Daar is al baie oor Steve Jobs gesê en dat daar nog baie oor hom gesê gaan word, is so seker soos dat daar binnekort ’n nuwer weergawe van die iPad sal verskyn.
Dit is egter nie net Steve Jobs se uittrede as CEO van Apple wat my interesseer nie, maar ook sy leierseienskappe. Wat is dit wat hy het wat gemaak het dat Apple vandag een van die grootste maatskappye in die wêreld is en boonop miljoene fanatiese aanhangers het?
I scrutinised the web and printed media and made the following shortlist of what made Steve so successful:
- Steve Jobs may not be the greatest technologist or engineer of his generation. But he is perhaps the greatest user of technology to ever live.
- He is able to see a company from the outside, rather than inside as most managers do.
- Steve trusted his instinct. Some may call it vision. That required an ability to think first and foremost as someone who lives with technology rather than produces it. And he was willing to gamble based on that instinct.
- He was Apples’ biggest fan. If you listen to Steve’s legendary presentations over the years, he comes across not as the creator of a product so much as its very first fan.
- Steve has a great eye for talent and the bigger picture. He taught his organization to develop a product for the second or third generation rather than a once off.
Apple was onder Steve nie altyd die maklikste plek om jou brood te verdien nie. Mense wat hom ken en ook die binnewerke van Apple beleef het, beskryf Jobs so toeganklik soos ’n junkyard dog.
Onder Steve Jobs se leierskap was Apple a brutal and unforgiving place, where accountability is strictly enforced, desicions are swift, and communication is attriculated clearly from the top.
In baie organisasies sou bostaande korporatiewe kultuur reglynig bots met wat van ‘n leier verwag word: geloofwaardigheid, bedagsaamheid, sensitiwiteit, nederigheid asook ’n goeie dosis kreatiwiteit, intelligensie en ’n strategiese brein soos Napoleon.
Maar hoe het Steve dit dan reggekry om net met die helfte van bogenoemde eienskappe te oorleef? Kenners beweer dat mense hom sy gebreke vergeef het, want wat hy aan takt en sensitiwiteit ontbreek het, het hy opgemaak met sy ongelooflike en helder visie vir dít wat hy vir Apple wou hê.
Die vertrek van Steve Jobs laat Applewerknemers en -aanhangers met ’n bekommernis oor die pad wat vir hulle geliefde produk wag, want met Steve besig om aan die appel te kou, kon hulle rustig slaap … en wag vir nog ’n WOW-produk!
Miskien is dit gepas om Steve die laaste woord te laat inkry (party sal sê, soos gewoonlik): Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.
Nog ‘n paar aanhalings van Steve Jobs:
Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.
I want to put a ding in the universe.
We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them.
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.
Source:
Cliff Kuang: FastCompany
Joe Nocera: New York Times
Image: Nutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot
