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© Ric Willmot 2018. All Rights Reserved executivewisdom.com@RicWillmot #WillmotWisdom

WhatSteve Jobs

Can Teach Us About

Leadership

© Ric Willmot 2018. All Rights Reserved executivewisdom.com

@RicWillmot #WillmotWisdom

Many fixate on the rough aspects of Jobs’s personality and how they shaped him as a leader — but the real management lessons are in what Jobs accomplished.

Under Jobs’s leadership, Apple had the greatest string of hits of any innovative company of our time.

Apple helped transform several industries, from personal computing to music to phones.



When asked to name his most important creation, Jobs didn’t cite the iPhone or the Macintosh or any other product.

He named Apple itself — an enterprise that started in his garage and became the world’s most valuable firm.

Making an enduring company, he said, was both harder and more important than making a great product.



#1 FocusJobs relentlessly filtered out anything he deemed a distraction.



In 1997 Apple was making a random array of products —including 12 versions of the Macintosh. Think about how scattered Apple’s efforts were when Jobs returned to the company in 1997, after being ousted in 1985. It was making a random array of products, including a dozen versions of the Macintosh computer.

Focus



Focus

Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.–Steve Jobs



#2SimplifyThis laser-like focus was accompanied by a second, related instinct: to zero in on the essence of things and eliminate unnecessary components.



Atari’s Star Trek game had just two instructions —(1) Insert coin. (2) Avoid Klingons. Jobs had learned the value of simplicity as a college dropout working for Atari.That company made its games so uncomplicated that a stoned freshman could figure them out.

What can you simplify to help your peoplebetter serve your customers?

Simplify



#3Take Responsibility End to End



Create an ecosystem —in all aspects of the customer experience.

How can you create an end-to-end ecosystem?How could your department improve the customer experience/lifecycle?What leadership behaviours will you adopt to facilitate this successfully occurring?

Take Responsibility End to End



#4When Behind, LeapfrogAn innovative leader doesn’t just come up with new ideas first. You leapfrog when behind.



The first iMac had a glaring flaw —it couldn’t burn CDs.

The computer let users manage their photos and videos — but it couldn’t burn CDs. “I felt like a dope,” Jobs said. Instead of just upgrading the iMac’s CD drive, Jobs decided to create a whole new system for buying and managing music.The result was the iPod and iTunes — which revolutionised the music industry.

When Behind, Leapfrog



The first iMac had a glaring flaw —it couldn’t burn CDs.

Jobs spent little time basking in the iPod’s success. He started thinking about what could threaten it.He realised that manufacturers might add music players to mobile phones, so he created the iPhone — even though that meant cutting into iPod sales.





If we don’t cannibaliseourselves, someone else will. — Be willing to change your prior leadership decisions if it gives your team a boost.



#5Put Products Before ProfitsDuring Jobs’s 12-year absence, product design gave way to short-term profits, and the company declined.



You’re not in the Financial Services business —you’re in the PEOPLE Business

The people who are your customers … And, the people who serve and delight your customers.

Put People Before Profits



#6Don’t Be a Slave to Focus GroupsHave an healthy scepticism about focus groups and other formal market research.



You’re never going to please everyone —nor should you.

It’s not that Jobs didn’t care what customers wanted. But caring didn’t mean continually asking.“Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page,” he said.This required empathy and intuition.Those qualities were more important than market research and intellect.

Don’t Be a Slave to Formalised Feedback



#7Bend Reality“Reality Distortion Field” The ability to push people to achieve the seemingly impossible.



Jobs wanted the computer to boot up faster —and wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.

“If it would save someone’s life, could you shave 10 seconds off?” Jobs asked.

Bend Reality



Before long Apple had cut the boot-up time by 28 seconds.

How can you help your people save time?How can your people save your customer’s time?

Bend Reality



#8Push for Perfection



It was almost time to launch the iPad —but the device wasn’t quite perfect.

Jobs thought the model didn’t seem casual enough to be scooped up in one hand and whisked away.So he and his designer decided to slightly round the bottom edge. That meant costly reengineering — but Jobs delayed the launch so that the change could be made.

Push for Perfection



A great carpenter isn’t going to use lousy wood for the back of a cabinet.

Push for Perfection



#9Tolerate Only “A” Players



He was notoriously stormy —but highly inspirational, too.

Jobs was also highly inspirational, infusing people with passion for their work.Indeed, the top players at Apple were fiercely loyal — they stuck around.

Tolerate Only “A” Players




How to Push People to Excel

“We strive to find the optimal level of discomfort.” —Jonathan Harvey, ANZ

What’s your optimal level of discomfort?Are you getting the best fromyourself, and your team?



Emulating his rudeness and toughness without understanding how he generated such deep loyalty would be a dangerous mistake.

However, seek out those with the attitude and enthusiasmto be on your “A” team and coach and mentor them to begreat players striving to succeed in delivering your vision.




#10Engage Face-to-Face



There’s a temptation to think that ideas can be developed by e-mail and iChat. That’s crazy. Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions.

Engage Face-to-Face



High tech —high touch.

Bring the personal touch into your collaborations.

Engage Face-to-Face



#11Know Both the Big Picture and the Details



Know the big picture objective —understand the details that will make it happen.

Know Both the Big Picture and the Details



#12Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish



Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish



The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

what can teach us about leadership - executive wisdom · couldn’t burn cds. “i felt like a...

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