HR management assignment essay on: Leadership & its styles
- Introduction:
The main aim of this work is to know in depth the leadership style of Apple CEO Steve Jobs. This is done through the analysis of his leadership attributes in general and in comparison to a business leader. This will help in contemplating whether Steve Jobs leadership style matched the leadership theories and whether Steve Jobs proved to be an idol leader for his followers.Steve was often known as Silicon Valley venture and the creator of altogether unique leadership ideas. He can be best described as the co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. He provided is services in Apple from 1998 to 2011. He was regarded as the pioneer in personal computer revolution. He was also the co-founder and chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios (Day, 2000). In 2006 he became a member of board of directors of Walt Disney Company. He was the one who brought a phenomenal change in Apple Inc. and in a short span of time made Apple Company among the top players in the market of informational technologies.
In today’s highly competitive world good and an influential leadership is the key determinant in the success and failure of an organization (Giber, Carter & Goldsmith, 2000). This paper looks at both the personal and professional behavioral attributes of Steve Jobs which reflect his leadership style and ideas. While Jobs stood a charismatic CEO for Apple yet some of his employees from different times described him as a temperamental director. According to Elkind, Steve Jobs exhibited the characteristics of both transactional and transformational leadership styles. He can be best described as a composite mixture of these two leadership styles. He was quick in his decisions ,yelled at his employees frequently ,was harsh and even brought them to tears .Thus possession all the micromanagement tendencies yet he possessed a vision that was transcending through which he was able to quickly connect with his customer base and the employees of Apple (House, 1971).
Weber explained that charisma is an attribute assigned by followers to a leader and it is not some objective collection of traits. Giber, Carter & Goldsmith, 2000in their work defined transformational relationship as formation of relationship between a leader and set of followers (including favorable attributes from followers). This kind of relationship leads to commitment towards goals set by leader, respect towards and identification with the leader and collective effort on part of followers to achieve goals. Thus, according to them charisma arises out of interaction between attributes of leader as well as the followers. Positive individual and organizational outcomes have been found to be associated with transformationalleadership (Bass et al.1990).Due to the inspiration provided by transformational leader the followers think they have the ability to reach desired goals. On the other hand transactional leader creates clear and defined structures .In this the employees are clear of their roles and responsibilities. Punishments are not always laid out but there is always a set of disciplinary rules that are in tacked. Transactional and transformational leadership styles are not mutually exclusive and are seen to be complementary to each other. Facteau, C et al 1998 refers to these complementary styles as composite leaders.
Steve Jobs fits the composite style of both transformational and transactional leadership. But yet he does not completely match the attributes of one particular leadership style.Steve Jobs was someone who was feared in Silicon Valley because of his autocratic nature. His employees feared the consequence of being sacked if they fall under the category of `bozos’ as termed by Steve Jobs. He categorized employees as genius or bozos.Another transactional attribute that Steve Jobs possessed was his propensity to bring into his control every aspect of business.He thus reflected the micromanagement tendencies and thus was known as a “control freak extraordinaire” (House, 1971). Another characteristic that Jobs possessed was his obesity with details and lack of trust towards his subordinates. For instance he was too detail oriented ,he even look into small management and operational activities like the type of food that should be served at the launch as well as how the room would be decorated (House, 1971).
Steve was regarded as one the best transactional leader but yet he was extreme in both transactional and transformational space. His power of persuasion and his proactive approach were some of his attributes that distinct him from others leaders. He was recognized as one of the most charismatic people of computer industry. Transformation al leaders should believe in their own vision and route to achieve those (Bruce, Avolio, Fred, & Todd, 2009). Steve believed that highly engaged employees can contribute in organization success rate. Jobs say in his own words, “The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.Moreover it has been stated that the transformational leader possess an ability to fall in the same line with their followers while at the same time differentiate themselves and justify their power to lead the group .For instance Steve relates himself to his Macintosh group by relating their attributes with his personality. He stated that the people working in the Macintosh team were musicians; poets etc. and yet were great informational scientists. But he differentiated himself by projecting himself as an exemplary individual in his field.
Thus Steve Jobs can be termed as a composite leader. He was extremes in his behavioral attributes and was someone who was greatly feared and admired at the same time. Thus his leadership style was way apart from the leadership styles mentioned in the theories.
