1.

Introduction:
Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs (February 24, 1955 October 5, 2011) was an American
entrepreneur, innovator, leader and inventor, best known as the co-founder, chairman, and
CEO of Apple Inc. Through Apple, he was widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of
the personal computer revolution and for his influential career in the computer and consumer
electronics fields, transforming one industry after another, from computers and smart phones
to music and movies. Jobs also co-founded and served as chief executive of Pixar Animation
Studios. He became a member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company in
2006, when Disney acquired Pixar. Steve Jobs was the one, who led to the creation of
the Apple Lisa and, one year later, the Macintosh. He also played a role in introducing
the LaserWriter, one of the first widely available laser printers, to the market.
1.1 Life history:
Steven Paul Jobs was born on 24 February 1955 in San Francisco, California, to an unmarried couple who gave him up for adoption. He was taken in by a working class couple,
Paul and Clara Jobs, and grew up with them in Mountain View, California. He attended
Homestead High School in Cupertino California and went to Reed College in Portland
Oregon in 1972 but dropped out after only one semester, staying on to "drop in" on courses
that interested him.
He took a job with video game manufacturer Atari to raise enough money for a trip to India
and returned from there a Buddhist. Back in Cupertino, he returned to Atari where his old
friend Steve Wozniak was still working. Wozniak was building his own computer and in
1976, Jobs pre-sold 50 of the as-yet unmade computers to a local store and managed to buy
the components on credit solely on the strength of the order, enabling them to build the Apple
I without any funding at all.
The Apple II followed in 1977 and the company Apple Computer was formed shortly
afterwards. The Apple II was credited with starting the personal computer boom, its
popularity prompting IBM to hurriedly develop their own PC. By the time production of the
Apple II ended in 1993 it had sold over 6 million units. In 1984, Steve Jobs directed
by Ridley Scott, introduced the Macintosh computer to the world.

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In 1985 Jobs was fired from Apple and immediately founded another computer company,
NeXT. Its machines were not a commercial success but some of the technology was later
used by Apple when Jobs eventually returned there.
In the meantime, in 1986, Jobs bought The Computer Graphics Group from Lucas film. The
group was responsible for making high-end computer graphics hardware but under its new
name, Pixar, it began to produce innovative computer animations. Their first title under the
Pixar name Luxo Jr. (1986) won critical and popular acclaim and in 1991 Pixar signed an
agreement with Disney, with whom it already had a relationship, to produce a series of
feature films, beginning with Toy Story (1995).
In 1996 Apple bought NeXT and Jobs returned to Apple, becoming its CEO. With the help of
British-born industrial designer Jonathan Ive, Jobs brought his own aesthetic philosophy back
to the ailing company and began to turn its fortunes around with the release of the iMac in
1998. The company's MP3 player, the iPod, followed in 2001, with the iPhone launching in
2007 and the iPad in 2010. The company's software music player, iTunes, evolved into an
online music (and eventually also movie and software application) store, helping to
popularize the idea of "legally" downloading entertainment content.
In 2003, Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and underwent surgery in 2004. Despite
the success of this operation he became increasingly ill and received a liver transplant in
2009. He returned to work after a six month break but eventually resigned his position in
August 2011 after another period of medical leave which began in January 2011. He died on
5 October 2011.
2. Leadership traits and behavior:
2.1 Big five model personality traits:
Personality traits are very observant to others and contribute to the success in a business.
Steve Jobs is known for his aggressive and demanding personality. One key personality trait
Steve Jobs has, is self-confidence. Steve Jobs has an incredible self- confidence in his ability
to innovate and solve problems. He also has a great deal of pride and self-confidence within
his products. Apple has been known to have quite a bit of arrogance and it shows throughout
their advertising. This arrogance comes mainly from Steves view of his company. He is low
in modesty however; his great belief in himself and his company arguably has made Apple as
successful of a company as it is. From the evidence we found in research it seems to be that
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Steve Jobs has an extreme internal locus of control therefore leading to higher job
performance. Not only does he expect high quality work from him, he also makes sure his
employees know the high expectations he holds for them as well. Steve Jobs is known to
have a very short temper, always expecting greatness from everyone. His short temper has
been known to lead to workplace deviance. However, Steve Jobs gets very excited about his
products which can lead to emotional contagion. Upon walking into any Apple store, you can
feel the pride that Apple employees have for their products displaying the emotional
contagion passed down from Steve Jobs and higher management.
According to the Big Five personality traits Steve seems to stand out when it comes to
openness to experience. He is highly fascinated when it comes to new things. On the opposite
side of the spectrum, Steve has little to no agreeableness according to multiple coworkers. In
fact Steve Jobs is an extremely proud man who believes his way is always the right way.
Although the ego is usually a positive feature when it comes to personality, he has an
egocentric personality. Steve Jobs is a very assertive leader of Apple and has even been
called a dictator from time to time. He has no problem telling his coworkers his opinions,
feelings, and demands.
When considering the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Steve Jobs is an ENTP which is an
inventor. ENTPs are very curious and can be a source of inspiration to others. They find
enjoyment in complex problems. Steve Jobs is very confident in his problem solving skills.
He is a perfectionist in everything he does which has delayed many pushed back many Apple
products release dates.
However Steve Jobs is one of the most prominent and powerful CEOS of our time so perhaps
his personality flaws really arent flaws at all.
My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to take these great people we have and
to push them and make them even better. Steve Jobs
2.2 Leadership attitudes and motivational style of Steve Jobs:
Steve Jobs motivational style is a very unusual one. He uses fear as his main motivational
tool. Employees are motivated by the fear created by Jobs in two major ways. The first being
he attacks the lower needs of Maslows hierarchy, mainly safety and security needs. Reports
have said even his most beloved employee can be seen on the receiving end of a tirade. There
is a fear of being fired and this has lead to his employees being motivated to do their tasks.
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This is consistent with McGergor's Theory X style of motivation, which makes the
assumption that employees are motivated by lower order needs. They are even motivated by
fear to keep on task. Jobs has been known to walk up and take an employees iPhone and if
they have been texting, playing games, or even have forgotten to put their phone lock on he
fires them.
Perfection and his personality in itself create the other part of the fear. Jobs is a
perfectionist and this leads to employees being fearful of presenting ideas or turning in work
unless they are up to his standards. This causes them to work on everything to perfection until
it is at a level jobs would find acceptable. In a way Steve Jobs, by making uncertainty about
the lower order of needs, makes his employees strive for achievement, which is a higher
order of needs. It is an unusual but clearly productive tactic of motivation because the
incentive for the employee to perform comes from within. His strive for perfections create
stress, the healthy kind of stress that causes you to be productive, within his employees. The
fear of Jobs and the stress caused to live up to his great expectations is his greatest
motivational tactic.
He also is known to give impromptu motivational speeches. They have been described, as
more along the lines of the type of speech a general would give his troops, full of passion and
swearing. However this proved to be a useful motivational tactic because when his employees
hear his conviction, love, and passion for the company he becomes an emotional contagion
and that passion is passed on to his employees. This has led to his employees to say that their
real motivation comes from the annual meetings with Steve.
3. Leadership Behavior and Motivation
3.1 Iowa State University Leadership Styles:
The studies from this university identified two leadership styles that are autocratic versus
democratic leaders.
Steve Jobs was the exemplar of autocratic style of leadership. The top brass in Apple
considered him a control freak. He is today the strongest example of how an insistence on
total control over your company and employees (totalitarian leadership) and a focus on
innovation can keep the clock ticking, with the sound getting sweeter by the second.

