Steve Jobs is well known as one of the most effective,
visionary leaders of our time. The more I have read and learned about his
contribution to the world as we know it, the more I am torn between the
effectiveness of his leadership style and the genius of his designs and ideas. I
have had many inspirational and motivational people in my life who managed to
push me to work harder and be better in a very different way from Jobs. Steve Jobs obviously had success with his
demanding style of leadership and drive for perfection, but I don’t think that
that style of leadership and motivation works for everyone, including myself. It’s difficult to say if I would adapt or
adjust to that sort of culture in the NeXT company. In an interview with several of his previous
employees, they stated that they would never treat employees the way he treated
them, but that they learned that Jobs did expected and demanded a certain level
of success from them and the key to his blunt style of motivation was for
employees to “stand up to him and not be wrong” (Fried, 2015). Susan Barnes was
a coworker of Jobs at both Apple and NeXT and stated that Jobs appreciated it
when employees would challenge him or disobeyed him, as long as they were
right, but also claimed that it took her 8 years to appreciate and understand
this culture (Fried, 2015). With that
said, the culture Steve Jobs encouraged at NeXT seemed to be one that thrived
on collaboration, but with Jobs having the final word. He held everyone to a certain standard and
expected the same level of drive from everyone.
I think those are positive characteristics to have in a company culture;
however, I do feel that my personality would not fit well with that type of
culture and leadership, but I believe that it is an effective culture for those
that do fit well with that style of leadership and culture.
When
looking at the leadership and culture of a company, I think it is key to
understand the personality characteristics of the leadership that dictates the
culture. The start up company NeXT, guided
by Steve Jobs, illustrates his personality well. Research on several personality websites all describe
Jobs as and ENTJ, or the “commander” personality type. According to the website “16 Personalities”,
ENTJ’s are dominant, relentless, and unforgiving and thrive on challenges and
the environment that is created by these challenges and battles. This
personality also respects when others challenge them, as long as they can “keep
up” and offer compelling arguments, much like how Steve Jobs handled the
culture at NeXT. The website goes on to discuss how these types of
personalities tend to have a particular effective ability to recognize the
talents of others, which helps with their ability to build effective
teams. They do not act through emotions
and tend to keep an arms length from people who are sensitive to emotions, as
they see this as a sign of weakness.
This personality appears to be almost completely opposite of my
personality as a mediator. I don’t
approach failures as failures, but more so learning opportunities and instead
of thinking people who are not meeting goals as being less skilled, I think
more about how to encourage them to improve.
The personality differences between myself and individuals like Steve
Jobs represent two highly distinctive and different types of leadership. While there are many differences that make me
feel like I would not appreciate that type of culture at NeXT, there are some
positives that I do find effective in Steve Jobs’ approach.
After
receiving my management assessment, the first distinguishable difference that
correlates to my reasons for not being a good fit for the NeXT company culture
is that NeXT is a start up and my personality characteristics would fit better
in an organization that is in the mid-size range that has a strong, established
foundation. This desire to be in a culture that is already established shares similarities
in my personality characteristics. According to my management assessment, to be
successful in an organization I need both a small bit of direction, but still a
higher level of independence. This
balance of structure and independence correlates with my desire to be in an
environment that offers diversity and challenge, but also an ability to take
risks without having to worry too much about the consequence. NeXT, on the other hand, has a risk level
that is much higher than what I would be comfortable with. My personality also faces a desire to share
ideas and hear other people’s perspectives, as too much structure and planning
can be difficult for me. Being in a
company with a lower risk level allows me to explore more ideas and pick out
problems without having to worry too much about the consequences of exploring
and planning as a I go. In a culture
like NeXT, it is adamant that the structure and pressure of succeeding is
understood. The success or failure of
the company is dependent on the success of the employees, which is why Jobs
demanded so much from them. This level
of stress and urgency, I feel, would push me backwards and discourage me from
trying for fear of failing. My
personality is also more introverted and is less inclined to be driven by
rewards or punishments. The environment and culture at NeXT that Steve Jobs
established appears to thrive on that balance of stress between succeeding and
failing, as well as rewards and punishments.
