Leadership Styles of Steve Jobs: A Critical Analysis

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Leadership: Theory and Practice

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Assess the relevance of Steve Jobs leadership styles and put into context current perspectives....3
Various challenges in leadership.....................................................................................................4
Evaluate and explain Steve Jobs’ transformational leadership roles...............................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Reference List..................................................................................................................................9
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Introduction
Business management process is one of the most delicate jobs in the world and being a leader, it
is highly essential to meet the needs of people in order to meet the aim of business. It is highly
essential for certain business venture that requires a proper guidance. Entrepreneurship and other
kind of new thoughts associated with business is a necessary aspect and in the end, this shall
bring considerable modification in the society. It is observed that business process requires
having some time and in that learning period one leader develops. In the following segment
leadership attributes especially transformational leadership styles of Steve Jobs is going to be
taken into consideration and his activities are going to be analysed from the viewpoint of his
fellow workers.
Assess the relevance of Steve Jobs leadership styles and put into context current
perspectives
The process of having some change in the business development system requires leadership that
is more proficient. Among the leadership types the most important and used aspect is
transformational leadership. There are many other processes that can be considered like
autocratic, transitional, and democratic and others (Saunders and Iszatt-White, 2017). In this
segment focus will be given on Steve Jobs and main attributes of him are going to be judged. If
the current conditions of leadership attributes are taken into consideration then it can be
witnessed that the business modification process needs to have a proper collaboration (Grint,
2010). The thinking of Steve Jobs is totally different. His process of contributing to the business
modification is related with dominance and giving a structural guideline in order to meet the
need of the business. It is witnessed that business modification process is interlinked with proper
kind of situational demand. In accordance with the case study it is seen that he is provided with
different types of names and most of them are justified in accordance with the requirement
(Kotter, 1990). Steve is called brilliant, magical, mythic and many other things and it is a great
thing to be considered. In accordance with a press release of New York Times Steve led, a
change in the music, movie and other segments of entertainment and that resulted in a proficient
manner for the entertainment industry. Being a transformational leader he managed to make
changes in the business development process by making people believe in themselves and
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outperform themselves by meeting the requirements of the industry. This attribute of making
people believe in themselves is going to help in making a significant impact on the business
development process in the current context (Pfeffer and Sutton, 2006). From the current analysis
it can be stated that the current situation of competition and other things have a major effect and
in the end, this can have a significant collision as well. If the current condition is compared with
the time of Apple’s creation then a high amount of competition can be easily witnessed. This is
an imperative to be considered and in the end, this shall have an observable impact as well. In
order to have a better kind of business development process the service providers should have a
proper kind of management strategy.
In current context, it is seen that employees often complain that they have been mistreated and
bullied by the superiors. What Steve did is nothing but making them believe in themselves and
having a significant impact on the business modification process and in the end; it is going have
a major business related impact as well. The ulterior motif of this kind of management is nothing
but giving some priority to the people and the demand of the people (Algahtani, 2014). It is
observed that business modification and business expansion process relate with motivations.
Most of the people were longing for better response from the higher authority and Steve has
faced the same situations as well where people were longing for his appreciation. This influence
Steve has on the employees and it is observed that business modification process has intrigued
proficiently. The current concept of making a significant modification in business expansion
process is linked with the expertise of service providers and in the end; this can have a
productive outcome (Mauri, 2017). The current context needs to have a proper transformational
leadership and it is going to be handled significantly as well. The business modification process
is a necessary element to be taken into consideration for proficiency and company specific
outcome.
Various challenges in leadership
The process of working of different leaders is different and it is observed that business expansion
process is a significant aspect to be taken into consideration. The issues Associated with the
business modification process are catered by a proficient change, which is implemented after
situational evaluation (Wiley, 2016). From the given case study it can be described that Steve
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Jobs has faced many issues as well in the initial phase. For an example, he was reported to have
opinion related differences with the subordinates and the superiors of the company, however, he
was capable of making sure that the people are listening to him and believe in them. The most of
the cases it is seen that the issues associate with the business management process has faced
many alterations and he managed to make a significant modification with it. The issues that are
mainly faced by transformational leaders are going to be discussed and some relevance can be
found in this manner with the business development process that Steve Jobs has found.
The dynamic nature of the organisation often intrigue people to make changes in the system
but for that the person who is implementing the changes have to be aware of the situation first.
The sudden changes made in the business development process are a central aspect to be
considerate and in long run, this shall work in a considerable way (Palmer et al., 2017). The
changes that have been bought in operations of Apple intrigued Steve to make changes and he
managed in a distinct manner. For an example, the opinion of his colleague can be considered
where he stated that Steve was capable of hypnotising people who were working under him. This
made him do certain things that are required in a particular circumstance.
The next challenge is inspiring the followers, and in this criterion of different person has
diverse thinking process. If the ambience is different from the possibility of having, issues are
going to be different as well. The demand of people often makes them unhappy and a leader has
to make sure that he is filling all the demands but not compromising with the revenue generation.
Inspiring the followers is a hard task because every person has different demands (Hodges and
Howieson, 2017). In case of Steve Jobs it is witnessed that he considered the demand of his
employees but responded to those only, which are associated with the demand fulfilment by not
compromising the company profits. Getting bullied by Steve Jobs was very famous in the
organisation because it is assumed that working with him is a big thing and in long run that is
going to support situation-handling capability drastically. The desire of making Steve Jobs feels
good about their performance-inspired employees. The motivation process is different but he still
managed to make people believe in him and inspired them as well.
