Steve Jobs's Leadership Style

Where does our leadership style develop from? Many of us will readily agree with the idea that the presence of certain personality traits will positively influence a leader’s style or successfulness. Determining exactly which personality traits are conductive to successful leadership is more difficult. For example, although many support the idea that charisma is a key trait for leadership, Komives et al. argue that the presence of charisma in a leader can actually be a negative influence in leadership, citing Adolf Hitler as one such case (66). Therefore, the question becomes not only if personality determines who we are as leaders, but which personality traits determine who we are as leaders. In my opinion, leadership is determined by the

As Isaacson recalls in his biography on Jobs’ life, the first thing that Jobs did at Apple was cut out the convoluted product lines, instead shifting the focus on “four great products” (3). Already, Jobs’ tendency towards conscientiousness showed in his leadership style. Rather than leading an Apple that produced countless variations of the computer, Jobs saw the importance of efficiency. Just as a conscientious person desires to accomplish a task as well as possible, Jobs’ leadership style forced Apple to commit to making only four computers the best possible products. The next test of Jobs’ leadership style would be the creation of the iPod in 2001, the product that would redefine the music consumption market. Interestingly, Gladwell’s exposé of Steve Job’s leadership process likens Jobs to a “tweaker” rather than an inventor, citing the iPod as one such example (5). Rather than creating a brand new product, Jobs was committed to creating the perfect product for music playback. During Jobs’ time at Apple, he would often refine existing ideas until it fit his vision rather than creating something new. One famous quote attributed to Steve Jobs is “I’ll know it when I see it” (Gladwell 6). By constantly pushing his engineers and designers until they created a product that fit his vision, much to the chagrin of those working for him, Steve Jobs was able to release products that would revolutionize their markets, just as the iPod did. This penchant for perfection stems from Jobs’ tendency towards neuroticism. Although neuroticism is often regarded by many as a negative factor to successful leadership, I argue that neuroticism was key to Jobs’ leadership style. In Jobs’ case, the appearance of neuroticism through a drive for perfection created a leadership style that allowed Jobs to lead his company in creating