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There was a time when during late 1997, only a year after Jobs had taken over as Apples
Interim-CEO (he had returned to Apple in late 1996), someone had asked Michael Dell
during a conference what he would have done had he been in Jobs shoes. Dells replied:
Id shut Apple down and give the money back to the shareholders.
Then, Apple was just worth $3.1 billion, while Dell was worth $28.1 billion. 14 years later,
Dell has been almost stagnant with an m-cap of $28.9 billion (as on April 26, 2012), while
Apples m-cap has grown to $568.8 billion (as on April 26, 2012) and it is today the most
valuable company in the world.
What Jobs did was to use a tyrannical leadership style fire and force at will to ensure that
his employees delivered products that consumers lusted after, in an ever-evolving digital
world.
The American author Andrew Keens in his best-seller titled, The Cult of the Amateur wrote:
Theres not an ounce of democracy at Apple. Thats what makes it a paragon of such
traditional corporate values as top-down leadership, sharply hierarchical organisation and
centralised control. Its Steves company pursuing his vision, at his pace, with his team,
making his products. Without Steve Jobs authoritarian leadership, Apple would be just
another Silicon Valley outfit.
3.2 University of Michigan Leadership Styles:
The Michigan University identifies two basic leadership styles i.e. job centred versus
employee centred. Steve Jobs is recognized as a true leader and described in terms such as
charismatic, enthusiastic, courageous and a perfectionist. His attention to details of work is
exemplary. He was much of a job centred leader than an employee centred. His priority to
job can be exhibited through one of his quotes:
We have three high-level goals. One is to make the best computers in the world for
individuals. They might be in networks or in groups, but one person, one computer. Second,
we want a company where really bright people can come and be handed a lot of
responsibility early on. If we have an exciting place to work, we can get the best and the
brightest to come work here. The third goal is to make sure that the people who build this
company share in its success.
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This indicates that Steve jobs most supreme priority was his work. He was more job-oriented
as compared to employee oriented.
3.3 Ohio State University Leadership Styles:
The Ohio University identifies four leadership styles:

