TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

ASSIGNMENT

LEADERSHIP QUALITY OF ~S1EJE 1OBS"




SuHlTTF0 Y.
R.ARAvlt0
l ST YFAR HA, SlT
LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS AND ATTITUDES OF
STEVE 1OBS
IN1kCDUC1ICN
SLeve [obs ls a cofounder of apple company ln 1976 (wlLh a chlldhood frlend sLeve woznlak)3
Pe was forced Lo leave Lhe company ln 1983 afLer lnLernal power sLruggles and reLurned Lwelve years
laLer Meanwhlle he had very successfully led Lhe plxar anlmaLlon sLudlos4
apparenLly sLeve [obs ls desplLe hls success or maybe Lherefore a conLroverslal lndlvldual
Maybe a flrsL approach Lo answerlng why Lhls ls can be found ln a harvard revlew blog enLry by blll
Laylor so ln Lerms of Lhe lmpacL hls producLs have had on Lhe world sLeve [obs represenLs Lhe face of
buslness aL lLs besL And yeL ln Lerms of hls approach Lo leadershlp [obs represenLs Lhe face of buslness
well lf noL aL lLs worsL Lhen cerLalnly noL as someLhlng worLh emulaLlng"
sLeve [obs ls famed for hls ablllLy Lo glve speeches and capLlvaLe Lhe audlence' aLLenLlon8 Pe ls
able Lo capLlvaLe hls employees and audlence wlLh Lhe ablllLy of an evangellsL ln Lhls respecL we can
observe LhaL he posses Lhe charlsmaLlc ablllLles LhaL dubrln demands by communlcaLlng hls ldeas uslng
meLaphors and analogles and sLoryLelllng
lnLeresLlngly when presenLlng Lhe new apple producL lpad" he would slL down on a couch as
some of us would have aL home and creaLe a scenarlo LhaL helps Lhe vlewer and llsLener Lo lmaglne a
sundaymornlng scene aL home uslng Lhls new producL whlle readlng a paper !obs Lhen also sLarLed by
openlng Lhe webpages of an amerlcan newspaper 8y creaLlng Lhese sLorles ln our head he
communlcaLes Lhe advanLages of hls producLs mosL efflclenLly
he ls a glfLed speaker wlLh an uncanny ablllLy Lo confound hls employees and Lhe publlc wlLh an
almosL evangellsLlc dellvery
[obs charlsma ls largely dependenL on hls deep knowledge and undersLandlng of Lhe Lechnology
he ls lmmersed ln !obs Lechnlcal knowledge mlghL noL be LhaL of hls englneers however [obs has been
Lhe founder of apple LogeLher wlLh woznlak and LogeLher Lhey developed Lhe very flrsL hardware
CerLalnly [obs undersLandlng of Lhe Lechnologlcally posslble comblned wlLh a vlslonary glfL help hlm Lo
develop hls vlslons and Lhen efflclenLly communlcaLe Lhem for execuLlon Lo hls employees
hls charlsma enables hlm Lo whlp up Lhe enLhuslasm of hls employees Lo achleve more by dolng
seemlngly lmposslble Lasks and also convlnce cusLomers Lo buy apple producLs
9kSCNALI2D LADkSnI9
Pls charlsma Lype could be descrlbed as belng personallzed 1hls means ln accordance Lo
dubrlns explanaLlon LhaL one serves prlmarlly own lnLeresLs and exerclses only mlnor resLralnLs on Lhe
use of power ln [obs case Lhls means LhaL he does noL only moLlvaLe by sLory Lelllng buL also by force
!obs ls descrlbed by some as belng manlpulaLlve dlshonesL and boorlsh
an lndlcaLlon for Lhls can be found when he says for lnsLance my [ob ls Lo noL be easy on
people My [ob ls Lo make Lhem beLLer My [ob ls Lo pull Lhlngs LogeLher from dlfferenL parLs of Lhe
company and clear Lhe ways and geL Lhe resources for Lhe key pro[ecLs And Lo Lake Lhese greaL people
we have and Lo push Lhem and make Lhem even beLLer comlng up wlLh more aggresslve vlslons of how
lL could be" Pe wanLs people Lo follow hlm expecLs obedlence and much of lL seemlngly ouL of Lhe self
lnLeresL slnce worklng aL apple" ls whaL he conslders a valuable goal ln hls llfe
LADkSnI9 8nAVICkS
8ecause of hls manlpulaLlve" behavlor he ls consldered by some of hls employees as auLocraLlc
Pls behavlor ln meeLlngs for lnsLance ls descrlbed as belng rude auLhorlLaLlve and obnoxlous
dubrln explalns Lhe lmporLance of conslderaLlon and whaL he calls lnlLlaLlng sLrucLure
ConslderaLlons sLands for Lhe degree LhaL a leader offers emoLlonal supporL whlle sLrucLure ls Lhe way
work ls organlzed le by schedules orders guldellnes eLc geLLlng Lhe [ob" done ls hlghesL on Lhelr
prlorlLy llsL
because of hls quesL for perfecLlon [obs has domlneerlng presence whlch makes some of Lhe
employees fear hlm 1hls would leL us assume LhaL hls conslderaLlon level ls raLher low (else he would
care abouL peoples fear and Lry Lo counLeracL lL) and hls lnlLlaLlng sLrucLure level appears raLher hlgh as
we saw ln Lhe former paragraph on charlsma" when we saw hlm saylng my [ob ls Lo noL be easy on
people My [ob ls Lo make Lhem beLLer My [ob ls Lo pull Lhlngs LogeLher from dlfferenL parLs of Lhe
company and clear Lhe ways and geL Lhe resources for Lhe key pro[ecLs"
however ln hls laLer years he shows more warmLh and less vlndlcLlveness Lowards hls
employees ln facL a currenL raLlng of approval by hls employees shows [obs Lo geL a 90 approval
raLlng20 neverLheless lL ls noL aL all clear LhaL Lhls raLlng ls based on hlm belng sofLer on people Loday
or slmply on people's admlraLlon for hlm due Lo hls success
LADkSnI9 S1L
AU1CCkA1IC VkSUS 9Ak1ICI9A1IV
!obs seems Lo mlcromanagemenL aL apple !obs admlLs LhaL Lhere are an lncredlble amounL of
up Lo 100 lndlvlduals reporLlng dlrecLly Lo hlm As menLloned above he ls percelved as auLocraLlc 1he
facL LhaL so many lndlvlduals reporL Lo hlm dlrecLly ls represenLaLlve for hls wlll and eagerness Lo hold all
Lhe sLrlngs ln hls hands 1oLal conLrol ls cerLalnly Lhe basls for Lhls leadershlp
dubrln descrlbes an auLocraLlc leader as one who Lells people whaL Lo do asserLlng Lhemselves
and servlng as a model for Leam members" ln conLrasL a parLlclpaLlve leader would be lnLeresLed ln
hearlng everyone's oplnlon and lnLegraLe Lhem lnLo a groupdeclslon elLher ln a democraLlc way (leL a
voLe declde) a consensus flndlng manner (sLrlve for an agreemenL of compromlse) or consulLaLlve
(consulL wlLh all group members Lhen declde
we assume LhaL Lhe amounL of [obs' parLlclpaLlve leadershlp ls low AnecdoLes rumor LhaL he ls a
raLher rude parLlclpanL ln meeLlngs and exLremely lmpaLlenL 1hls behavlor cerLalnly does noL conLrlbuLe
Lo people wanLlng Lo volce Lhelr oplnlon and parLlclpaLe ln conLrasL dubrln explalns LhaL a parLlclpaLlve
leadershlp sLyle demands for Leamwork approach" where Lhe leader does noL Lry Lo domlnaLe Lhe
group
from Lhe documenLary Lhe Lrlumph of Lhe nerds" we may conclude LhaL hls humlllLy levels are
very low brlnglng hls personallLy ln confllcL of Lhe requlremenLs for a parLlclpaLlve leadershlp sLyle 1hls
documenLary has [obs Lalk abouL some of hls less successful eplsodes blamlng oLhers for Lhe losses

