Organisational Leadership and Performance - Essay Example

Steve Jobs: His Communication and Leadership Style and its Suitability to a Globalised Environment Introduction This essay examines the leadership and communication style of Steve Jobs and the extent to which the style is suitable to a globalised environment. As noted by Lashinsky (2012), Steve Jobs was born in 1955. Together with Steve Wozniak, he founded Apple Computers back in 1976. The company, which started as a partnership before being turned into a company and later renamed as Apple, experienced rapid growth by taking advantage of the then nascent personal computing industry. Steve Jobs left the company in 1985 but returned to become its chief executive officer later in 1996. His return marked a period of a turnaround to the fortunes of Apple. The company developed a series of new products that helped it undergo rapid growth to become one of the most valuable companies in the world. In this essay, the style that Steve Jobs used to communicate as a leader and the characteristics of his leadership style will be discussed. Thereafter, the manner in which his attributes are suitable to the current business environment, which is characterised by a high degree of globalisation, will be discussed. Characteristics of the leadership and communication style of Steve Jobs Assertiveness in communication The communication style that Steve Jobs used as a leader at Apple can best be understood by considering his personality type. This can be done by making reference to some of the most common frameworks of analysing the personality types of individuals that have been developed. According to Ricketts and Ricketts (2010) the four personality types of sanguine, melancholic, choleric and phlegmatic are characterised by specific behavioural traits and communication patterns and can be used to describe the behavioural traits of different individuals. For instance, individuals who fall within the personality type referred to as choleric tend to be dominating in the manner that they interact with other people. They are usually highly competitive and straightforward individuals who show an exceptional level of intensity in the manner in which they behave (Ricketts & Ricketts 2010). It is important to note that Steve Jobs demonstrated all the characteristics that are ascribed to the choleric personality type. According to Isaacson (2011), Steve Jobs was highly competitive, decisive and determined. This was seen in the manner in which he would make decisions and influence everyone around him to accept the decisions and work according to them. In addition to this, he was conscientious in that he would be obsessed with small details about the products that were being created at Apple. His ability to pursue perfection in all the things that he did always meant that he would ensure that all the details of processes were carried out in a specific way that he regarded as perfect. Individuals whose personalities fit into the choleric personality type are usually regarded as highly assertive communicators (Ricketts & Ricketts, 2010). Such individuals tend to be highly straightforward and abrasive in the manner in which they communicate with other people. The use of abrasiveness and assertiveness in communication are usually justified by their need to be candid about their feelings and to ensure that things are done in the best way. However, this approach to communication by individuals of the choleric personality types is usually not appreciated by others. It is common for people to describe such individuals as being stubborn, unsociable and harsh (Ricketts & Ricketts, 2010). In the case of Steve Jobs, his abrasiveness and ability to tell people the truth in the most blunt manner possible made him to be described as stubborn and unsociable by some (Moisescot, 2012). In addition to this, his short temper made many people to fear him at Apple (Moisescot, 2012). On the other hand, his intensity and ability to influence people to do what he considered to be the right thing led others to describe him as highly convincing individual. To many, Steve Jobs was a highly charismatic individual who would convince anyone to do whatever he believed to be the right thing to do (Isaacson, 2011). Therefore, the communication style of Steve Jobs perfectly fits the description of how individuals whose personalities belong to the choleric type communicate with others. Such individuals are usually blunt, direct and assertive in the way they communicate with others. Focus on transformation De Bono, Van Der Heijden, Remme and Jones (2008) identify several characteristics that define the transformational style of leadership. The most common one is the charismatic nature of the individual leader under consideration. A highly transformative leader is usually an individual who demonstrates a high degree of charisma when interacting with others. It is this level of charisma that enables a transformative leader to be highly influential over the other individuals within an organisation. In addition to this, a transformative leader seeks to build on the need of employees to find meaning in the kind of work that they do (De Bono et al. 2008). To address this need, transformational leaders attempt to match the individual employees with the jobs that are most appropriate to their individual dispositions. This is done by finding new talent that is suitable for particular jobs, ensuring that individual employees are given jobs that are highly challenging to them, and focusing on aligning the input of employees to the objectives of the organisation. Further, transformative leaders usually seek to ensure that an organisation is focused on its long-term strategies and goals. They usually create visions for their organisations and seek to harness the resources that are at their disposal to ensure that the set visions are fully achieved. The manner in