Within this grid, Steve Jobs fit into high structure and low consideration. He loved his
work and everything else was secondary for him. The secret behind his success was his
directive and visionary leadership towards his employees. He was of the views that do best at
every job. Success generates more success, so be hungry for it. Hire good people with passion
for excellence. He was considered a technology design genius with a clear vision, yet
unskilled in human relations. He created beautiful products, financial success, passionate
customers, and at the same time, an organization ruled by fear and a family who never saw
him. However, Many of Jobs supporters say that his clarity of vision and directive leadership
style were the main reasons he could command respect and achieve excellence in all its
detail.
Stay hungry. Stay foolish Steve Jobs

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3.4 The Leadership Grid:

Robert Blake and Jane Mouton formulated the leadership grid which is as follows:

Steve Jobs is considered to be an Authoritarian on this grid. Rick Sturm, CEO of

Enterprise Management Associates, says:
Steve Jobs is a special example of a leader who dominated his company employees and
guided them rightly with his authoritarian leadership style and unmatchable vision. He
believed that one man with one vision can make Apple an iconic brand and company and we
see that his belief has actually materialised.
3.5 The motivation process followed by Steve Jobs:
The legendary leader Steve Jobs widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal
computer revolution. He transformed one industry after another. He did follow a motivation
process that made him reach to heights of glory and success.
When he jumped into the computer industry, very vague inventions and work was done so
there were a lot of opportunities for anyone who was super intelligent and extra ordinary like
Steve Jobs. There was a need that had to be satisfied. However, the motive that made Steve
Jobs to satisfy him and others was his creativity, perfectionism and the desire to bring
something new and innovative. Steve Jobs said:

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Because the people, who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones
who do!
His inner belief in himself and his craze to change the world made show such behaviour that
paved the ways for success in the computer and other electronics fields. He through his
visionary leadership not only satisfied himself but also his customers.
3.6 Steve Jobs Leadership and Major Motivation Theories:
It is a well known fact that no theory of motivation is universally acceptable. Different
leaders use different tactics to satisfy their employees/followers. The motivational theories
have been classified into three types:
Content motivation theories
Process motivation theories
Reinforcement motivation theories
In regards to motivational theories, Steve Jobs didnt focus as much on individual needs as do
the content theories of motivation, but more on pursuing task goals as does one of the process
theories of motivation and the external environment consequences regarding the
reinforcement theory of motivation.
Steve Jobs was a visionary leader because he had a clear understanding for the future as well
as an understanding of the actions needed to get there successfully. He was able to
communicate his vision to all necessary employees, getting them motivated and inspired to
pursue his vision in their daily work. In Apple, management used power to influence their
staff. Reward power and legitimate power were used within Apple, and some employees have
stated that coercive power has also occurred during the reign of Steve Jobs.
The theories that apply to Steve Jobs are:
3.6.1 Two-factor theory:
It proposes that people are motivated by motivators (intrinsic factors) rather than maintenance
factors (extrinsic factors). At the time of Steve Jobs, Apple was rich in both intrinsic and
extrinsic rewards for people whose performance helped accomplish the organization's
objectives.
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At Apple, extrinsic rewards have included: additional vacation time, all employees receiving
an iPod Shuffle, and in 2007, all full-time employees received a complimentary I-Phone.
Steve Jobs was great at celebrating his teams accomplishments which included: opening
champagne to mark milestones, and educational trips to museums or exhibits. He took
employees on retreats to expensive resorts and thrown parties at popular locations in the
cities Apple operates in. The rewards vary in size from large pay bonuses to verbal praise,
and recognition.
In contrast, intrinsic rewards occur naturally as a person performs their job. The sources of
intrinsic rewards such as feelings of competency, personal development, and self-control
were all experienced by the staff at Apple. Employees have described how they enjoy and are
motivated by the high calibre of people they work with, and being able to work on the cutting
edge of technology. Due to stock option grants, employees who have worked at the company
for many years have large amounts of money tied up with Apple. For majority of the staff,
this is a key motivator to protect the company's interests.
3.6.2 Path goal theory:
It proposes that specific, difficult goals motivate people. Steve Jobs motivated employees to
move along the paths specified, removed barriers along the way and provided appropriate
rewards for task accomplishments. Steve Jobs, lead by creating conditions where employees
constantly feel inspired to work hard. Steve Jobs was a visionary leader. He had a clear
understanding for the future as well as an understanding of the actions needed to get there
successfully. He was able to communicate his vision to all necessary employees, getting them
motivated and inspired to pursue his vision in their daily work. The proper setting and
management of goals by Steve Jobs within Apple helped clarify performance expectations in
the organization. They provided a foundation for behavioural self-management, which helped
motivate employees work performance and job satisfaction.
3.6.3 Reinforcement Theory:
Steve Jobs had a firm belief on the reinforcement theory of motivation which states that
through the consequences for behaviour, people will be motivated to behave in pre
determined ways. As Steve Jobs stated:

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People get far more excited about doing something as well as it can be done than about
doing something adequately. If they are working in an environment where excellence is
expected, then they will do excellent work without anything but self-motivation. I'm talking
about an environment in which excellence is noticed and respected and is in the culture. If
you have that, you don't have to tell people to do excellent work. They understand it from
their surroundings. You may have to coach them at first, but then you just get out of their
way, and they'll surprise you time and time again.
For Apple, excellence was the norm. Jobs said:
By expecting them to do great things, you can get them to do great things.