N1k9kNUkIAL
AL Lhe same Llme [obs ls belng descrlbed as enLrepreneurlal [obs may be a mulLlbllllonalre buL
LhaL hasn'L cuL lnLo hls work eLhlc Pe brlngs an enLrepreneur's energy Lo Lasks many ceos would see as
beneaLh Lhem"
dubrln deflnes an enLrepreneur as someone wlLh a sLrong wlll for achlevemenL and a senslble
rlsk Laklng hlgh degree of enLhuslasm Lendency Lo acL qulckly on opporLunlLy belng lmpaLlenL
vlslonary amongsL oLhers lrom Lhe above dlscusslon we have seen already LhaL [obs can be descrlbed
as belng enLhuslasLlc and a vlslonary belng lmpaLlenL and havlng a sLrong wlll for achlevemenL
AddlLlonally [obs has Laken rlsks and selzed on opporLunlLles many Llmes ln hls career for lnsLance
when leavlng apple (Lhough belng forced Lo) and leadlng plxar Lo success [usL Lo come back Lo apple
some years laLer and savlng Lhe day for a company ln dlre sLralLs aL Lhe Llme
hls conLlnued enLrepreneurlal splrlL ls also shown by Lhe facL LhaL he repeaLedly lnLroduced
producLs Lo Lhe world LhaL revoluLlonlze Lhe enLerLalnmenL lndusLry and Lhe way enLerLalnmenL medla
ls dlsLrlbuLed (eg Lhe lphone and lpod as medla devlces and lLunes as dlsLrlbuLlon channel)