which Steve Jobs led Apple fits into the definition of transformative leadership. For instance, he was obsessed with the need for Apple to be the most innovative company in the world by creating products that were unique and great (Isaacson, 2011). Constantly, he sought to define Apple as primarily an innovative company and this was used as a way of differentiating the corporation from its competitors at the time such as Microsoft and IBM. This approach of innovativeness was demonstrated in the type of products that the company developed. For instance, when Apple decided to get into the phone market back in the 1990s, it developed the iPhone, a product that was revolutionary in terms of design, functionality and overall quality (Lashinsky, 2012). Furthermore, seeing the need for a highly portable and easy to use MP3 player, the company decided to develop what later came to be known as the iPod (Isaacson, 2011). All these products were completely new at the time when they were unveiled. Their conceptualisation and actual development was a product of the visionary nature of Steve Jobs. It is also indubitable that Steve Jobs was a highly charismatic individual. However, it is noted that his personal charisma was used to inspire as well as belittle employees, depending on the circumstances (Isaacson, 2011). Steve Jobs would also use his charisma to exert influence on people around him and convince them to do things which, when carefully considered, would be regarded as almost impossible. For instance, he would use his charismatic personality to inspire employees to achieve highly challenging goals within a very short time. This attribute of his personality came to be known as the “reality distortion field” (Isaacson, 2011, p. 117). Therefore, a charismatic personality and strong focus on creating and seeking to pursue a mission enabled Steve Jobs to exhibit a highly transformative style of leadership at Apple. A strong sense of dynamism and focus One of the ways in which highly transformational leaders succeed in their endeavours is by ensuring that they lead the rest of the individuals in their organisations from the front (Roth, 2004). The leaders’ ability to be highly visible and highly committed to the goals that they have set for their organisations usually works to inspire the rest of the members of their organisations to follow them and remain committed to the cause. In doing so, they show a great sense of dynamism and focus. However, the ability of transformational leaders to succeed requires a high degree of effectiveness. Such leaders usually seek to develop highly effective and efficient organisations that can easily achieve their goals over the course of time. In general, effectiveness and efficiency within an organisation can be understood in terms of the extent to which the organisation achieves its short- and long-term goals when the strategies, life stage of the organisation and its type of leadership are taken into consideration (Kondalkar, 2013). For an organisation to be effective, the approach of leadership that is used is of great importance. In the case of Apple, the company achieved a high degree of effectiveness as a result of the leadership style of Steve Jobs. Essentially, Steve Jobs had an ability to focus on a select number of things and exclude all the others (Lashinsky, 2012). By doing this, he would be dynamic enough to go through a long list of issues that required his concentration, exclude what he regarded as less important and then channel all the resources of the organisation to the development of a few things that he considered important. There are different ways in which the strong sense of dynamism and focus in the leadership style of Steve Jobs was reflected in the operations of Apple. For instance, Jobs was known for being a hands-on leader who sought to lead his employees from the front (Isaacson, 2012). This was demonstrated in the manner in which he sought to gain control over all the processes that were undertaken by the company. On a different note, his sense of focus and dynamism was evident in helping Apple cut down its line of products when he returned to the company in 1996 (Moisescot, 2012). He also sought to cut down the number of suppliers that the company had as well as the level of inventory that the company held. He was also able to set simple goals that the organisation would commit all its resources to. All these measures were meant to ensure that the organisation was effective enough to pursue and achieve its well-defined goals. Therefore, a strong sense of focus and dynamism was a key aspect of the leadership style of Steve Jobs. This approach was instrumental in helping Apple become a highly effective organisation during his second tenure at the company. Tight control The last defining feature of the leadership style of Steve Jobs was his sense of tight control. This attribute was witnessed in several ways. First, it is widely accepted that Steve Jobs was a highly effective motivator (Moisescot, 2012). His ability to create a sense of urgency and inspiration among individuals around him made it easy for him to get things done. However, what is not widely acknowledged is the fact that Steve Jobs liked to develop and work with small teams (Lashinsky, 2012). This approach enabled him to not only have tight control over the work that was being undertaken by the team, but to also be in a position to communicate with every member of the team effectively. In theory, a team is usually composed of a group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a specific goal or mission using specific approaches (Rothwell, 2012). Generally, for a small team to be highly effective, it has to go through four or five stages of evolution (Rothwell, 2012). These usually involve the forming stage in which uncertainty is the main characteristic of the group and the members seek to know and understand each