Leadership and Management Essay: Steve Jobs and Apple's Success

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of Steve Jobs' leadership style and its significant impact on Apple Inc. It begins with an introduction to Jobs, highlighting his role as CEO, chairman, and co-founder, and emphasizes his contributions to the technology industry, particularly the microcomputer revolution. The essay then offers an overview of Jobs' leadership, describing him as confident, innovative, and visionary. It details his work process, including the founding of Apple with Steve Wozniak, the development of innovative products, and his ability to communicate his vision. The essay applies leadership theories to the case of Steve Jobs, exploring his unconventional leadership style and his evolution from democratic/participative to charismatic approaches. The essay examines how his adaptability to the external environment and his demand for excellence from employees contributed to Apple's success. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of leadership in modern organizations and the impact of Jobs' leadership on Apple's position in the technology industry. The essay also references several academic sources to support its arguments.

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

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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

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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).

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Jobs did not stick to a particular style of leadership throughout the years when he was
the CEO of the organization. His leadership style kept evolving with the changes that had
taken place in the external environment. The adaptability to the external environment is
considered to be the most important factor that has been able to provide huge success to Steve
Jobs in the highly competitive technology environment. The theories related to effective
leadership have been implemented in an effective manner by the CEO of Apple Inc. in order
to continue its operations (Yahaya and Ebrahim 2016). The modifications that have been
implemented by Steve Jobs in his own leadership style is able to play a major role in the ways
by which he has been able to maintain the interest levels of investors and customers in the
organization.
The highly profitable operations of Apple had been possible with the help of the
efficient leadership style that had been followed by the CEO. The vision that had been
developed and communicated by the CEO had been a major factor that had an impact on the
ways by which Apple had experienced growth in the market. Leadership can be considered to
be a major factor that has an impact on the successful operations of different organizations in
the competitive environment. The organizations can maintain their position in the industry
with the support that is provided by the leaders and the proper development of a vision
(Sudha, Shahnawaz and Farhat 2016).
Conclusion
The essay can be concluded by stating that leadership based activities are considered
to be the most important part of the operations of modern organizations. The leadership based
journey of Steve Jobs had a major impact on the position of his organization, Apple in the
technology based industry. The changes that have been seen in the leadership style of Steve
Jobs based on the changes in external environment have an impact on the ways by which they

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are able to maintain the organizational operations. The effective and profitable operations of
Apple Inc. is also based on the communication process implemented by Steve Jobs.

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References
Anderson, M.H. and Sun, P.Y., 2017. Reviewing leadership styles: Overlaps and the need for
a new ‘full‐range’theory. International Journal of Management Reviews, 19(1), pp.76-96.
Arnold, K.A., Connelly, C.E., Walsh, M.M. and Martin Ginis, K.A., 2015. Leadership styles,
emotion regulation, and burnout. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 20(4), p.481.
Kesting, P., Ulhøi, J.P., Song, L.J. and Niu, H., 2016. The impact of leadership styles on
innovation-a review. Journal of Innovation Management, 3(4), pp.22-41.
Nawaz, Z.A.K.D.A. and Khan_ PhD, I., 2016. Leadership theories and styles: A literature
review. Leadership, 16, pp.1-7.
Saleem, H., 2015. The impact of leadership styles on job satisfaction and mediating role of
perceived organizational politics. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 172, pp.563-569.
Sudha, K.S., Shahnawaz, M.G. and Farhat, A., 2016. Leadership styles, leader’s effectiveness
and well-being: Exploring collective efficacy as a mediator. Vision, 20(2), pp.111-120.
van Prooijen, J.W. and de Vries, R.E., 2016. Organizational conspiracy beliefs: Implications
for leadership styles and employee outcomes. Journal of business and psychology, 31(4),
pp.479-491.
Yahaya, R. and Ebrahim, F., 2016. Leadership styles and organizational commitment:
literature review. Journal of Management Development, 35(2), pp.190-216.