Analysis of Steve Jobs' Leadership in Apple: MBA 550 Final Project

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Steve Jobs' leadership style and its impact on Apple's organizational structure. It examines his approach to building a productive organization, including his methods for team development, communication, and vision alignment. The report highlights specific leadership actions, such as the establishment of policies, communication strategies, and training programs. It explores best practices in team development and communication, referencing the three dimensions of energy, engagement, and exploration. Furthermore, the analysis delves into the planning methods Jobs employed to align teams with the organizational vision and the actions he took to foster teamwork. The paper also includes a discussion of the resources Jobs utilized to build teams, such as training programs. The report provides insights into Jobs' unconventional leadership and his pursuit of excellence, innovation, and risk-taking, offering valuable lessons for leaders in various fields.

Running head: LEADING IN AN ORGANISATION
Leading in an Organisation
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1LEADING IN AN ORGANISATION
Table of Contents
Introduction to Steve Jobs..........................................................................................................2
The reinvention of Apple...........................................................................................................2
Leadership Style of Steve Jobs..................................................................................................3
Leadership Lesson from Jobs.....................................................................................................3
Three E’s of Steve Jobs..............................................................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................5

2LEADING IN AN ORGANISATION
Introduction to Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs also known as Steven Paul Jobs, was born on 24th February 1955. His
death anniversary is celebrated on 5th October 2011. He is profoundly recognized as an
American business investor, entrepreneur as well as a magnate. Steve Jobs is known as the
co-founder of the computers of Apple high school, along with his friend Steve Wozniak
(Bilton, 2014). The organization pioneered a chain of revolutionary technologies under his
guidance. It also included iPad and iPhone apart from Apple Computers. He was just 21 years
of age when he founded Apple Computers. He used advanced technology to produce cheaper,
accessible, smaller and intuitive machines (Singh, 2015). Jobs left the organization of Apple
in the year 1985. After leaving Apple, he started a fresh software and hardware business
enterprise called NeXT, Inc. Apple ultimately bought the company in 1996 for an amount of
$429 million. Jobs returned to his post as CEO of Apple in 1997. Just as Jobs initiated the
success of Apple in the 1970s, he is credited with strengthening the organization in the 1990s.
Reinvention of Apple
Steve Jobs returned to Apple in the year 1997 and was there until the last few days
before his death (Cornelissen, 2013). A new management team was arranged and set with
him, along with altered stock options. The self-imposed annual salary for him was $1 a year.
With all these, he helped the organization back on track. The product designed by him was
iMac. Jobs’ ingenious products, effective campaigns of branding along with the stylish
designs attracted of consumers once again. In the following years, Apple introduced some
revolutionary products like iPod, MacBook Air and iPhone, all of which dictated the
evolution and advancement of technology. Almost immediately after Apple released a new
product, competitors struggled to produce comparable technologies.

3LEADING IN AN ORGANISATION
Leadership Style of Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs was an unconventional leader. He only believes in excellence and
demanded that only from his employees and management team (Heracleous & Klaering,
2014). He himself was a high-maintenance co-worker, which mixed with sheer genius and
capability to express the vision of the organization. He had a controlling power on each
aspect of the business operations he worked. He always searched for perfection. Jobs
highlighted the importance of teamwork to his employees in the organization. He used to see
the people engaged with the organization of Apple, along with the customers globally as his
most significant assets. He believed that innovation distinguishes a leader and a follower.
Under his leadership, the organization improved various innovative devices like the iPod, the
iPhone, iTunes and the iPad. He provided a unique feeling when developing these products.
They transformed music and mobile communications along with diverse industries like
healthcare and retail, carried out their day-to-day business operations (Klein, 2015)..
Leadership Lesson from Jobs
■ Possessing a Vision
■ Evolve the Passion
■ Challenge the Limits of the Employees
■ Follow Excellence, Not Money
■ Do not Aim below Perfection
■ Take Risks
■ Steve Jobs had both self-confidence and passion to turn his dream into a reality

4LEADING IN AN ORGANISATION
■ Apple would not be where it is today without a powerful vision, as it would be hard to
become a successful leader without a proper and understandable vision for the
organization
Another strong leadership lesson learnt from Jobs is to find the actual abilities of the
employees, as it is essential to motivate the employees to challenge themselves for innovation
and increased productivity for Apple (Kraphl & Kruja, 2015). He did not enclose his efforts
into making lots of dollars from his ideas, slightly stood very much focused on coming up
with unique as well as unique innovations by providing quality products and services. He
never compromised on perfection, and went to get the headphone jacks fully replaced before
the launch of iPod. His necessity for perfection also made him a risk-taker, as he trusted his
judgment and understood what people needed.
Three E’s of Steve Jobs
It refers to Energy, Engagement and Exploration three significant elements of
communication required to achieve high performances. Steve Jobs was an energetic person
and faced the challenges through energy (Willmott et al., 2015). He worked through day and
night before the launch of the new products under him. He was also very much capable
enough to engage all the people related to Apple. Jobs also explored new and innovative
ways before designing any kind of product. He possesses all the three E’s in him. During the
failure of the launch of the first-ever Apple computer, Jobs overcome the challenges by the
help of these 3 E's. He also loves to explore new innovative things and energized himself by
the thrust of coming up with something new.

5LEADING IN AN ORGANISATION
References
Bilton, N. (2014). Steve Jobs was a low-tech parent. New York Times, 10(09).
Cornelissen, J. P. (2013). Portrait of an entrepreneur: Vincent van Gogh, Steve Jobs, and the
entrepreneurial imagination.
Heracleous, L., & Klaering, L. A. (2014). Charismatic leadership and rhetorical competence:
An analysis of Steve Jobs’s rhetoric. Group & Organization Management, 39(2), 131-
161.
Klein, S. E. (Ed.). (2015). Steve Jobs and Philosophy: For those who think different (Vol.
89). Open Court.
Krapfl, J. E., & Kruja, B. (2015). Leadership and culture. Journal of Organizational
Behavior Management, 35(1-2), 28-43.
Singh, A. K. (2015). Entrepreneurship: A case study of steve jobs. Delhi Business
Review, 16(1), 125.
Willmott, C. J., Robeson, S. M., Matsuura, K., & Ficklin, D. L. (2015). Assessment of three
dimensionless measures of model performance. Environmental Modelling &
Software, 73, 167-174.