Digital Media Concepts/Steve Jobs and his Leadership styles

Steve Jobs

American Business man who was the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Apple

; was born on February 24th 1955, in San Francisco , California. He Attended Reed College. Jobs withdrew from Reed college the same year and in 1974 travelled through India seeking enlightenment. Jobs died on October 5,2011 from a respiratory arrest.

He is best known for Pioneering the personal computer revolution and Co-Creating the Apple II, Macintosh, iPod, iPad, iPhone and the first Apple Store.

Leadership style

Steve Jobs was described as an autocratic leader during his time at Apple. His Leadership Style, Fast-decision making and an eye for detail were crucial for achieving Apple's success.

Autocratic Leadership Style

Autocratic Leadership describes a leader who has absolute power and control in every part of the business. These leaders like to control everything related to work, from the companies policies, vision and goals to employees work style.

Steve Jobs Autocratic Leadership

Jobs founded Apple in 1976. and In 1985, he was forced to leave Apple. Nevertheless, in 1997, he was asked to return to Apple to save the company from bankruptcy.

Steve Jobs was an autocratic leader, and his style was questioned and criticised by others. He was impatient, a perfectionist person and a leader with high expectations. At Apple, he had a clear vision of what he wanted from his employees and how things should work.

As an autocratic leader, he believed that being in control of all decisions was efficient and quick. His competitive side let him take risks, pushed the company’s limit, and allowed Apple to be ahead of its competitors.

Jobs wanted every Apple product to be perfect. His impatient and high expectancy traits portrayed him as a tough boss to work with. He liked to work with the best people in their field, and yes, he didn’t have a good reputation when it came to being friendly or polite with others. In his interview with Walter Isaacson, he told Isaacson about his being tough “I don’t think I run roughshod over people,” and added, “but if something sucks, I tell people to their face. It’s my job to be honest.”

Steve Jobs’ autocratic leadership worked well in Apple when he was the CEO. His leadership style was criticised by others, such as his being controlling and his communication skills with his co-workers and employees. On the other hand, he was described as one of our times’ strong and successful leaders, alongside Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and others.

Pros and Cons of Autocratic Leadership

Pros

Strong Leadership
Effective handling of pressure
Provides structure in inexperienced Teams

Cons

Overwork load for the leader
Trust Problems
Communication Problems
Dependance
Damages Creativity

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