A Critique of the Leadership Style of Steve Jobs, I-O Psychology

This essay provides a critical analysis of Steve Jobs' leadership style, exploring its complexities and contradictions. It delves into his background, including his adoption, early influences, and countercultural experiences, which shaped his unique approach. The essay examines his charismatic traits, his "Reality Distortion Field," and his ability to inspire intense loyalty and passion in his employees. It then explores his leadership through the lenses of trait and behavioral theories, evaluating his strengths and weaknesses. The essay analyzes his transactional leadership style, his focus on perfection, and his often-harsh treatment of employees. It discusses his high conscientiousness, drive for innovation, and low neuroticism, while also acknowledging his shortcomings in emotional intelligence and social graces. The essay concludes by assessing the effectiveness of his "tough love" approach and considering whether his success could have been achieved with a more considerate leadership style, ultimately providing a comprehensive critique of Jobs' leadership legacy.

Strengthening Leadership & Management Kimberly Marie Celse
TUW Department of I-O Psychology 1 February 2, 2014
A Critique of the Leadership Style of Steve Jobs
Kimberly Marie Celse
Department of I-O Psychology
Touro University Worldwide
One of the most controversial yet wildly successful leaders of our time, Steve Jobs
mesmerized the world with his passion for excellence yet infuriated many with his myopic
drive. He was an incredible visionary who revolutionized the personal computer industry and
gained devoted followers from the world over. Many waited with baited breath for the latest
iPhone, iPod, or iPad, and the craze of sales and infinite lines at Apple stores portrayed to the
world that this was, indeed, an extremely important company with a leader who must be
doing every single thing right in running his company. But was this actually true? Dubbed by
his colleagues as having a “Reality Distortion Field”, which could be akin to bullying, this
allowed him to push people to achieve feats on an extraordinary level (Isaacson, 2012). His
untimely death proving that he was still yet a man, immortalized him forever in our minds
and in many hearts as a dreamer who realized his dreams – as many of his followers lived
vicariously through his overwhelming accomplishments.
Researching Steve Jobs’s background, one can see some of the elements that led to the legend
he became. Adopted at birth, his adoptive parents had promised his birth mother that they
would send him to college. His adoptive father taught him electronics at an early age and he
had an average middle-class lifestyle. He was terribly bright in school and even skipped a
grade, but was known to be a prankster. A former college dropout after just a semester, he
continued to audit classes and didn’t seem to be worried about his future. Growing up in the
San Francisco Bay Area, he was likely influenced by two major social movements in that
area – the counterculture hippy, anti-war revolution starting in San Francisco, and the Silicon
Valley boom of high-tech innovation. He even went to India for a while to connect with his
spirituality and dabbled in LSD and other psychedelic drugs (Isaacson, 2012). As Isaacson
noted in his biography of Steve Jobs written in 2004, his first twenty years of life were
“Abandoned. Chosen. Special. Those concepts became part of who Jobs was and how he
regarded himself.” (Evans, 2012).
Steve Jobs had the ability to inspire people to share his passion and the belief that they could
achieve the seemingly impossible (Isaacson, 2012). California was a hotbed of a culture of
individualism and more and more people began contributing to society in innovative ways
irrespective of their race, gender, background, socioeconomic, and educational level. His
countercultural rebellious attitude sparked a revolution of free thinkers who felt they had the
power to change the world and is reflected in his “Think Different” ads upon his return to
Apple, “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs
in the square hole…While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the
people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
(Isaacson, 2012).
I once had the opportunity to meet Steve Jobs at a technology networking event in Silicon
Valley, and perhaps because I wasn’t a fan of Apple products at the time, I wasn’t intimidated
by his presence as so many others around me were at the time. I wasn’t aware of Jobs’s cult