Type of reinforcement:

Steve Jobs adopted positive reinforcement strategy at Apple which strengthens or increases
the frequency of desirable behaviour by making a pleasant consequence contingent on it
occurrence. Examples of positive reinforcement at Apple included the rewards given by Jobs
such as opening champagne, vacations and company parties. All employees are motivated to
do their best work to accomplish goals because of the rewards they can receive.

Schedule of Reinforcement:

Steve Jobs has also been known to use incentive compensation systems at Apple to motivate
employees. This includes bonus pay, which provides on-time payments to employees based
on the accomplishment of specific performance targets. This indicates the use of continuous
reinforcement.
Regarding motivating employees/ followers, Steve Jobs said:
You don't say it. You don't put it in an employee handbook. That stuff is meaningless. All
that counts is the product that results from the work of the group. That will say more than
anything coming out of your mouth or your pen. So you have to pay close attention to those
details, even if they seem minor, because they communicate a big attitude about what you
want them to do.

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4. Communication:
4.1 Steve jobs and communication:
Apple CEO Steve Jobs didnt just change the world of business, he changed the world. He
changed the way we communicate, share information and interact with each other. He was a
technological genius, an innovator and a tough and demanding CEO, but he was also one of
the most dynamic and effective public speakers in corporate America.
Some of the Steve Jobs public communication tools and techniques that the rest of us,
regardless of our "chosen field," can learn from.

Ask yourself this question before any presentation; "What is the final message I want
to leave with my audience?" Jobs had a habit of saying in his presentations; "And one
more thing." And he would do just that tell you one more thing. Sometimes it was
a call to action. Other times it was a question or challenge. Jobs understood the
importance of leaving a powerful and lasting impression on your audience as opposed
to finishing because you sense your audience is fatigued or that you have covered the
material in your speech.

Jobs saw every public presentation as a performance. It wasnt simply that he was
giving out information about an iPod, an iPhone or some other Apple product. He was
putting on a show. As such, the greatest productions require bells and whistles, or in
Jobs case, video, pictures and animation. It was all intended to keep the audience
stimulated and engaged. What Jobs clearly understood was that no matter how
dynamic you are as a public speaker, listening to the same person talk for any length
of time can wear down an audience. Thats why Jobs always mixed it up so that he
wasnt the only voice you heard or image you saw on stage.

4.1.1. Jobs communication technique:

Instead of harping on the details of a particular product in terms of how it works or what it
took to bring it to market, Jobs focused on the impact an Apple product would have on
peoples lives. He made it personal. He painted pictures of an individual consumer listening
to an iPod or a student conducting research on an iPad. He used to break it down. He made it
real. He made it tangible and visceral. Speakers cant do that when they are simply dumped
data. Jobs understood that and always kept his content relevant to his audience. Finally, Jobs
most significant public presentation attribute was his passion. Passion isnt a technique or a
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11

tool. Its who he was. You cant manufacture passion. You cant fake it. You are either
passionate about what youre doing and who youre serving or youre not. Jobs had passion
in spades and thats what powered his public speeches. His audience got excited because he
was excited.
Even in the final years of his life when he was frail and dying of pancreatic cancer, Jobs
never lost that passion. Its a lesson the rest of us, regardless of what we do in the world of
business, should never forget. Steve Jobs taught us so much about business,especially about
communication and leadership.
4.2 Feedback and Steve Jobs:
Steve Jobs, is not an example to emulate in terms of "graceful feedback." In his book, Walter
Isaackson reveals Jobs' angry, accusatory and negative feedback practices, to almost
everyone. Public humiliation was the norm. Isaackson explains that Jobs could only have
succeeded because people believed in his charismatic presentations of his artistic and
technological vision, but many were harmed by his outrageous negativity and anger. One
thing for sure was that he always gave "on the spot" feedback.
He used to put people at the center, which does not imply that he gave users what they
wanted, nor that he created a flat playful organization where ideas flow from the bottom up.
Apple's approach to innovation is definitely not user-driven: it does not listen to users,
but makes proposals to them. And narrations on Jobs's leadership style tells of a vertical, topdown approach, often harsh. At new product launches, he, not the team, was the protagonist.
4.3 Conflict management styles:
The five conflict management styles according to Thomas, K.W., and R.H. Kilmann are:
1. Accommodating This is when you cooperate to a high-degree, and it may be at
your own expense, and actually work against your own goals, objectives, and desired
outcomes. This approach is effective when the other party is the expert or has a better
solution. It can also be effective for preserving future relations with the other party.
2. Avoiding - This is when you simply avoid the issue. You arent helping the other
party reach their goals, and you dont assertively pursue your own. This works when
the issue is trivial or when you have no chance of winning. It can also be effective
when the issue would be very costly. Its also very effective when the atmosphere is
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12