It is a major factor to be considered that often one leader does not get the correct feedback,
which he deserves. It is a major aspect to be taken into consideration because the business
development process is often admired to be a rational aspect and it needs to have a proficient
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outcome from the new implementation process (Schad and Smith, 2019). People often fear from
giving a proper kind of feedback because the person who has the authority to change anything
can terminate him as well. In case of Steve Jobs, it is seen that he was also feared and people
restrained themselves from giving their opinions. It is also seen that people often regarded him as
a messiah and some people think against of him and tried to make him a human again in from of
those who respect him as a messiah. The thoughts of people that a leader cannot be wrong are the
main reason why a leader does not get proper kind of feedback. This is the main reason why
even Steve Jobs even faced the issues regarding getting feedback.
Evaluate and explain Steve Jobs’ transformational leadership roles
The business expansion process is associated with a role fulfilling of a leader and in this aspect
service providers have to ensure that the issues associated with the business modification is
going to be managed in a significant way. There have been different types of roles, which a
transformational leader has to be comprehended, and in the following segment some of them are
going to be detailed proficiently. The roles associated with the business management process of a
leader are going to be detailed below.
The risk taking ability is an vital thing to be considered and it is witnessed that Steve Jobs was
one of those persons’ who could have managed to make a proficient impact on business
administration process by ensuring that the people are looking for a proper kind of modification.
Taking risk is a necessary factor because this ensures some extra advantage in the market, which
other companies will not have because of their risk subsidising attitude (Chreim, 2015). Being a
saviour and hero, is the prime intention of a leader and by taking a major risk in business; the
leader is going to ensure a proficient development in the business development process. It can be
stated that the risk taking ability needs to be a result of calculative process otherwise
complications may occur drastically.
Decision-making is another thing to be considered as a major role of the business development
process. A leader is going to have situations where he has to make a decision instantly and in
those circumstances the management needs to give n him support (Cannella Jr and Georgakakis,
2017). Steve Jobs made many decisions and some of them changed the condition of Apple
drastically. In the case study, it is reflected that business modification requires proper kind of
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understanding of the situation. Steve had the potential to make people feel small in front of him,
and it is an important factor to handle situations, which are not in control. A leader should have
this ability to make situations right. However, it is also important to judge the opinion before
imposing it on anyone, because this might be a reason of down fall of an organisation.
Being inspirational is an important thing for a leader, because inspiring people to do better in
service line is going to result in productive manner for the institution (Reiche et al., 2017). In
case of Steve Jobs, it is evident that he was an inspiration for many entrepreneurs and the
employees of his organisation as well. To support the statement the case study information can
be considered and it can be stated that people often called him messiah, magician, charismatic
and many other things, which has a major importance if the inspirational quotient is checked.
The development of Apple justifies the role he played but there is a drawback of all this. People
start to rely on such kind of leader and even a wrong decision is equally supported. Steve Jobs
had the capability to make people do things, which they usually cannot, and this makes him
different from others.
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Conclusion
The most of the cases the role of a leader is managed to meet the requirements of a particular
person. From the above discussion made in the report it can be stated that Steve Jobs was a
legendry persona who motivated people and made changes in the current system but he faced
issues associated his approach process. The roles and characteristics of a leader he had made
drastic changes in the business development process and in the end, this shall motivate people in
making changes in accordance with the requirement. It can be concluded that Steve Jobs is a
persona, which has the eligibility to modify the situations according to the demand and a person
like him will have high chances of being successful leader.
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Reference List
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Cannella Jr, A.A. and Georgakakis, D., 2017. Decision diversion: The roles of leadership context
and other contingencies. Academy of Management Discoveries, 3(4), pp.428-430.
Chreim, S., 2015. The (non) distribution of leadership roles: Considering leadership practices
and configurations. Human Relations, 68(4), pp.517-543.
Grint, K., 2010. Leadership: A very short introduction (Vol. 237). Oxford University Press.
Hodges, J. and Howieson, B., 2017. The challenges of leadership in the third sector. European
Management Journal, 35(1), pp.69-77..
Kotter, J.P., 1990. How leadership differs from management. New York: Free Press, 240, pp.59-
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Mauri, T., 2017. Why leadership styles matter. Strategic Direction, 33(1), pp.1-4.
Mullins, L., 2010. Management and Organisational Behaviour 9th Ed Prentice hall, London,
England Owens, PL (2006). One More Reason Not to Cut your Training Tudget: The
Relationship between Training and Organisational Outcomes. Public Personnel
Management, 35(2), pp.163-171.
Palmer, R.T., Maramba, D.C., Arroyo, A.T., Allen, T.O., Boykin, T.F. and Lee Jr, J.M. eds.,
2017. Effective Leadership at Minority-Serving Institutions: Exploring Opportunities and
Challenges for Leadership. Routledge..
Pfeffer, J. and Sutton, R.I., 2006. Hard facts, dangerous half-truths, and total nonsense:
Profiting from evidence-based management. Harvard Business Press.
Reiche, B.S., Bird, A., Mendenhall, M.E. and Osland, J.S., 2017. Contextualizing leadership: A
typology of global leadership roles. Journal of International Business Studies, 48(5), pp.552-572.
Saunders, C.J. and Iszatt-White, M., 2017. Leadership (No. 2nd ed). Oxford University Press.
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Schad, J. and Smith, W.K., 2019. Addressing grand challenges’ paradoxes: Leadership skills to
manage inconsistencies. Journal of Leadership Studies, 12(4), pp.55-59.
Wiley, M.R., 2016. Challenges in leadership that beset black principals in predominantly white
school communities.
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