the confidence to challenge the status quo and his own ideas. He surrounded himself with strong leaders who weren’t afraid to speak up or push back when necessary. He once said, “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”
2. He pursued his passion and vision
Jobs believed that to be a successful leader and entrepreneur, you have to be driven by passion and purpose. It’s that same passion and genuine excitement that inspired and ignited Apple employees with a deep passion for creating groundbreaking products and the confidence to achieve the impossible.
3. He had relentless focus
According to Walter Isaacson, the author of a best-selling biography of Jobs, before his death, Jobs received a visit from Larry Page, the co-founder of Google. Jobs gave Page some sound advice about staying focused, and told him, “Figure out what Google wants to be when it grows up.”
He told Page, “It’s now all over the map. What are the five products you want to focus on? Get rid of the rest, because they’re dragging you down. They’re turning you into Microsoft. They’re causing you to turn out products that are adequate but not great.”
According to Isaacson’s account, Page followed the advice and told employees to focus on just a few priorities, such as Android and Google+, and to make them “beautiful,” the way Jobs would have done.
4. He relied on his intuition
Jobs believed that truly understanding what customers want isn’t about asking them all the time. It’s about sensing their needs before they even know what they are.
As Jobs put it in his autobiography, “Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.” Instead of relying on surveys and market research, he trusted his gut—his instinct for what people would love.
Jobs learned to value intuition while exploring Buddhism in India after dropping out of college. He noticed that people there relied more on instinct than logic. “Intuition is a very powerful thing—more powerful than intellect, in my opinion,” he said.
5. He believed creativity only happens in face-to-face meetings
Jobs strongly valued face-to-face interactions. “There’s a temptation in our networked age to think that ideas can be developed by e-mail and iChat,” he told Isaacson. “That’s crazy. Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions. You run into someone, you ask what they’re doing, you say ‘Wow,’ and soon you’re cooking up all sorts of ideas.”
Jobs’s vision, innovation, and high standards drove groundbreaking success. Despite his abrasive style, his passion and relentless pursuit of excellence pushed teams to achieve more, shaping Apple into a world-changing company.
