Leadership and Management

Running head: LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
Introduction of the chosen leader
Steve Jobs was a business investor and magnate of American origin. Jobs was the
CEO, chairman and co-founder of the one of the largest technology based organization in the
world named Apple Inc. Jobs is mainly recognized in different parts of world for his
contribution to the technology industry. The microcomputer based revolution that taken place
between the 1970s and the 1980s was affected in a huge manner by the activities that have
been performed by the Steve Jobs. The essay will be based on the analysis of the ways by
which Steve Jobs has been able to depict his leadership style in order to improve the
operations of his organization (Anderson and Sun 2017).
Overview of the leader and their work process
Steve Jobs has proved to one of the most confident, strong and innovative leaders.
Jobs has not only established two major organizations namely Pixar and Apple, he had also
led many different organizations in the country. The importance of confidence levels required
in the leadership positions in an organization has been effectively proved by the efforts that
have been made by Steve Jobs. The extreme levels of confidence of the leader had proved to
be a major factor that led to development of some of the most innovative and desirable
products in the technology industry. Steve Jobs had started the operations of Apple Inc. along
with Steve Wozniak at the age of 21 (Arnold et al. 2015).
The products that were offered by Apple were based on the vision of the two founders
of the organization. The growth of Apple had started quite fast in the technology based
industry. The organization had been able to develop its position in the technology based
industry with the help of its highly desirable products. The journey of Steve Jobs in the
technology industry was marked by the ways by which Steve Jobs has been able to
communicate his vision to the employees in the organization (Kesting et al. 2016). The

2LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
management team of Apple is developed effectively with the help of proper leadership that
has been provided by the organization. The attention that has been provided by the leader or
CEO to minute details of the product have been quite important for the organization to gain a
huge share in the technology based market within a short period of time (Nawaz and Khan_
PhD 2016).
Application of leadership theory to case based on chosen leader
The leadership style that has been depicted by Steve Jobs can be termed as
unconventional. The leadership based theories that have been described in the textbooks are
not able to define the style of management that has been developed by Steve Jobs. Jobs
always demanded high levels of excellence from the staff and was also known in the industry
for the blunt criticism delivery to employees (Saleem 2015). The vision that had been
developed by Steve Jobs had been helpful in involving the employees and stakeholders in the
operating processes. Jobs has always been identified as a visionary by the employees and
investors of Apple all over the world. The organization has been able to showcase high levels
of growth in the competitive technology industry with the support that has been provided by
the vision and leadership style of Jobs (Sudha, Shahnawaz and Farhat 2016).
The leadership style that had been followed by Steve Jobs at the start of the operations
of Apple in the technology industry was democratic or participative in nature. The CEO
aimed at involving the stakeholders and the customers and implement their opinions based on
the products and services that have been developed by the organization. Steve Jobs had been
able to adapt to the changes that had taken place in the external environment in order to
improve his leadership style. Jobs had also followed a charismatic or laissez-faire leadership
style earlier during the operations of Apple (van Prooijen and de Vries 2016).