Steve Jobs Leadership Style based on Apple Business Strategies - Coursework Example

Steve Jobs’ Leadership Style based on Apple Business strategies Table of Contents Introduction 3 Key Characteristics of Leadership 3 Visionary 4 Ability to Delegate 5 Communication 5 Motivation 6 Transformational 6 Evaluation of the Leadership Characteristics in the Ground of Emotional Intelligence 7 Conclusion 9 References 10 Introduction The concept of leadership has been recognized as the notion of competence which influences behaviour of group towards the accomplishment of organizational objectives. In relation to the contemporary business environment, leadership plays a pivotal role within an organisation to achieve long –term sustainability and it also increases the capability of the organisation to gain competitive advantage. In this regard, it is essential to critically understand the key leadership styles along with their implications to improve an organisation’s performance and build strong position in the competitive business environment. Although the great leaders express their effectiveness through exceptional strategies, visions and ideas there is also an emotional factor for the leaders that primitively define their exceptional leadership practices (Goman, 2012). Emphasising the importance of key leadership factors, the study intends to bring adequate insights regarding the key characteristics of an effective leadership. In this regard, the study includes the key leadership styles of Steve Jobs, the prominent leader of Apple Incorporation (Apple) and identifies the emotional factors that led him to be the most successful leader during his leadership tenure. Key Characteristics of Leadership There are numbers of key factors that define the concept of effective leadership. With regard to the statement in the Daniel Goldman’s book, it has been observed that the key characteristics of the great leaders generally influence the new entrepreneurs to gain capability of building effective leadership quality. Theoretically, there are several leadership styles can be viewed to influence the leaders of various business organizations towards attaining their predetermined business objectives (Northouse, 2012). However, the emotional intelligence regarding the practice of leadership styles can be considered as one of the major element for Steve Jobs to build his exceptional leadership quality. In this context, the following are the key characteristics of leadership style possessed by Jobs during his tenure in Apple (Bloomberg L. P., 2006). Visionary The visionary leadership is one of the most essential factors for a successful entrepreneur. A clear vision along with strong commitment towards the organizational objectives can enable a leader to develop competitive strategy and implement effective business practices. In relation to the observation of the cases, it has been found that the leadership style of Jobs was highly focused on visionary aspects. The visionary leadership of Jobs can be characterized into various factors. Few of the major visionary aspects in the Jobs’ leadership style included defining clear vision, charismatic quality, good communicator along with risk taker and strategic planner (Bloomberg L.P, 2010). Ability to Delegate The delegation towards the operational capabilities of the workforce can be considered as the most emotional intelligence in the Jobs’ leadership styles (Goman, 2012). During the tenure of the leadership at Apple, the adequate faith on each individual within the team and aligning their performance with the organisational vision has been identified to radically transform the performance of each individual. In this context, delegating business operations to the appropriate groups or individual have supported Jobs to increase business efficiency of the organisation to achieve its desired business goals (Bloomberg L.P, 2010). Communication The communication skill of a leader plays a pivotal role for the organization to provide a competent environment that leads to the accomplishment of the desired business goals (Wooten, 2010). In relation to the communication skills of Jobs, it is often observed that the leader used to build effective interpersonal skill that encompassed each individual having different roles within the organization. Moreover, the communication style related with the leadership style of Jobs highly facilitated each individual to keep focus on the roles and actions to be performed within the organisation. During the leadership tenure of Jobs, the organisational leaders were highly recognised to emphasise each individual to share their personal ideas along with opinions to develop and innovate new product for the global customers. In order to increase innate capability of the workers, the communication style of Jobs was also focused on providing adequate guidance to the members and creating productive and friendly environment within the workplace (Bloomberg L.P, 2010). Motivation The motivational skill of a leader in an organization depicts the capability of cropping adequate insights to each individual and enables them to render significant effort for achieving shared goals of the organization. With respect to the motivational skill of Jobs, it has been recognized that the unconventional vision of the leader was incorporated within the collaborative and effective communication process. The practice had enabled each employee of organization to transform their innate capabilities and achieve predetermined business objectives (McGraw-Hill Education, n.d.). In the context of motivational factors, the leadership skills of Jobs enabled the team members to gain adequate opportunity to improve their performance and align them in accordance with the organisational vision and objectives. Transformational Transformational leadership is duly regarded as one of the promising aspects of leadership style which enables the business leaders to