Steve Jobs – A Transformational Leader

Executive Summary

When my classmates and I were assigned this essay assignment on leadership I must admit I was at a loss as to whom my ideal leader was. The decision as to whom I would write about did not come quickly. I racked my brain for one whole week assessing numerous historical great leaders and also mentors and colleagues closest to me. Unfortunately, these investigations somehow, did not connect with the point I sought to express. Then I began to think back to 2001 when I experienced first-hand the very near obliteration of the music industry, through which I made a living for more than seven years, up until that point. Suddenly, like a flash of light, the image of an iconic leader came to my mind’s forefront.

This essay will focus on and cover the leadership qualities of the CEO of Apple Inc., Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs for me holds a strong personal connection because of his close work with the music industry that transpired more than a decade ago and continues till this day. This study will look at Jobs’ transformational characteristics as a leader and examine how his unique leadership qualities positioned him to reshape his own industry of computing along with the music, movie and mobile phone industries.

Jobs possess an entrepreneurial essence that is reinforced by his drive for constant innovation, inspiring his team members to strive to deliver products that the world has never seen and will also buy.


Jobs’ charisma along with his product-line continually captures the imagination and admiration of fans and customers worldwide. He has a personal power that fuels his legendary status and a referent quality that contributes to his quintessential showmanship.

Moral leadership is a quality that Steve Jobs exemplifies to the truest extent. He instils his morality in Apple’s objectives relating to product design, regulation and clean energy practices. However, not all is smooth sailing in the sometimes tumultuous sphere of social responsibility. But through Jobs’ undying commitment to uphold the highest moral convictions, Apple is on a clear path to deliver on its promises that will benefit the world.

As Steve continues his fight with cancer I am reminded of his youthful methodology he brought to the Apple brand that inspires me and billions the world over to believe in possibilities that seem out of reach. He continually proves that through innovation and drive we can achieve anything, even when things are at their worst. Steve Jobs takes leadership to the next level and has carved the way for a new brand of entrepreneur that will form the future of business management.

Steve Jobs: A Transformational Leader

Steve Job’s is a visionary inventor who is co-founded and CEO of Apple Inc., the most valuable company in Silicon Valley. Before claiming his title as CEO he first got ousted from his company in 1985 and invited back as interim CEO in 1997. In the following decade he survived two near death experiences, one securities-law scandal, and also conceptualized and ran his product line-up to become the dominant leader in four distinct industries – music, movies, mobile phones and computing. Jobs was fittingly named Fortune’s CEO of the Decade in 2009.

A decade ago, after witnessing the almost complete collapse of the music industry which I came to know intimately through my years of work with the biggest record labels in the world, I witnessed the pure genius of Apple’s Steve Jobs as he transformed the way in which we buy and sell music in the digital realm. Here was a man whose primary industry is computing but clearly possessed abilities far beyond those of the failing record labels to recognize the music industry’s value chain and the major shift occurring in its fundamental structure as a result of the emerging digital technologies. With his launch of the iTunes music software in 2001, the iPod music player, the subsequent online store in 2002 combined with tough negotiating with major labels he managed to deliver a clear message that engaged the commerce of music once again. In my most honest personal opinion, without question, Steve Job’s saved the music industry.

While the unsettled state of the music industry still prevails, Steve Job’s has made it possible for those remaining musical soldiers to envision new business opportunities that can combine the best elements of the old model with new digital channels and a new value chain that is highly independent and dialectical.

I truly admire Steve’s brilliance and ability to handle complex problems, like the music industry’s, by focusing on the heart of the challenge at hand. How does one transform a near bankrupt company to a globally dominant and influential power? This goal, at its core, is a complex and incredibly challenging prospect to consider even for a computer expert. However, Jobs eagerly met a similar challenge in 1997 when he returned to Apple after his dismissal in 1985. Steve systematically started over from the ground up by first hiring a new management team of executives he trusted and would form the centre of the company for more than a decade. He then restructured a new product line that would provide an elegantly cool and newly sophisticated alternative to the already familiar business focused Dell or IBM PC. The iMac, a breakthrough all-in-one computer with monitor attached marked the dawn of a new computing frontier and Apple’s return. Its high price along with drastic cost cut backs allowed Jobs to build enough cash to repair Apple’s balance sheet and prepare the company for bigger and bolder investments in the future. His approach of stabilizing Apple’s foundation and preparing it for an excitingly newer and more profitable future is one approach that he uses for any venture. Whether he is remaking the music industry, movie industry or smartphone industry he always tackles the problem of the matter at its core and rebuilds the business structure from the inside out. Even when Apple’s stock prices plummeted after missing its financial targets in 2000, it hardly mattered because Steve had already laid the vital ground work for Apple’s transformation. Jobs’ transformational leadership is the key to Apple’s long-term strategic growth and sustainability.

