Steve Jobs Leadership Lessons: Bringing about the Simplification (Essay Sample)

Steve Jobs Leadership Lessons
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Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc507914820 \h 3Bringing about the Simplification PAGEREF _Toc507914821 \h 3Focusing on the Long Term Goal PAGEREF _Toc507914822 \h 4Executing Something and Taking Responsibility for It PAGEREF _Toc507914823 \h 6Moving Ahead of the Competition PAGEREF _Toc507914824 \h 7Sacrificing Short Term Goals for Long Term Vision PAGEREF _Toc507914825 \h 9Being Adaptable and Learning from the Failure PAGEREF _Toc507914826 \h 10Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc507914827 \h 11References PAGEREF _Toc507914828 \h 13
Steve Jobs Leadership Lessons
Introduction
When Steve Jobs and Pixar opted for the Macintosh Computers, they himself would not have an idea that they are creating a blueprint for the future life. Later on, Steve Jobs went on to create music players and the mobile phones that are going to be liked by just about everyone (Flynn & Staw, 2004). He along with his comrade Bill Gates emerged as the pioneers of the industry and become one of the leaders in the way technology and communication evolved. One of the key messages that they were able to deliver is that how important it is to make sure that one should have an idea about the future vision. Having a vision for the future and good insight in case of Steve Jobs turned out to be the cornerstone of his success (Flynn & Staw, 2004). There are considerable leadership lessons if one goes through the working methodology that would allow an individual who develops their template as far as the success is concerned (Flynn & Staw, 2004). In this paper, it would be seen that how Steve Jobs serves as an inspiration for the leaders and what sort of leadership lessons one can learn from this life (Flynn & Staw, 2004).
Bringing about the Simplification
One of the key things that are important for the people for the success is to make sure that they are clear about what they want to achieve. The idea is to ensure that people should have a fair idea of what they want to achieve in the future (Flynn & Staw, 2004). For that to happen, the simpler people make things for themselves; the greater is the likelihood of success for these people (Flynn & Staw, 2004). It is what Steve Jobs used to do in an effective manner (Flynn & Staw, 2004). He excelled at making sure that the designs and the devices that he was working on are simpler in his designs and interface (Flynn & Staw, 2004). The systems that he would develop standalone and work together at an interconnected level. The division of labor, the concept that was very simple was used effectively by Jobs and thus allowing better simplicity among his devices.
The same approach was used by Steve Jobs when it comes to ensuring that the minimalist devices are created so that the barriers that would hamper the speed of the computers (Flynn & Staw, 2004). He would simply the phones that are being made by the competitors and rant some of the functions that were incomprehensible and at the same time making sure that the how some of the changes that can be used to ensure some value is added (Flynn & Staw, 2004). Thus the whole premises of his technology was to make sure that how things can be made more slick and simpler for people (Flynn & Staw, 2004). The same thing was being implemented in the organization where the working model is simple that allows people to express themselves (Flynn & Staw, 2004). Thus rather than overcomplicating things, the key thing is to make sure that the things are kept simple as this clarity of vision is something that is a great trait most leaders have (Flynn & Staw, 2004).
Focusing on the Long Term Goal
When Steve Jobs joined the Apple back in 1997, the culture in the organization had developed that things were made just for the sake of it and there was not thought press behind it (Flynn & Staw, 2004). There were about dozens of different version of Macintosh alone that were being made. One of the first things that he did as a leader was to make sure that greater level of focus is being exhibited by people at a given point in time (Flynn & Staw, 2004). He developed four quadrants that were
* Consumer
* Pro
* Desktop
* Portable
According to him, these are the focus areas on which the organization and product development have to be carried out (Flynn & Staw, 2004). In some ways, that also allowed him to make sure that he sets himself apart from his competitor that were churning out products that even though were adequate, they were not adding something valuable to the industry as a whole (Flynn & Staw, 2004). Thus the key thing is to make sure that people should focus on what they want to achieve in the long run and then spend all their energies towards the achievement of that goal (Flynn & Staw, 2004).