This level of ambition and drive, while similar to my level of drive and
ambition, utilizes a different style of motivation and leadership for reaching
success. Another reason I feel I would
not fit so well in the NeXT culture is my desire to have harmony in the
workplace. A company like NeXT tends to
experience a lot of turbulence and disagreements throughout the process. This type of culture can benefit from leaders
like Jobs as he wastes no time on things that are not working. If I were leading a start-up, I feel I would be
too involved with trying to figure out the “whys” of failures and successes
instead of looking at them as failures and just moving on.
In a culture like NeXT, my desire
for exploring and creativity, along with my introverted nature, is a stark
contrast to the culture that Steve Jobs created. The NeXT culture thrives on challenges that
come with punishments and scrutiny, whereas a culture I would thrive in
encourages exploration and accepts failure and sees it as an opportunity
instead of a negative experience. There
are a few areas of the culture that I did appreciate, which included bringing
together a mix of people to share ideas and openly talk through different
strategies. However, I ultimately feel
that my idealistic nature and my desire to lead through morality would conflict
with the culture developed at NeXT. NeXT
thrives on competition, risk, rewards, punishment, and challenges, all led by a
style of leadership that has a strong vision that is centered around execution
and high expectations. Steve Jobs and
the NeXT culture represent similarities in my personality which include a
desire to succeed and be challenge, a strong vision, and a unique ability to
communicate; however, these similarities are understood in different ways. My
desire to be challenged and my high level of passion and motivation are a
result of my idealistic nature and need to explore possible ideas and find
harmony in this exploration. Steve Jobs,
and the NeXT culture focused more on achievement on reaching goals. The happiness and success of this culture
lies in their ability to reach these goals and be successful. This type of personality creates a culture
that is based on rationality and determination, causing a focus that is shifted
on the skills and abilities of others. While we both share a similar level of
drive and passion, the roads we take to reach those successes are notably
different in areas that are directly influenced by the core of who we are as
individuals. These notable differences
describe the reasons why I feel I would not be successful in an environment
like NeXT or in a culture dictated by a personality like Steve Jobs. I believe that both methods of leading,
whether commanding or mediating, are successful and can be highly beneficial,
these styles are just too distinctly different from one another in ways that I do
not feel would be compatible together. I
think having a stronger understanding of personalities and how they can
influence a culture is important to understand when seeking a company to work
for or bringing in new talent because, as individuals, we all have different
needs that meet our desires and moral views.
Understanding where our personalities fit in is crucial to the success
of reaching any type of goal. Steve Jobs
was so successful in reaching these goals because he found a way to balance his
blunt nature with his desire to reach these goals. His ability to show this drive as ambition
instead of cold-heartedness was understood in his methods of communicating and
encouraging others to challenge him.
This style of leadership continued to build a strong culture that
thrived in an environment like this. I
think this is the key to being a successful leader; to bring compatible
personalities together while finding a balance in your actions and methods of
reaching goals that effectively relate to the culture. Jobs managed to do this even with his
difficult nature because he reinforced his desire for success in both his
communication tactics and his acceptance of challenges and disagreements. By accepting and recognizing employee’s
challenges, he further reinforced that his goal was not to hurt people’s
feelings, but to reach his vision by any means necessary. While this is not the
method I would take, or the style that I feel I would fit in with, it helps to
illustrate the different styles of leadership and encourages me to understand
that I don’t need to be like someone else to be effective; my style of
leadership and my personality can be effective and motivational as well as long
as I believe in it and am able to continuously reinforce my vision in both my
actions and inactions.
References
ENTJ Personality (“The Commander”). (n.d.). Retrieved
December 17, 2015, from http://www.16personalities.com/entj-personality
Fried, I. (2015, November 8). Could There Have Been a
Kinder, Gentler Steve Jobs? Retrieved December 18, 2015, from
http://recode.net/2015/11/08/could-there-have-been-a-kinder-gentler-steve-jobs/
INFP Personality (“The Mediator”). (n.d.). Retrieved
December 17, 2015, from http://www.16personalities.com/infp-personality
Isaacson, W. (2012, April 1). The Real Leadership Lessons of
Steve Jobs. Retrieved December 17, 2015, from
https://hbr.org/2012/04/the-real-leadership-lessons-of-steve-jobs
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