emotionally charged and you need to create some space. Sometimes issues will
resolve themselves, but hope is not a strategy, and, in general, avoiding is not a
good long term strategy.
3. Collaborating This is where you pair up with the other party to achieve both of
your goals. This is how you break free of the win-lose paradigm and seek the winwin. This can be effective for complex scenarios where you need to find a novel
solution. This can also mean re-framing the challenge to create a bigger space and
room for everybodys ideas. The downside is that it requires a high-degree of trust
and reaching a consensus can require a lot of time and effort to get everybody on
board and to synthesize all the ideas.
4. Competing This is the win-lose approach. You act in a very assertive way to
achieve your goals, without seeking to cooperate with the other party, and it may be at
the expense of the other party. This approach may be appropriate for emergencies
when time is of the essence, or when you need quick, decisive action.
5. Compromising This is the lose-lose scenario where neither party really achieves
what they want. This requires a moderate level of assertiveness and cooperation. It
may be appropriate for scenarios where you need a temporary solution, or where both
sides have equally important goals. The trap is to fall into compromising as an easy
way out, when collaborating would produce a better solution.
In case of Steve Jobs, he is the one following the competing style where the level of
competitiveness is high and the level of cooperation is low.
5. Contingency leadership theories:
5.1 Contingency leadership theory and model:
This theory, proposed by Fred E. Fiedler, defines that if an organization attempts to achieve
group effectiveness through leadership, and then there is a need to assess the leader according
to an underlying trait, assess the situation faced by the leader, and construct a proper match
between these two. And to enhance the effectiveness you cannot change the dominant
leadership style as they are constant, but you can change the situation.
While using this theory, you have first to determine the dominant leadership style as Task
Oriented or Relationship Oriented. Then determine the Situation Favorableness, the degree of
situation allows the leader to influence the followers. It depends on three variables:
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13

Leader-Member Relations

Task Structure

Position Power

In Fiedler's contingency theory, Jobs represents the Task-oriented Leader. Rather

than focusing on interpersonal relationships, Jobs influenced his followership through
task achievement and hard work.

Leader Follower's
Relationship

Nature of
the Task

Leader's
Power

Appropriate
Style

Strong

Task

Weak

Task

Strong

Task

Weak

Relationship

Strong

Relationship

Weak

Relationship

Strong

Relationship

Weak

Task

Repetitive
Good

Nonrepetitive
Start

Repetitive

Bad

Nonrepetitive

Figure: Contingency Model for Steve Jobs

As a leader's success is contingent on task structure, position power and leader-member
relations, it is important to consider these dimensions when examining Jobs and Apple Inc.
In terms of task structure, there is very little ambiguity about what Jobs expects from his
employees. Only the most creative, innovative and exceptional products are taken into
consideration when engineers and designers present their work to Jobs.
As CEO of Apple, Inc., Steve Jobs has a significant position power in the organization.
Though the Leader-Member Relations may not be the strongest, the culture at Apple Inc. has
proven very effective and thus seems to hold less weight in terms of Steve Jobs' influence
over the organization.

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5.2 Leadership continuum theory and model:

R. Tennenbaum and W. Schmidts Continuum Theory states that leadership behavior is on a
continuum between boss centered to employee centered leadership. The model focuses on
who actually makes the decision and delegated the decision making power is to subordinates.
The theory proposes seven styles which are:
1. Leader makes decision and announces it to employees without discussion.
2. Leader makes a decision and sells it to employees
3. Leader presents ideas and invites employee questions.
4. Leader presents tentative decision subject to change.
5. Leader presents problem, gets suggestions, and makes decision
6. Leader defines limits and asks employees to make a decision
7. Leader permits employees to make ongoing decisions within defined limits.
Before selecting the appropriate style, the leader must consider:

Boss, Subordinate & Situation

Regarding Steve jobs, his leadership behavior can be best defined by using the Style
no.3 i.e. Leader presents ideas and invites employee questions. The
management gets formal presentation on which jobs clearly communicate what he
actually wants to be done. What product to be manufactured and what it should have
in it. This is then floated to the engineers and designers who are then prepare the
prototypes accordingly and give a presentation to the CEO. Again only the highly
innovative products get approval and which one is rejected, it means it is rejected. No
further consideration on that.

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5.3 Leadership path goal theory:

Path-goal theory, used by almost every successful leader, was developed by Robert House.
According to definition, path-goal theory is designed to explain how leaders can help
subordinates along the path to their goals by selecting specific behaviors that are best suited
to subordinates needs and to the situation in which subordinates are working.
The two situational factors are

Subordinate:
The situational factors include one of among authoritarianism, locus of control,
ability to achieve the task.