transform their capabilities of developing the organizational processes. During the leadership tenure of Jobs, a radical augmentation of transformational aspects in his leadership style was recognized. The cases have revealed that the revolution of advanced technological product such as iPod, iMac, iPhone and iPad had experienced ground-breaking performance in the technology market after Jobs was incorporated as CEO of Apple in the year 1997. Whereas, the company has faced flounder condition during the period while Jobs was overlooked by the CEO of the Apple in the year 1985. The transformational changes in the organizational performance clearly define the transformational leadership style of Jobs (Bloomberg L.P, 2010). Transactional Characteristics With regard to the transformational traits in the leadership style, it can be stated that the leadership style and functions of Jobs has been identified to incorporate transactional leadership approach which enabled the former CEO of Apple to build strong relationship with his followers. The concept of transactional leadership approach focuses on a common advantage originated from a type of convention during the performance of the followers and delivering the compensation or acknowledgment in return for the dedication (Gardiner, 2006). Evaluation of the Leadership Characteristics in the Ground of Emotional Intelligence It can be observed from an in-depth understanding of leadership style of Jobs that there are various traits that can be recognised to aid him to transform the overall performance of Apple in the modern business environment. According to the aspect of emotion in leadership, the involvement of emotional in the leadership style enables leaders to keep the followers more optimistic and competitive with regard to their performance in the workplace. In this context, the positive emotional factor along with conserving effective body language can be regarded as the major attribute for the leaders to successfully enable workforce to achieve their predetermined goals. In the context of motivational factors, the leaders generally use two fundamental types of emotions including positive and negative emotions while intending to motivate change within the organisation (Goman, 2012; Wooten, 2010). The leadership style of Jobs was considerably focused on positive emotions, which have transformed the overall performance of Apple in the global information and technology business industry. With regard to the leadership functions of Jobs, frequent changes in the organizational process in accordance with the changing trend of the global business markets were observed. Therefore, the positive emotion has played a crucial role for Jobs to be renowned as the most successful leader during his tenure in Apple (Goman, 2012; Wooten, 2010). Correspondingly, in the context of body language, the physical response of Jobs has also been observed to possess adequate transparency as the innate behavioural characteristics. Moreover, the physical and facial expression of the leader has reflected openness for each member of the organisation that enabled the workforce to share their individual ideas and opinions. According to the observation of the leadership traits of Jobs, it has been identified that his leadership styles extensively included positive emotion that enabled each of the followers to improve their innate operational capability in accordance with the organisational vision and objectives (Gonman, 2012; Bloomberg, 2006). Conclusion The concept of leadership can be defined as the notion of competence which tends to influence a group towards the accomplishment of the organizational vision, goals and objectives. It is a set of skills and competences possessed by a leader which enable the followers to put their ultimate effort towards achievement of the respective goals or objectives of the organization. Correspondingly, the presence of emotional intelligence enables the leaders to ignite individual passion and inspire to develop the innate capability. Although the leadership style of Jobs can be defined as a set of key attributes that enabled him to formulate strategies, visions and ideas, the emotional characteristics can also be recognised as a prominent aspect that facilitated him to build his strong leadership competency. With reference to the aforesaid discussion, the positive emotional thoughts of Jobs have been observed to help him in setting clear vision and organizational goals and energizing the potentials of each individual employee in Apple. Moreover, the emotional attributes in the leadership style have also provided him to improve his transformational traits along with motivational and communication skills. References Bloomberg L P. (2010). Commentary: The Last Pitchman. Magazine. [Online] Available at: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_25/b4183004440240.htm [Accessed February 07, 2014]. Bloomberg L.P., 2006. Steve Jobs Magic Kingdom. Stories. [Online] Available at: http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-02-05/steve-jobs-magic-kingdom [Accessed February 07, 2014]. Gardiner, J. J. (2006). Transactional, Transformational, and Transcendent Leadership: Metaphors Mapping the Evolution of the Theory and Practice of Governance. Kravis Leadership Institute Leadership Review 6, 62-76. Goman, C. K., 2012. Great Leaders Are Positively Infectious. Leadership. [Online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolkinseygoman/2012/07/11/great-leaders-are-positively-infectious/ [Accessed February 07, 2014]. McGraw-Hill Education. (n.d.). Managers and managing. Chapter 1, pp. 2-36. Northouse, P. G., 2012. Leadership: Theory and Practice. SAGE Publications, Inc., Wooten, L. P. 2010. Building a Company the Steve Jobs’ Way: A Positive Deviance Approach to Strategy. News Room. [Online] Available at: http://www.bus.umich.edu/NewsRoom/pdf/wootenjobspaperFINAL1.pdf [Accessed February 07, 2014]. Read More