How many of you own an iPod? How many of you own an iPhone or an iPad? How many of you do all of your coursework on a Macbook? The Apple industry has dramatically changed electronics in recent years. I, personally own each of the above mentioned products and sadly, I feel as though I cannot live without them.
I found a short clip of an interview with Steve Jobs, the co-founder and CEO of Apple, who is largely responsible for all of the products that many of us have come so accustomed to. In the interview, he describes the Apple team and how it works. Take a minute and click on this link to watch the clip (Ragni, 2010). Note: If the link does not work, please copy and paste from the references at the bottom of the page.
While searching for inspiration, I watched several of the videos about Jobs, but this particular one really shows why the Apple company is a success. Jobs explains that he and his colleagues are a team. By placing so much emphasis on his colleagues as a team, it is easy to see why Apple is so successful and Jobs, himself, is a leader. Jobs explains that they have no committees at Apple. There is one person in charge of every aspect from their software system to marketing. Each of those people come together in one room once a week and meet for three hours to discuss everything. By appointing just one person to each necessary are of the company and all coming together once a week, they are creating success within the company. Having only one person be in charge of each aspect, allows for less confusion within the company of who is doing what. If there is only one person in charge of the operating system and there is a problem with the operating system, it makes it easy to rectify the situation. Jobs describes how the company works and how the teamwork at the “top” of the company creates tremendous teamwork at the “bottom” of the company. Jobs states that he meets all day with teams of people to solve problems and create new products. This exemplifies how the teamwork within the company creates great communication and an overall better product. Finally, one of the best parts in the clip, I think, was when Steve Jobs was asked if people are willing to tell Jobs that he is wrong. Steve responds by saying that they have “wonderful arguments” and also by stating that he does not win every argument. He goes on to say that if you want to hire great people and keep great people working for you, you have to let them make decisions.
I think Jobs was a great leader. He not only has a successful product (I will never buy another Microsoft product again, though I think Bill Gates is a genius), but through his statements about teamwork it is obvious that he cares about not just the company, but the people that work there as well. He values the opinions and suggestions of his subordinates and he allows for them to tell him he is wrong. He recognizes that to get and keep the best workers, they need to be able to be heard and feel valued. Apple is not just Steve Jobs’ vision, it’s the vision of his colleagues as well.
To relate this to the lessons this week, I think that by allowing his colleagues to be heard he is able to develop interpersonal relationships. If you watched the clip, you would know that he mentions trust as being a key in how the company works. In order to trust people, you need to know them to an extent. I think he is also task oriented. While his goals are not apparent from the clip, it is obvious that he had goals. In fact, in another video that I watched, one of his keys to success was to have a “clear vision.” From a style approach, I would say that Jobs probably has a middle-of-the-road style, which describes leaders as having equal (intermediate) concern for both task and the people doing the task (Northouse, 2013). In my opinion, he does not sway too much on either end of the spectrum on the leadership grid mentioned in the text (Northouse, 2013). I do not know what your opinions of his products are, but I, for one, think the quality of his products are top notch, which proves his success as a leader further as well as the success of the company.
References:
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Ragni (12 June 2010). Steve Jobs talks about managing people. Retrieved on 26 September 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f60dheI4ARg&feature=related
I would be interested to know the attitude of the employees at the “bottom” at Apple. Watching the video, Jobs comments that Apple is run by “ideas, not hierarchy.” I have worked for large companies in the past, where the corporate level executive staff send out announcements and other notifications, sounding as though they’re immensely proud of themselves and what they’re accomplishing. Yet, those of us implementing their changes find them to be irrelevant and out of touch with the day to day operations of the company.
This is not to argue that Apple isn’t successful – clearly they are. And Jobs thinks highly of the three hour meetings each week and the “wonderful arguments”. But Apple employs over 47,000 employees (http://www.apple.com/about/job-creation/) and I’m sure 95% of them are not a part of the weekly meetings. Jobs himself may be a great leader, especially to the small percentage of those in the meetings, but this does not explore the leadership of those expected to carry out the tasks and act as liaisons to the rest of the employees. I might go so far as to question whether putting one person in charge of each aspect is wise. It probably works as far as communicating with the top, though I wonder if there is a risk of a “my way or the highway” between that one person and lower subordinates. Not only that, but while there may not be any committees, the gathering of those single people in charge with Jobs, in effect IS a committee of sorts.
It would be very interesting to see what the employment process and screening is like at Apple. It sounds like a utopian business model which is unlikely, though having enough D4 types with the commitment and knowledge to do the job would encourage a positive experience – so long as the leader knows to trust those employees. And it sounds like Jobs does.