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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Defining leadership principles to emulate...
Tolerate Only “A” Players
Technology is nothing. What's important is that you have faith in people, that they're basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they'll do wonderful things with them.
- Steve Jobs
Jobs was notoriously impatient, petulant and tough with the people around him. Although his treatment of people was far from admirable, it was said to emanate from his desire for perfection and to work with only the best. This was his way of avoiding “the bozo explosion”, a situation where managers were so polite and mediocre people felt comfortable sticking around. “I don't think I run roughshod over people, but if something sucks, I tell people to their face. It's my job to be honest” he said. When questioned, if he thought he could still achieve the same results being nicer, he replied, “perhaps so, but it's just not who I am.” This is what he knew, he didn't know any other way. Of course there were other ways Jobs could have probably motivated and encouraged his team but would we be recounting his journey on business, leadership and innovation the same way we do today.
His team could appreciate that his
rudeness and roughness was accompanied by an ability to be inspirational. Jobs infused Apple employees with an abiding passion to create ground breaking products and a belief they could accomplish what they thought was impossible.
Despite the reputation he gained for terrorising his team, there was always a method and balance to the madness which yielded some phenomenal results. Apple was a close-knit family, his top players were more loyal and tended to stick around longer than employees in other companies, including companies run by bosses seemingly nicer and gentler.
I've learned over the years that when you have really good people, you don't have to baby them. By expecting them to do great things you can get them to do great things. Ask any member of the Mac team, they will tell you it was worth the pain.
- Steve Jobs
“You a*, you never do anything right”, recalled Debi Coleman, a member of that team. Yet she considers herself the luckiest person to have worked with him.
So far, in most of these lessons, the overarching teachings that resonate is that he really was an inspirational visionary. He was so sure of who he was and focused on what he wanted to become. His ability to be true to himself in all things never wavered. Jobs always trusted his intuition. In a land where normalcy was not accepted, magic was created.
Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
- Steve Jobs
Contributed by Oye Jolaoso Source: Harvard Business Review
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