other. This is followed by the storming stage in which there is increased infighting within the group and the norming stage in which the members tend to agree on specific standards and methods of working. The last two stages of performing and adjourning are usually characterised by increased productivity and possible final disbandment respectively. Throughout his career, Steve Jobs favoured small teams over large ones. He sought to exert his influence on the evolution process of the teams. For instance, in the early years during which the Macintosh was under development, Steve Jobs preferred a small and highly loyal team whose members he had handpicked (Isaacson, 2011). Furthermore, after he had left Apple and formed another company, NeXT Computer Inc., he still preferred working with a small team of engineers and other professionals who had handpicked. Even when he returned to Apple, he still favoured the use of small teams when developing important projects such as the iPod, the iPhone and even the iMac. All these devices were developed by relatively small groups of individuals who had been purposely chosen by Steve Jobs himself. It is this level of control that enabled him to easily manage the activities of the teams, thus translating their evolution process into the development of successful products. The use of small teams was also useful to the leadership style of Steve Jobs because it allowed him to enforce secrecy throughout the teams. Secrecy was an important attribute in the leadership style of Steve Jobs. He sought to ensure that the secrets of the projects that were being undertaken within the company did not leak to the outside world. This sense of secrecy was enforced throughout the entire organisation as a way of protecting the products of the company and ensuring that the company takes advantage of the publicity that it got following the launch of new products (Moisescot, 2012). Therefore, the need to control the flow of information was one of the most defining characteristics of the leadership style of Steve Jobs. And in order to achieve this level of control, he liked the use of small teams. This was reflected in the size of the teams that he made for the development of specific products of the company as well as in the small number of the senior management team of the organisation – known as the Executive Team – which was made up of a small number of carefully chosen individuals. The suitability of the style to a globalised environment The following is an evaluation of the extent to which the leadership and communication style exhibited by Steve Jobs is suited to the current globalised environment. Strategic leadership One of the hallmarks of the leadership style of Steve Jobs was his ability to envision future scenarios in the technology industry and allocate the resources of Apple towards developing products that would meet the envisioned needs (Kutsar, Ghose & Kutsar, 2014). This ability to think strategically was instrumental in helping Apple create products that gave it a competitive advantage in the marketplace. For instance, it is because of the ability of Steve Jobs to see the possible use of Graphic User Interface technology in creating personal easy-to-use computers that enabled him to access the technology from Xerox (Isaacson, 2011). Later, the technology proved to be instrumental in defining the nature of personal computers. According to Chuang (2013) the current globalised environment requires a style of leadership that can guarantee effective implementation of complex business strategies. It is also noted that the pace at which changes are taking place in the current business environment means that for any business organisation to succeed, the leader must have a strong sense of vision (Chuang 2013). The leader must have the ability to understand complex future scenarios that have a potential effect on the business and develop the most appropriate strategies to take advantage of the scenarios. On the other hand, Cohen (2010) argues that the current workplace in the highly globalised world is characterised by diversity in terms of culture, opinion and group dynamics. For leaders to be effective under such circumstances, it is argued that they should have the ability to understand diversity as well as be strong enough to create a vision that will inspire all the employees of the organisation (Cohen, 2010). Gill (2003) argues that effective communication and a high level of emotional intelligence are important attributes that can help a leader to successfully manage a diverse team of employees. Therefore, the highly assertive, blunt and abrasive style of communication that Steve Jobs used may not be suitable to the current globalised business environment. From the foregoing, it is clear that the ability of Steve Jobs to envision the future and channel resources towards developing products that would help Apple gain a competitive advantage, otherwise referred to as strategic leadership, is highly suited to the current globalised environment. This is so in several ways. For instance, current changes that are taking place in the business environment require leaders who are able to not only envision the future, but also create a vision that is compelling enough to inspire confidence among all the employees of the organisation under consideration. In addition to this, the current globalised environment is characterised by a high degree of diversity among employees. For an organisation to succeed, a leader has to be strong enough to harness the diversity that exists in the current workplace as a way of helping the organisation to achieve its objectives. Therefore, the ability of Steve Jobs to envision the future, create a powerful organisational vision and rally everyone within an organisation to be committed to the attainment of the vision is highly suitable in the current globalised environment. A focus on innovation Another