Environment:
Environmental situational factors include task structure, formal authority and work
group contribution.

Based on these situational factors, to be a successful path-goal leader, a leader must be either
directive, supportive, participative, or achievement oriented. The leader must be able to adapt
and must realize what drives the subordinate. If a subordinate needs to have control on a
project, the leader must be participative and provide involvement. On the other hand, if a
subordinate has a need for affiliation, the leader must be supportive.
The path-goal theory is important because it allows the leader to see what behaviors affect the
subordinate positively or negatively. Path-goal theory allows the leader to change their
leadership style based on the subordinates personality.
Steve Jobs was a great leader because he was able to direct and motivate subordinates.
Although Jobs was not seen as the most personable leader, yet he was a good example of a
path-goals Achievement-oriented leader.
Steve Jobs defined the goals of Apple. He wanted Apple to be number one in innovation and
wanted employees to think differently. This think differently approach help in removing
obstacles for subordinates. Most companies want employees to do exactly same what theyre
told, but Steve Jobs and Apple want employees to think outside the box and think
differently. Obstacles were removed and employees were given free rein to think outside the
box, providing a boost for Apples innovation. Steve Jobs also provided support for the ideas
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which he approved. He supported only innovative ideas whi ch subordinates came up with
and this helped in making things like the iPod and iPad so successful.
5.4 Normative leadership theory and model:
This model identifies five different styles on the situation & level of involvement. These are:
Autocratic Type 1 (AI) Leader makes own decision using information that is readily
available to you at the time. This type is completely autocratic.
Autocratic Type 2 (AII) Leader collects required information from followers, then makes
decision alone. Here, followers involvement is just providing information.
Consultative Type 1 (CI) Leader shares problem with followers individually and seeks
their ideas & suggestions and makes decision alone. Here followers involvement is at the
level of providing alternatives individually.
Consultative Type 2 (CII) Leader shares problem with relevant followers as a group and
seeks their ideas & suggestions and makes decision alone. But leaders decision may or may
not has followers influence. So, here followers involvement is at the level of helping as a
group in decision-making.
Group-based Type 2(GII) Leader discuss problem & situation with followers as a group
and seeks their ideas & suggestions. Leader accepts any decision & do not try to force his
idea. Decision accepted by the group is the final one.
Steve Jobs, the CEO and co-founder of Apple was an autocratic leader. He surrounded
himself with like-minded people to follow his lead. Rather than working alongside his peers
and subordinates, Jobs choose to lead his team from the front, spearheading the innovation
and constantly renewed products of the company. While he was incredibly demanding of his
people, he was not the best delegator; he wanted to involve himself in every detail. Thus he
follows the AI Style of Normative Leadership.
5.5 Situational leadership theory and model:
The theory states that instead of using just one style, successful leaders should change their
leadership styles based on the maturity of the followers and the nature of the task. Using this
theory, leader is able to place emphasis on the task and relationships with the followers.
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Here you have to create a match between followers maturity level and leadership style. The
theory proposes following of both:

Maturity level of Follower:

It cosists of:
M1 People at this level of maturity are at the bottom leve. They lack the knowledge,
skills, or confidence to work on their own,.
M2 At this level, followers might be willing to work on the task, but they still don't
have the skills to do it successfully.
M3 Here, followers are ready and willing to work on the task. They have more
skills than the M2 group, but they're still not confident in their abilities.
M4 These followers are able to work on their own. They have high confidence and
strong skills, and they're committed to the task.

Leadership Style:
Telling (S1) Leaders tell their people exactly what to do, and how to do it.
Selling (S2) Leaders still provide information and direction, but there's more
communication with followers. Leaders "sell" their message to get them together.
Participating (S3) Leaders focus more on the relationship and less on direction.
The leader works with the team, and shares decision-making responsibilities.
Delegating (S4) Leaders pass most of the responsibility onto the follower or
group. The leaders still monitor progress, but they're less involved in decisions.

The staff working at Apple incorporation is highly competent and innovative. They possess
all the qualities required by the M4 Maturity level. To match with the leadership style, Jobs
should be of Delegating style but as proved earlier and observed practically, he is highly
autocratic and belongs to Telling Style i.e. High Task- Low Relationship behavior. So this
theory doesnt define the leadership style of Jobs.
6. Dyadic Approach:
Dyadic theory emphasizes on the concept of exchange between a leader and a follower in a
work unit referring to the relationship between a leader and each follower.