Strengthening Leadership & Management Kimberly Marie Celse
TUW Department of I-O Psychology 2 February 2, 2014
status but I recall the intensity and focus in his eyes when he spoke. I was merely a quiet
observer in a group of enthusiastic listeners and what I expected would be a group
conversation was immediately dominated by essentially a question and answer session with
this modern day guru. As I recall, it was all quite fascinating, but I was already quite used to
this kind of exchange in that industry. I got the feeling people were constantly picking his
brains and he seemed to enjoy telling people his ideas and how well Apple was doing.
As his innovations have been copied the world over, so has also been his leadership style. His
strive for complete perfection in spite of profit-making and people’s feelings pushed people
beyond their boundaries, and he expected his engineers to be on the level of artists. He even
went as far as having them line up PC chips perfectly and having their signatures engraved in
the cases of the products, commenting “Real artists sign their work” (Isaacson, 2012). Yet he
was also known as being rude, rough, and impatient. Antagonizing and insulting others with
his superior genius. But how is it that such negative traits could also emanate from a leader
who inspired and transformed people?
But what was his particular leadership style that made him such a huge success? Did he
honestly even hone leadership skills or did he just run things based on his personality alone?
After pouring over effective leadership theories, how is it that Jobs’s approach could even
remotely be classified as “positively effective”? He was considered dictatorial, controlling
every step along during the product design phase, and often reprimanded and humiliated staff
in front of others (de Silva, 2011). But indeed, he really did see himself as a leader as
opposed to just a manager, director, or CEO (Arlen, 2011). Jobs practised a form of “tough
love” leadership. He was incredibly hard on his employees yet showered them with praise
when they fulfilled what he wanted. A 2011 study out of Cornell University, University of
Notre Dame, and University of Western Ontario found that disagreeable leaders were more
highly regarded and received higher salaries than agreeable ones (Badass-Boss, 2014). Other
leaders who have tried to copy his “tough love” approach have often failed by not
understanding that loyalty needs to be in place in order for such a tactic to work (Isaacson,
2012). Looking at the various popular theories of trait, behavioural, and situational theories, I
will attempt to analyse Steve Jobs’s leadership approach and the positive and negative
aspects of such.
Trait Leadership
If we take a look at the trait theory of leadership which was developed in the 1940s, Steve
Jobs definitely had a tremendous amount of charisma going for him. His style is a mixture of
several traits, with some unconventional and unpopular ones thrown in for added impression.
We find, however, that the most driving trait factors for effective leadership are extraversion
(sociability), followed by conscientiousness (determination & integrity), openness, and low-
neuroticism (Northhouse 2013). Although his social graces are in question, Jobs certainly
seemed to have no fear of people and was very proactive in meeting and working with them.
He believed in face-to-face meetings and spontaneous meetings and discussions (Isaacson,
2012). The second trait of conscientiousness certainly applied to him. He was driven by his
vision and held true to his self and his beliefs despite criticism. His Zen training taught him
how to focus and he often overlooked ordinary day-to-day things that his family and friends
deemed important, even his health issues (Isaacson, 2012). He rarely wavered from the
integrity of his products and ideas and wasn’t driven by profit like so many others. An
amazing product line and giving customers what they wanted is what mattered most and falls
in line with his high integrity. As for openness, he possessed it for new ideas that drove the
creative force behind Apple; but how open he was to implementing the ideas of others and

