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  • Essay / Analysis of Steve Jobs' Leadership Style

    Steve Jobs returned to Apple after twelve years of revitalized leadership after leaving the company in 1985 after an internal conflict. Thirteen years later, Apple became the leading computer company thanks to his leadership, having overtaken Microsoft in 2010. Many studies have been devoted to his leadership style which led to the company's success. Transformational leadership best fits Steve Jobs, although he has many credentials as a charismatic leader. The transformational leadership style exhibited by Steve Jobs has four main attributes. The first and most recognizable is the charismatic or idealized influence that the individual possesses. This trait inspires others to imitate the behavior and feel the passion of the leader. Steve exemplifies this by his ability to attract the attention of employees through the enthusiasm of his words and actions. Over time, he demonstrated the ability to create illustrations that improve employee and customer understanding of products under development. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Steve is also known for his high self-confidence and zero tolerance for employee mistakes. At best he is autocratic since he rarely manages an open system but makes decisions personally or with a small group of senior managers. This instills focus and seriousness in achieving the goals and vision that are clearly expressed by Jobs. This ability to inspire others to achieve their vision and mission is the second trait of the transformational leadership style. Steve is not known for his democratic nature but for insisting on the holistic participation of each employee in the established vision. In fact, as a company, Apple prides itself on having the fewest products but with the highest net worth while in 2010, the company had only 30 products but made thirty billion dollars. This indicates that Steve must focus 100% on the established goals and ideas. The nature of Steve Jobs' intellectual understanding of Apple products, both the market and customer underdevelopment, is irrefutable. For example, when he talks about an IPod or an IDVD, he is able to situate its use in the customer's daily life. He masters the art of connecting with customers where he translates complex technology metrics with simple-to-understand illustrations. For example, at the launch of the thirty GB iPod, he illustrated his memory in terms of seven thousand five hundred songs or seventy-five hours of video. This is the marketing of the benefit rather than the marketing of the product. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The kind of enthusiasm he describes is capable of compelling Apple employees to inspire operations. He is known to be firm and very demanding, therefore using both force of actions and words to compel his employees to productivity. Works Cited: Blyton, P., & Turnbull, P. (2004). The dynamics of social relations. Palgrave Macmillan. Fossum, J.A. and Wallace, M. (eds.). (2009). Labor Education: Transforming the World. Springer. Gall, G. and Inglis, D. (eds.). (2010). Unions in a neoliberal world: British unions under New Labour. Routledge. Greenwood, M. and Wood, A.J. (1999). Trade unionism, link between collective wage negotiation and productivity: some international data. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics,, 16(1), 141-165.