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6.1 Before being fired from Apple:

Steve Jobs, The man who helped make Apple a household name could also be tactless in
interpersonal relationships. Initially, he wasnt that much a relationship oriented leader. He
was insensitive to relationships and as a result of which got fired from Apple in 1985.
In 1987, New York Times wrote:
Senior management had to endure his (Steve Jobs) temper tantrums. He created
resentment among employees by turning some into stars and insulting others, often
reducing them to tears. Mr. Jobs himself would frequently cry after fights with fellow
executives".
6.2 Again Joining Apple in 1996:
After being fired from Apple by John Scully, he learnt a lot from this painful experience.
He was moved towards making some relationships with his employees. When he joined it
again, He delegated some duties to members of his executive team, most notably his
second-in-command and eventual successor, Tim Cook, and focused on what he was best
at: creating products, recruiting, marketing, and of course, being the public face of the
company.
He described it in a 2004 interview:
"I get to spend my time on the forward-looking stuff. My top executives take half the other
work off my plate. They love it, and I love it."
It was Steve Jobs, who set the direction for all of Apple, together with his executive team
(nick named 'ET'). The ET consisted of the top 10 executives of the company, including COO
Tim Cook, SVP of industrial design Jony Ive, SVP of iOS Scott Forstall, SVP of worldwide
marketing Phil Schiller, SVP of Retail Ron Johnson and CFO Peter Oppenheimer. They met
with Steve every Monday morning, and reviewed all aspects of Apple, discussing every issue
and taking decisions. All the power at Apple was concentrated in these meetings i.e. it didn't
lie with the board.
As Adam Lashinsky put it, Apple is a command-and-control structure where ideas are shared
at the top" i.e. at the Monday executive meeting. All groups would work hard on
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presentations for the Monday meeting where they knew the fate of their product was at stake.
Steve Jobs was famously open to the executives' arguments and ideas at these meetings. For
example, they convinced him (after a long while) to open the I-Phone platform with the App
Store. But once a decision had been taken, there was no discussion in the rest of the
company: they had to execute.
The first priority for Steve when he came back was simplicity. He said (2004):
The organization is clean and simple to understand, and very accountable. Everything just
got simpler. That's been one of my mantras -- focus and simplicity", In other words, the
responsibilities of every employee are very clear. For each project, and every task in that
project, there will be someone accountable, a so-called DRI (directly responsible individual)
who will be congratulated or blamed depending on how he does.
Most employees working on Apple products would sooner or later be exposed to his
feedback, either directly or through their boss after a Monday executive meeting, and this
feedback would usually come in one of these three formats: "it's great", "it's not bad, but
change this, and that" or, usually (especially for the first time) "it sucks".
Most people who worked closely with Steve have a theory on why he acted this way: it was
to extract the best of them, make them do the best work they could. And in fact, most agreed
they achieved feats they did not think they were capable of under his pressure. The
psychological mechanism at work was that once you had been praised by Steve, then
insulted, you would work twice harder to earn back his favours. As early as the 1980s, the
Mac team members all agreed that without Steve's strong will, there probably wouldn't have
been a Mac.
Most colleagues of Jobs described him as 'brutally honest' and never willing to settle for
anything than the absolute best. In other words, nothing was ever "good enough". It had to be
perfect. Even with Steve Jobs interacting with about a hundred employees, this attitude
rippled through the whole company, also by fear
Indeed, most employees felt as if Steve Jobs was always behind them, watching their work
and making sure it was up to Apple's standards. An Apple employee said:

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"You can ask anyone in the company what Steve wants and you'll get an answer, even if 90
percent of them have never met Steve."
More recently, Apple employee Mike Evangelist wrote:
"I was incredibly grateful for the apparently harsh treatment Steve had dished out the first
time. He forced me to work harder, and in the end I did a much better job than I would have
otherwise. I believe it is one of the most important aspects of Steve Jobs's impact on Apple:
he has little or no patience for anything but excellence from himself or others."
6.2.1 Broad, deep teams:
During his second reign, Jobs made Apples product development process self-sustaining.
Gone were the pirate flags and death marches, replaced by a healthier environment which is
broad and deep expertise, a measure of respect, and a culture which managed to retain many
members for ten years or more, enough time to build experience and trust.
6.2.2 Whole systems thinking:
Jobs concept of systems matured. Apple, NeXT, and Pixar were never just hardware
companies, but in their early phases, their notion of system was limited to hardware and
software integration, closely coupled with marketing communications. Later Apples systems
thinking grew to include the integration of products, services, content, distribution,
communications, and developersthe creation of ecosystems. Apples systems approach
shows through in many places, such as the companys online presence, its retail stores, and its
frighteningly efficient supply chain which had been notoriously poor until Steve Jobs hired
Tim Cook to fix it. And employees became a vital part of these systems.
7. Followship:
Steve Jobs had a pile of minions that hero-worshiped him no matter what he did. He was
considered as a tyrant leader still he had people, who supported him in all the way long
throughout his life. His followers gave ideas on the meetings but the final directions were
given by Steve Jobs and the followers knew that Steve Jobs never compromised on anything.