Steve Jobs leadership qualities come from a place of personal power. He is an expert in his original field of computing and referent in his celebrity status and admirable air. His rare approach to business is what makes him stand out from your average CEO. His attire is famously unconventional to the point that his wardrobe seems to only consist of multiple pairs of Levi’s 501 blue jeans, black long-sleeved mock turtlenecks and Reebok sneakers. His quirkiness and unmistakeable design tastes are loved worldwide and mirrored in popular culture. He slums around with pop music stars and yet holds his own as a born showman. If you’ve ever seen one of his famed key note speeches you will agree that he has the qualities of an illusionist and is a spot-on perfectionist. All of his uniquely charismatic qualities contribute a great deal to his lore and provide an intriguing backdrop to the hard work and innovation that occurs behind the walls of Apple.

Jobs charisma is a key aspect to his leadership. He inspires enthusiasm of his employees to achieve more by doing the seemingly impossible. His charisma also inspires customers to buy Apple products.

Jobs even with all of his quirks, is unmistakably all about business and ensures that his managers, team leaders and designers fully understand what the Apple brand signifies. If anyone needs to know what Apple stands for, one only need understand Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs is synonymous with Apple. His original youthful vision for Apple still remains today, driven by his first love to which he returned to be an ambassador of cool and be a positive influence of change in the world. Apple is the symbol for the infinite imagination of youth and an unstoppable innovative focus. It is the symbol or ideal that Apple represents through which Steve inspires his workforce and his consumers.

My own personal experience with the Apple brand goes back to my first Power PC that I used in conjunction with music creation software. At the time most of the top producers, songwriters and programming engineers in the music industry agreed that Apple was the better platform for music creation over PC. When a client or novice would ask why, our answer would always center on the point that Apple’s architecture was more stable than PC. Even though this answer was a valid argument secretly I and my colleagues all knew the real reason why we bought Macs; Apple was all about “cool”, which was wholly in line with our feeling and passion for creating music. Apple was an inspiration for us to be the best at what we did and to strive for perfection. I think we all, in one way or another, desire to be the best at what we do and seek inspiration that can spark our cause. Steve Jobs delivers that spark and sets the example through hard work and a “never quit until it is right” commitment to his brand.

Steve’s compelling vision for an improved future for Apple is further demonstrated by his ability to successfully challenge the process. When his competitor “zigs”, he “zags”. Instead of trying to make up the PC market share, of which Apple currently owns 10.7% globally1, Jobs decides to build 327 retail stores in eleven countries2, make up 73% of the U.S. MP3 player market, become the undisputed leader in mobile phone innovation topping the global smartphone market share at 18.5%3 and take 78% of the global tablet market share in 20114. Going back to 1997 when Apple’s future was unclear any other red blooded American CEO would have done the more apparent thing and sold the company. But Jobs turned down not one but two proposals to buy Apple. Jobs friend Ellison was one of the two entities who tried to buy Apple but later became an Apple board member. Ellison is quoted as saying, “Jobs didn’t like the idea of being second guessed if it looked as if he’d returned simply to make money”. Job’s explanation to Ellison was, “with the moral high ground, he thought he could make decisions more easily and more gracefully”. Jobs set a clear example that money was not as important to him as aligning Apple’s moral principles with his own. In so doing Jobs could more easily rally his troops behind his authority decisions whereby allowing the transformational process to happen at a faster rate and more unified manner. Jobs’ enthusiasm for his company and belief in his capabilities set a prime example that fuelled Apple’s growth and success. After CEO Michael Dell of Dell Computers began a war of words at the Gartner Symposium in 1997 during Apple’s troubled period, stating, if he owned Apple he would “shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders”, Jobs then in 2006 responded after Apple’s market capitalization rose above Dell’s with an internal email reading, “Team, it turned out that Michael Dell wasn’t perfect at predicting the future”. Jobs keeps his team members close. They are like his family. He involves them in the details of the external environment surrounding Apple and celebrates with them the triumphs that come as a result of their hard work, affirming value in his workforce and rousing a competitive drive among in his team.

Jobs is very careful to avoid overexposure, limiting his visibility to speaking only to promote his highly popular products. He could have spoken about his 2004 cancer surgery before it occurred but chose to wait until after, and then only in an internal company e-email that was later on released to the press. His six month leave of absence was also told in another internal e-mail with no comment from Steve personally. The public follows Jobs in part because of his choice to remain out of the public spot light. The media’s frenzied reports and speculations during the months of announcing and selling the first iPhone are a testament to his psychological strategy. His media relations team keeps everyone in Apple’s orbit on a tight leash when it comes to public speaking. The message is the focus at Apple and one of their key business tools. Steve rehearses with his authorized executives line by line the words that they are to speak and not to speak in public. He reduces the probability for error even further by utilizing a very small number of executives to communicate the company’s message publicly.