The focus is something that is very important for the leader. The leaders should have a fair idea what are some of the things that are needed by done by them to make sure that they achieve their goal (Flynn & Staw, 2004). As discussed above, having a simpler vision and then focusing upon is something that would allow an individual or an organization to make sure that they direct their energies towards something that are relevant rather than sticking to certain things that are not useful (Flynn & Staw, 2004). The key thing is to make sure that the effort is being made to ensure that variables that are not important or are not adding any value must be eliminated from the thought process. As they are the ones that are stopping a person or an organization to achieve their long term vision one way or the another (Flynn & Staw, 2004). Being clear about what one wants to achieve and the required focus is what makes Steve Jobs an exceptional example of the leadership. Because Jobs' vision was to identify a need and then command all energy and development into making a product that fulfilled the need (Flynn & Staw, 2004). It gives people a singular goal to work toward achieving. 'People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on,' Jobs once said (Flynn & Staw, 2004).
Executing Something and Taking Responsibility for It
When the vision is clear and simplified, and there is relentless focus towards it, it becomes all the more easily to ensure that the execution of what is being planned is going to be carried out in the right manner (Flynn & Staw, 2004). Taking the example of Apple, when there was an iPod connected to the Mac with integration with the iTunes as software, it allowed the devices to make sure that they are synching in a much smoother manner. At the same time, it also allowed ensuring that the glitches that are being faced in the devices become more and more infrequent with the passage of time (Flynn & Staw, 2004). The machines that were created were simple and effective in their interface, and some of the taxing tasks such as the creation of the playlists were supposed to be done on the computer (Flynn & Staw, 2004). One key theme that can be seen is that how Jobs and Apple ensure that they take end to end responsibility for the user experience (Flynn & Staw, 2004). Which was something that was missing in some of the competitors (Flynn & Staw, 2004)? One of the examples of their relentless focus was the creation of the ARM microprocessors that made sure that every aspect of the customer experience was tagged together in the right manner. It can be seen that this approach has been used some of the more modern organizations such as Google. As they have made sure that rather than touching upon the initial interface, they have made it their responsibility to make sure that end to solutions is being provided to the customers in the long run (Flynn & Staw, 2004). It is called as a more open approach towards the way things are supposed to be done as it makes sure that the various hardware manufacturers can deliver the solution in the right manner (Flynn & Staw, 2004). With the passage of time, this practice of making sure that the end to end solution has become a hallmark of the other modern ERP's as well which sorts of vindicates the vision that was set up by Steve Jobs (Flynn & Staw, 2004).
Moving Ahead of the Competition
In the business or any walk of life, it is important to make sure that one has a clear idea about the challenges that are going to be faced at the broader level and how each of the variable that is going to be managed in the long run (Flynn & Staw, 2004). The key idea is to make sure how some of the strategies that can be developed to make sure that whatever the competition that is being faced at the level of the organization, it can be taken over in some way or the another (Flynn & Staw, 2004). The innovation as can be seen from the Steve Jobs is to ensure that who is the person that comes up with the new ideas as well make sure that how they can add value to the solution that already exists in the market. The example in this regard is that of the original iMac (Flynn & Staw, 2004). The focus on the part of the Steve Jobs was to make sure that how it can be made more useful for the management of the photos as well as videos (O'Toole et al. 2002). The solution was good, but when it comes to the dealing of the music, the solution left a lot to be desired. People who had PC’s were able to download and share music in a much easier and they were also able to make sure that they burn their own CD's. On the other hand, the slot that was provided with iMac was not able to do that same, and this was one thing that irked Steve Jobs to no end (Flynn & Staw, 2004).
To make sure that this problem can be sorted out, he decided that there is a need to create an integrated system (Sharma & Grant, 2011). That integrated system would go...