hallmark of the leadership style of Steve Jobs was the relentless pursuit for innovation. Throughout his professional life, he focused on creating products that sought to define new industries in terms of design, functionality and overall quality. According to Daft (2008), the current business environment that is characterised by a high degree of globalisation means that companies are facing a high degree of competition. Increased competitiveness is a result of different factors. For instance, the ease with which products and services produced by different organisations can access global markets has made it necessary for companies to compete with those that are not necessarily located within their geographical region. The rise of global markets for products and services has therefore led to an increase in the level of competitiveness among business organisations. On the other hand, the increased pace of change means that business organisations are able to constantly improve the products and services that they offer to customers (Gorodnichenko, Svejnar & Terrell, 2008). What this means is that as companies face increasing competition, the emergence of new technologies enables them to refine their product and service offering continuously. This approach also contributes to increased competitiveness among business organisations in the current highly globalised business environment. The ability for business organisations to innovate remains a central prerequisite for success in the current business environment. According to Christensen (2011), well established business organisations can easily fail if they fail to take into account changes that are constantly taking place within their industries. Known as the innovator’s dilemma, this concept can be used to explain why large corporations fail in the current business environment. Essentially, it is argued that there are two types of innovation: sustaining innovation and disruptive innovation (Christensen, 2011). Continuous innovation entails the small improvements that are usually made on existing products. The essence of this type of innovation is to improve the overall functionality of the product that is already in the market. On the other hand, disruptive innovations are sudden and rapid changes in technology which result into the creation of entirely new products. Both disruptive and sustaining types of innovation are of great significance to the success of business organisations. Large and established organisations are able to take advantage of sustaining innovations to make improvements to their products that are already in the market. Such changes are usually carried out as a way of meeting the emerging needs of the existing customers. However, by doing so, they usually fail to take advantage of rapid changes in the form of disruptive technologies that can create entirely new markets (Christensen, 2011). This may lead to their failure. The implication of the above argument is that for organisations to succeed in the current highly globalised business environment, they have to take into consideration the need to make small improvements in their products as well as the need to take advantage of sudden rapid changes in technology and create entirely new products. Therefore, the ability of Steve Jobs to constantly innovate and create new products that opened entirely new industries remains an invaluable attribute for the current highly globalised business environment. Conclusion In conclusion, the communication and leadership style of Steve Jobs was characterised by the following: assertiveness, a focus on transformation, a tendency to exert tight control over people and a strong sense of dynamism and focus. Assertiveness in the manner of communicating with others can be ascribed to his personality type which falls under the choleric type. The need to exert tight control over people and processes was demonstrated in his liking for small teams and keeping all the development projects within Apple as secretive as it was possible. Dynamism and focus was witnessed in the manner in which Steve Jobs sieved through many ideas for products before settling on a few and channelling all the resources of the company towards the development of the few products he had chosen. Focus on transformation was seen in the manner in which he sought to create Apple as a highly innovative company that developed completely new and revolutionary products. The transformative nature of his leadership style is suitable to the current globalised business environment. This is because it can be used to foster a culture of innovation within organisations, which can be used to help the organisations survive the onslaught of rapid development of new technologies that threaten to disrupt their business models. However, the assertive nature of communication that Steve Jobs used may not be appropriate in managing the current workplace that is characterised by diversity in heritage and opinion among employees and other stakeholders. References Chuang, S-F. (2013). Essential skills for leadership effectiveness in diverse workplace environment. Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development, 6(1), 1-23. Christensen, C.M. (2011). The innovator’s dilemma: When new technologies cause great firms to fail. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Cohen, S.L. (2010). Effective global leadership requires a global mindset. Industrial and Commercial Training, 42(1), 3-10. Daft, R.L. (2008). The new era of management. Mason: Cengage Learning. De Bono, S., Van Der Heijden, B., Remme, J., & Jones, S. (2008). Leadership, change and responsibility. Frankfurt: Meyer & Meyer Verlag. Gill, R. (2003). Change management – or change leadership? Journal of Change Management, 3(4), 307-318. 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In a mixed company: Communicating in small groups. Mason: Cengage Learning. Read More