Jobs admits that there are an incredible amount of up to 100 individuals reporting directly to him5. By this token, Jobs exemplifies characteristics of an autocratic style leadership approach. The fact that he has so many people reporting directly to him is representative for his desire for total control.

In a triumphant return to the public eye in September 2009, Steve Jobs thanked Apple’s chief operating officer Tim Cook for running the company in his absence. Steve celebrated this achievement in conjunction with his recovery with cancer as the crowd gave them both a standing ovation. Cook is one man who Jobs holds a lot of trust and empowers to do great things for the company. Cook was given authority as acting CEO during Jobs’ leave, with Jobs’ involvement in crucial decision making only when needed. In the grander scheme of Jobs corporate makeup he has instilled a tremendous amount of information regarding company procedures, corporate and moral responsibilities. The question, “What would Steve do?” is the driving thought among company executives and employees. Apple’s foundation is very strong because it has been trained by Steve to think like Steve, therefore ensuring optimal results from its members lead by a clear directive.

Jobs is not a leader you would consider to be high on emotional intelligence and participative leadership. His assertiveness and dominance as a model for his team does not allow much room for empathy or high levels of social skill. He is not one to rely on group-decision or even so much consultative-decision to democratically strive for an agreement or compromise. There is talk that he is even rude in meetings and extremely impatient6. Employees, as a result, tend to not voice their opinion as much and participate in group meetings.

It is most common for a transformational leader to concentrate on building trust however, Apple is known for keeping their future plans hush and only talking about things it has accomplished. So it can be said that Jobs might not seem to exemplify the traits of a transformational leader whom exudes personal encouragement and emotional intelligence. However, based on the fact that Jobs has transformed several companies over the years including Pixar which is a success story, bolsters Jobs’ status as a transformational leader.

Steve Jobs can be said to be a moral leader who strives to ensure his company’s motives are pure7. His crackdown on pornographic developers and applications containing pornographic content on iPhones and iPads is one example of his consistent commitment to adhere to a higher moral standard. Even though Jobs realizes that some folks do like porn and they have a right to access it if they wish, he also believes that Apple should be allowed to try and preserve the user experience they envision8. Jobs shot back at critics who opposed his moral position in 2010 when he responded to Ryan Tate’s email, a writer for Gawker.com, when he said “You might care more about porn when you have kids”9. Steve also believes that it is everyone’s moral right to be free from programs that steal private data and trash user’s batteries. Steve envisions products that will live up to these moral standards and lead the march for what he calls a “revolution”10 (in the digital domain) sighting iPad2 as the flagship product leading the cause.

Even though the above moral topics are very important issues that Jobs is doing well at upholding we cannot forget about the current largest moral responsibility society places on massive technology companies like Apple; that being green energy involvement or clean energy practices. According to a study conducted by Greenpeace in 2011, Apple’s data-storage practices earned the lowest “Clean Energy Index” score of 6.7% out of a possible 100%11. This energy index is directly related to the energy that tech companies use when storing and transmitting our data. The 500,000 square foot facility that came online in Maiden, North Carolina is the main cause for Apple’s consumption of energy that equals as much energy as 80,000 U.S. homes. Jobs may not have a good handle on Apple’s data storage energy usage issue however I wouldn’t put it past him to catch up on this problem in the not so distant future. According to his “Greener Apple” initiative statement Jobs has taken up the cause to be a global leader in energy efficiency in the products that Apple produces12. Apple has made it a point to openly discuss their plans to become a more energy efficient and greener company. Apple has taken action to remove a number of harmful chemicals from its products and initiate a recycling program that reprocess over a reported 19 million pounds of “e-waste” per year13. The success of Apple’s energy program is testament to Steve Job’s commitment to put value into action and further evidence that he goes to considerable lengths to ensure that the company enjoys long- term, sustainable success.

Jobs leadership characteristics are sometimes controversial and even scandalous but he gains the respect of his peers and customers as a transformational and charismatic leader. He may not be the text book CEO according to some psychologists but his self-centeredness and autocratic style of managing produce results from his team that keep competitors on their toes. Steve may be a college drop-out but possesses the vision and foresight that rescued Apple from near bankruptcy to become the world leader in the computing industry, music industry, movie industry and mobile phone industry.


Jobs once said, “Innovation is the distinction between a leader and a follower”14. Most would agree that Jobs is a leader who has proven again and again that his visionary ideas lead Apple’s innovative “super-engine” and keep him and Apple ahead of the pack and constantly reaching for the seemingly unreachable.