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7.1 Follower influencing characteristics:

The followers of Steve Jobs had the valuable characteristics of education and experience
which was a source of personal power for the followers. The locus of control was somewhat
external for them as final decision was made by Steve Jobs.
One of his biggest support and follower was Mr. Ive, who is the Apple's design chief. Since
taking charge of the company's design team in 1996, Mr. Ive and his group have been
responsible for coming up with the physical look and feel of products that have helped set
Apple apart from competitors. To date, Mr. Ive's emphasis on elegant design has helped
Apple products become consumer status symbols. Steve Jobs considered him an asset for
himself and Apple.
8. Teamwork at Apple Inc.:
One of the biggest focuses of Apple Inc is its team work. In its mission statement, Apple says
that its main desire is to work together and improve the environment by working together
with its employees and the rest of the world.
Teamwork is Apple's success, for the job is too big to be done by one person. Individuals are
encouraged to interact with all levels of management, sharing ideas and suggestions to
improve Apple's effectiveness and quality of life. It takes all of employees to win. We
support each other and share the victories and rewards together.
Steve Jobs, as CEO of the world's largest tech company, was often identified as the singular
face of Apple. It was considered that he was the man who is the energy and creative spirit
behind the company, but Apple is much more than just Steve Jobs.
Jobs himself has said so in the past."Apple is an incredibly collaborative company.
Teamwork is dependent on trusting the other folks to come through with their part without
watching them all the time. We're great at figuring out how to divide things up into these
great teams that we have and all work on the same thing, touch bases frequently and bring it
all together into a product."
At another place, jobs went like "Thats how I see business. Great things in business are
never done by one person; theyre done by a team of people."

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8.1 Cross Functional Teams at Apple Inc.:

Apple is now almost the most valuable company in the world due in large to the
organizations ability to keep innovating. Year after year, Apple keeps coming out with
revolutionary and beautiful products such as the iPhone and the iPad and the iPod Nano and
the list goes on and on. Yet, Apple seems to stick to a very strict hierarchical organization
structure filled with top secret research and projects where one employee has no idea what
another one is doing. However, If looked closely, one will find a different story. In traditional
assembly line type of development, the designers start the process by designing the product
and its basic features, the developers take a look at the design and shrink it down to what is
possible, the manufacturers then figure out how to produce large quantities of this product
taking out more parts and features along the way, and then the marketing and sales people
figure out how to sell it.
Though fell under Cross-Functional Teams, Apple calls it concurrent or parallel production.
All the groups like design, manufacturing, engineering, sales, meet continuously through the
product-development cycle, brainstorming, trading ideas and solutions, strategizing over the
most pressing issues, and generally keeping the conversation open to a diverse group of
perspectives. The process is noisy and involves far more open-ended and contentious
meetings than traditional production cyclesand far more dialogue between people versed in
different disciplines, with all the translation difficulties that creates. But the results speak for
themselves.
8.2 Supporting the team creativity:
Following are the areas where the employees of Apple Inc. are being facilitated:

Quality Resources:

The teams are supplied with high finances, Research and development facilities, high
technical instruments to enhance their capabilities and thus come up with creative
technological products.

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Reward & Recognition:

With regard to innovative organizations like Apple it is argued that employees motivation is
a key success factor and hence they need to be given incentives in order to foster creative
thinking and sustain high motivation.
Apple, for instance, rewarded its executives once by giving them a recognition bonus of 3 to
5 percent of their base salary.At another occurrence, Apples employees received a free iPod
Shuffle or iPhone as a thank you for their achievements.

Minimum amount of structure:

At Apple Inc. Tasks are not structured but employees are motivated to come up with new,
innovative products. For that reason they are free to act within the defined limit.

Matching members with right assignments:

Team members from different functional groups are different in their skills, so it is assured
that the work is given to appropriate person.

Giving members autonomy:

Team members at Apple Inc. are given freedom to think and engaged in creative process
within the defined limit. The members while working in a team are highly motivated to
communicate their ideas.
9. Conclusion:
There are rare people that impact the world. They come and go so quickly sometimes. We
wish they stayed a while longer. But they leave their legacy and move on to a higher plane of
existence, Steve Jobs was one of those rare people.
He left so much to us. He gave so much to us. He changed our world forever. He reinvented
Apple and desktop computing. He created a world of tablet, mobile commuting and
communication that has never been before him. He was innovation. He was creation. He was
strength. He was a leader. He was a wonderful soul in this world.
Adam Beam of The State newspaper summed it up:
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Being Steve Jobs may create a great company. But it may not be the best way to lead a life.
Jobs made a lasting contribution to the business world, although at the cost of many personal
relationships. However, the business tactics he applied at Apple are valuable to leaders
worldwide.
If all the leaders could be like Steve, our country and probably our entire worlds economy
would be golden and reaping benefits more wonderful than we can imagine. If all people
could be like Steve, there would most likely be no war, no poverty no prejudice. If all
followers could be like Steve, we would have more free thinkers and we would not be afraid
to think for ourselves. Life is suffering. We battle attachment and try to overcome it in order
to overcome suffering. Lets all learn a lesson from this wonderful soul and strive to be just
an iota like Steve.

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