Strengthening Leadership & Management Kimberly Marie Celse
TUW Department of I-O Psychology 3 February 2, 2014
giving them credit for it remains debatable. In fact, he was often criticized for plagiarizing
new ideas presented by his competitors and followers (Evans, 2012). The final major
personality aspect of low-neuroticism doesn’t fit Jobs’s approach. He was known to be
neurotic due to his worry, contempt and envy of competitors, and extreme obsession even
with the smallest of details (Evans, 2012).
Northhouse points out that another way to assess the effectiveness of trait leadership is by
considering emotional intelligence. It is considered by many researchers to be comprised of
both personal and social competencies. Personal competencies being self-awareness, self-
confidence, self-regulation, conscientiousness, and motivation. We have already pointed out
that Jobs was conscientious and motivated to certain degrees, yet his self-awareness and self-
regulation were certainly lacking through evidence of his often abusive and obsessive
behaviour. Additionally, although he publicly displayed tremendous self-confidence, he
ironically often “broke down and cried when he felt that he had not been treated fairly”
(Evans, 2012).
Although trait theory boasts the largest body of research, it is often a difficult style to apply
because it is an intuitive approach and the traits are usually inherited and can’t be learned. As
commented by Evans, “His perfectionism was legendary, but so were his disloyalty,
abrasiveness, abusiveness, and lack of generosity, both financial and otherwise” (2012). It’s
likely that much of his disagreeableness led to his first dismissal from Apple. It was only
when the company was in trouble was when he was invited to return. One wonders if Jobs
could have accomplished just as much if he had only treated people with a little more
decency. He admitted that he might have, but that he would have betrayed his true nature by
suppressing his unpleasant personality traits (Isaacson, 2012).
Behavioural Leadership
As laid out by Doyle and Smith, behavioural leadership dominated the 1950s and 1960s and
the focus moved from traits to how leaders behaved. This type of leadership generally
comprised of four basic styles (2001): 1) Concern for task – priority in productivity and ways
to meet objectives, 2) Concern for people – priority in the needs, interests, desires of
follower, 3) Directive leadership – leaders make decisions and expect followers to follow,
and 4) Participative leadership – leaders share decision-making with others (Doyle & Smith,
2001).
Further research and development into the area of behavioural theories discovered more
distinct categories based on original research. The newly defined categories are:
 Task-oriented behaviours
 Relational-oriented behaviours
 Change-oriented behaviours
 Passive leadership (Derue et al., 2011)
Task-oriented behaviours: This falls under what is known as transactional leadership and
involves the pairing of concern for task and directive leadership. In this style, leaders offer
contingent rewards depending on the successful completion of tasks, as well as punishment
for failure of achievement. They are directive in that they make decisions and expect
subordinates to follow, generally without question. There is evidence to show he engaged in a
strong transactional approach. He would show the end result of projects to his followers and
lay out every single step on how to get to it and dictate how to conduct each step (de Silva,

Strengthening Leadership & Management Kimberly Marie Celse
TUW Department of I-O Psychology 4 February 2, 2014
2011). If it weren’t for his incredible vision, charisma, drive, ability to incite loyalty, and
extraordinary marketing ability, he would not have been able to be so successful with this
particular leadership style in a high-tech industry which generally demands strong creative
collaboration from many parties and generally a more participative leadership style.
Jobs’s desire to control almost every aspect of design put him in the management by
exception-active under transactional leadership (Harzell, n.d.). He took immediate action to
fix problems by micro-managing, and didn’t hesitate to insult workers in front of others. He
was referred to as being obsessive, narcissistic, impatient and tough with those around him
(Isaacson, 2012). In fact, he preferred to work with only those who could rival his vision and
intelligence and with these followers, he was able to generate a deep loyalty from many that
may have clouded their vision of his abusive personality.
Relational-oriented behaviours: This is a form of participative leadership style where the
leader is concerned about the welfare of followers and is interested in earning their trust and
respect (Derue et al., 2011). It is also democratic in allowing followers to be part of decision-
making. There may have been times where Jobs engaged in this form simply because
creativity from others was needed in order to meet objectives; however, in general, he was
not known for this type of leadership as his particular traits usually dominated his approach.
Change-oriented behaviours: This is what’s known today as transformational leadership.
Despite strong transactional influences, in many ways Steve Jobs was also the embodiment of
a transformational leader. In contrast with his negative attributes, he was still regarded as
both charismatic and transformational (DeGrosky, 2012). Under transformational leadership,
a leader holds a higher vision of change and encourages innovation and risk taking (Derue et
al., 2011). As noted by Isaacson:
“It’s important to appreciate that Jobs’s rudeness and roughness were
accompanied by an ability to be inspirational. He infused Apple employees
with an abiding passion to create groundbreaking products and a belief that
they could accomplish what seemed impossible. And we have to judge him by
the outcome.” (2012).
Steve Jobs’s transformational approach allowed others to share in his vision and he used his
charisma to sell his ideas to followers – no matter how outlandish they may have seemed. In
his D8 conference interview, he stated that when he returned to Apple in 1997 after a twelve
year hiatus, he was surprised to see some of the same people there (D8, 2008). Thus, his
vision of creating amazing products remained with the company during his absence. He
described his company as collaborative and organized like a startup. “If you want to hire
great people and have them stay working for you, you have to let them make a lot of
decisions, and you have to be run by ideas. Not hierarchy” (D8, 2008). This bespeaks
strongly of the transformational approach and Jobs embodied the majority of dimensions of
this leadership as laid out by Simic (1998):
 Idealized influence – instilling trust and appreciation from followers
 Inspirational motivation – inspire followers to have correct behaviour
 Intellectual stimulation – “change agent” to stimulate creativity and thinking
 Individualized consideration – positively acknowledging needs and values of
followers