1kANSICkMA1ICNAL LADk
uubrln deflnes a LransformaLlonal leader as one who brlngs abouL ma[or poslLlve change for
Lhe group organlzaLlon or socleLy" As we [usL heard [obs has Lransformed several companles over Lhe
years Pe has Lransformed plxar lnLo a success sLory
he has all Lhe necessary aLLrlbuLes Lo be consldered one based on some requlremenLs LhaL
dubrln menLlons he leads by example he pracLlces empowermenL he has a vlslon and as menLloned he
can be percelved as charlsmaLlc
however he appears Lo lack Lhe humane quallLles of a LransformaLlonal leader whlch are also
menLloned as a prerequlslLe for a LransformaLlonal leader by dubrln namely emoLlonal lnLelllgence
personal encouragemenL bulldlng LrusL (apple ls famous for lLs secrecy even admlLLed by [obs hlmself
lL ls generally noL apple's pollcy Lo LrumpeL our plans for Lhe fuLure we Lend Lo Lalk abouL Lhe Lhlngs
we have [usL accompllshed") eLc
9CWk MC1IVS
ln asklng why" someone sLrlves for power dubrln explalns Lwo ma[or moLlves Lhe personallzed
and Lhe soclallzed power moLlve ln [obs' case nelLher seem Lo flL compleLely 1he personallzed power
moLlve would requlre Lhe sLrlvlng for sLaLus money and luxury someLhlng LhaL ls hard Lo pln on [obs
Soclallzed power moLlves on Lhe oLher hand would requlre Lhe use of power for Lhe greaLer good or Lo
help oLhers
Se|fconf|dence lnLlmldaLlngly hlgh
num|||ty lncredlbly low (Lhe documenLary Lhe Lrlumph of Lhe nerds" can be used for reference38 1hls
documenLary has [obs Lalk abouL some of hls less successful eplsodes blamlng oLhers for Lhe losses)
1rustworth|ness probably low lf Lhe menLloned secrecy he exhlblLs ln deallng wlLh Lhe world ouLslde
Lhe company ls ln any way a reflecLlon of how he deals wlLh flow of lnformaLlon wlLhln Lhe company
(whlch ls llkely slnce many pro[ecLs remaln lncredlble enough secreL unLll Lhey are unvelled llke
exempllfled ln Lhe recenL lnLroducLlon of Lhe lpad)
Authent|c|ty Lrue auLhenLlclLy ls based on selfreflecLlon whlch requlres a degree of humlllLy we can
safely assume from Lhe already analysed noL Lo be found ln [obs
travers|on hls selfconfldence may aL flrsL be mlsLaken for exLraverslon however exLraverslon ln a
soclally lnLeresLed way appears noL Lo be exLracLable from Lhe above analysls

Assert|veness Lhe descrlpLlon of how he runs meeLlngs and Lhe aggresslon wlLh whlch he moLlvaLes hls
employees speaks for a hlgh degree of asserLlveness
nthus|asm hls speeches and hls enLrepreneurlal behavlor lndlcaLe a large degree of enLhuslasm
sense of humor he never exhlblLed lL ln case he posses lL
CCNCLUSICN
lnLeresLlngly ln general [obs personallLy LralLs would noL be characLerlzed as Lhe LralLs of an effecLlve
leader ln a way he ls far from a classlcal LexLbook" example as dubrln for lnsLance descrlbes lL
neverLheless hls charlsma selfconfldence and passlon for work overshadow all hls negaLlve
characLerlsLlcs Lhus maklng hlm one of mosL successful ceo's of Lhe decade