Deborah Done
PeninsulaTalking Point: Lessons in leadership
Deborah Done from Peninsula looks at what the business world can learn from former Apple chief executive Steve Jobs.
August marked the departure of one of the most iconic figures from the international corporate stage as Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple, announced he was stepping down.
So what is it about this man that makes him stand out from the crowd and what could we, in the business world, learn from his style and his philosophy?
It’s important to keep in mind from the start that Jobs is not universally loved. He’s a controversial man who divides opinion and who is famous for a fiercely autocratic style.
"My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to make them better," Jobs was quoted as saying in Fortune magazine.
Apple’s success isn’t just down to the appearance of its products. "Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works," Jobs once remarked. And therein lies another of Jobs’ great talents. Jobs was also fearless in his corporate decisions.
But we can learn much from him as to how to take our own companies forward.
Here are just a few ideas we may want to take from the extraordinary legacy to business thinking that Steve Jobs has left in his wake:
1. Don't be your employees' best friend. Be their leader and guide and you’ll bring out the best in them.
2. Inspire your employees and your customers through your passion for your business or product.
3. Have a vision of what you want to achieve and why.
4. Keep innovating.
5. Great design is not enough. You need a great product as well.
6. Challenge your customers’ beliefs about what they want.
7. Don’t give into knock backs but keep your entrepreneurial spirit.
8. Keep focused on the best ideas in your organisation. Don’t try to do everything.
And finally here’s my favourite Steve Jobs quote, from his Stanford speech. Although it applies to business, it’s really about life in general, and given Jobs’ battle with cancer, he knows a bit about life as well as business.
"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice.
"And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
Insider is hosting a special employment law business briefing in partnership with Peninsula on 14 September. For more information and to book your place, click here.
Recent Posts
Services
Dealmakers Services Directory
Find an advisor to help you buy, sell or invest
Property Services Directory
Find an advisor across property services
Commercial Property Finder
Full commercial property listings in the North West
Venue Finder
The online resource for business event organisers in the North West
Guides
North West City View
The news, features and analysis that matter for your city
International Trade
Our guide provides expert analysis on a range of trade destinations
42 under 42 Members
The latest class of the North West's brightest young business people
Back the Bid
Help Insider's campaign to improve the trans-Pennine rail network
- Contact us
- Midlands
- North West
- South West
- Wales
- Yorkshire
- Other regions
- 0121 232 0980
- 0161 907 9711
- 0117 906 5900
- 02920 434500
- 0113 220 4410
- 0161 907 9718
- Insider regions
- Central & East
- Ireland
- Midlands
- North East
- North West
- South East
- South West
- Wales
- Yorkshire