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TUW Department of I-O Psychology 5 February 2, 2014
He was like a demi-god to many and therefore was trusted and appreciated. His inspirational
motivation was one of his greatest gifts. He turned a simple company into a revolutionary
culture as one of the most sought after companies to work for with some of the most sought
after products in the world. No doubt his intellect was genius and that he stimulated creativity
and intellect among followers and other leaders. The employees who fall under such a
leadership usually have a feeling of being valued and of belonging, and are guided to a higher
vision of self-actualization and thus the greater goals of the organization (Odetunde, 2013).
Apple wasn’t just a company, it was a family. People worked long hours, ate at the indoor
café, used the fitness facilities, brought their children to the on-premises daycare, and even
slept there.
Eventually though, his transformational style led to accounts of abuse of power. Under his
influence, many employees were overworked which often led to burn out (DeGrosky, 2012).
Many workers were also so transformed that they essentially became transfixed on the
organization and culture to the point where they were dependent on all things Apple and their
leader. Who wouldn’t be seduced by a top performing company and in constant fear of losing
out on such a dream job? This is a fine line where transformational leadership and cult status
can coexist.
Passive leadership: This type of behaviour implies an absent or unresponsive leader unless a
problematic situation arises (Derue et al.,2011). No research on Steve Jobs has concluded that
he was this type of leader considering how present he was in all projects at Apple.
In a meta-analytic study by Derue et al., it was found that participative leadership rated
highest for follower satisfaction with their leader; however contingent reward and
management by exception-active were the strongest indicators in worker job satisfaction
(2011). Thus, they concluded that it is behaviour, not traits, which affect leader and job
satisfaction the most (Derue et al., 2011). Interestingly, it was transformational leadership
that was most consistent across the board in their study for overall leader effectiveness
(Derue et al., 2011). I conclude then, that if it weren’t for Jobs’s transformational approach,
he would not have been able to become successful on his extreme transactional leadership
alone.
Situational Leadership
DeGrosky asks if Jobs would have been able to lead as brilliantly in another organization that
valued character over talent (2012). In situational leadership, the leader must take into
account the abilities and willingness of followers and to adjust their leadership style
accordingly. They will often move from directing, to coaching, to supporting, and to
delegating depending on a follower’s needs. In another organization, Jobs most likely would
have failed because of his harsh treatment and inability to adjust his approach. Thus, he
didn’t follow the situational approach because he chose to work with like-minded people who
were both highly competent and willing. These follower attributes would suggest that Jobs
should have taken the delegation approach to situational leadership; yet he didn’t because he
was too controlling of projects.
In summing up his particular leadership style, Steve Jobs possessed strong transactional and
transformational elements driven by his personality traits. Because both transactional and
transformational approaches have been strongly linked with follower satisfaction with their
leader and their job, it is reasonable that his style proved to be overwhelmingly effective.
Although he was originally dismissed from Apple most likely for being difficult to work

Strengthening Leadership & Management Kimberly Marie Celse
TUW Department of I-O Psychology 6 February 2, 2014
with, when he returned, he essentially saved the company and was never forgotten for it.
These transactional / transformational approaches allowed him room to exhibit negative,
disagreeable personality traits without losing leader value and respect.
With all his exceptional gifts, one wonders why then, in the fifty six short years of his life, he
was so downright selfish and cruel to so many people. Perhaps, if we again look at his early
years, the answers are there. Is it possible his adoption had a more profound impact on his
personality and later success than we could ever imagine? After all, he did refer to his birth
parents as his “sperm and egg bank” and only met his birth mother after he was famous while
never wanting to ever meet his birth father (Evans, 2012). One can only wonder if the initial
pain of “rejection” played a major role in his personality. As if no amount of love and
acceptance in the world by his adoptive parents and friends, and the overwhelming worship
of employees and fans the world over could ever make up for that. Granted no one is perfect,
but it can be rather humbling for the rest of us that one of the greatest innovators and leaders
of our time can be far from perfect too.
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