Steve Jobs a phenomenal and a revolutionary individual in the market of informational technologies possessed characteristics and attributes that were different from the other leaders of his era .For instance if we compare the leadership style of Steve Jobs with Carly Fiorina. She was born in 1954 in Austin, Texas. Because of her father frequent job changes, Carly moved to numerous places throughout her childhood. Carly studied philosophy and history from Stanford University. After completing her bachelor degree Carly studied law at UCLA and dropped out of UCLA. After she dropped out of law school, she got married and eventually it resulted into a divorce and also in number of career shifts. After dropping out of law school, a marriage that eventually ended in divorce, and number of career changes.
In 1980, Carly joined AT& T as a sales representative. She married Frank J Fiorina, AT & T Executive. Carly carried an interest in the field of network .This surprised her male coworkers as she joined a male dominated network system. She was the the first female officer in the divisionof network and after fewyears she became head of North American sales. With her success, AT&T had chosen Fiorina as a lead to their new venture Lucent. While with Lucent she received many accolades. In 1998 she was listed among top most powerful women in the business by Fortune magazine. Fiorina stayed with Lucent until she was offered another role with Hewlett- Packard.
Hewlett- Packard is among the big firms in the market of informational technologies. HP is famous for printer and personal computer. Their product offering includes printers, computer, digital camera, computer and services. In 1939, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard founded; it not only focused on household but other markets such as medical.
- Leadership style:
Carly Fiorina was the first female CEO in the list of Fortune 20 companies. In 2002, Carly played a lead role in HP merger with Compaq Computers. This merger was regarded as one the great high tech mergers in the history. Her risk taking abilities and new ideas to help customer prospers in digital age helped her receiving numerous awards.
Carly Fiorina leadership style can be termed as one that was job centric. She performed her job to the perfection and always accomplished the goals each year and became CEO of HP.The task which her top executives planned and wanted to execute in a year, she wanted to accomplish the same in three months. Many executive’s felt that they have very little or less time for rest or sleep. This type of authority-compliance leadership style went very wrong and led to high employee turnover. Fiorina in her tenure of six months was successful in leading HP and making it one of the top companies in the field if information technology but she failed to understand the needs of her own internal staff (Bracken & Timmreck, 2001). Fiorina was a great motivational speaker; she was able to motivate her employees about work goals, power and skill to excel in work. But she was unable to upbeat her employees and provide them motivation to accomplish their own goals. She failed to link their personal goals to the company goals. Lack of delegation and keeping control and ownership of work to herself was another flaw in her style of leading HP (Evans, 1970).
Carly Fiorina was very enthusiastic anddynamic in her approach. While she was efficient in her work, still she was not able to transfer work to her subordinates. She used to take projects but in spite of reorganizing her divisions she was not successful in delivering the best. Another mistaken tactic which she adopted was to bring out drastic changes in a very short span when there was lack of resources to handle the same. Carly did what HP hired her for but she failed to recognize the important steps in achieving the goals, her lack of trust and inability to delegate became major flaws in her leadership style. This ultimately led HP asking for her resignation.
Steve Jobs success story can be attributed to his creativity in the decision process; his ability to adapt himself and his leadership styles to the changing situations in the market .Under Steve leadership Apple contributed in a remarkable way by introducing graphical user interface in 1984. His decision making power is evident from the alliance of apple with Microsoft.He brought about a change in Apple contribution in market by shifting the focus of the company to software leasing to the development of iTunes which further lead to the success if apple iPod.He followed a customer centric approach which led to the success of Apple. He was always prepared to take personal risks (Bender, 2009). For instance his decision of alliance of Apple with Microsoft, partnering with Bill Gates carried a greater degree of risk .but he always portrayed sensitivity towards his subordinates by attributing the success of the company to each and every employee of Apple. He always took a proactive leadership role in achieving the objective and goals of the company. He developed and laid out predetermined goals in achieving the vision of the company .He made sure that each and every predetermined objective is communicated and well versed by his employees. He also took steps in influencing and motivating his staff to work towards the predetermined structured objectives. He at times was harsh to his staff and people also feared from his behavioral attributes. But yet he provided his employees an inspiration and conviction to work towards the success of company’s vision (Barker, 2009). 
Thus, Cary Fiorina and Steve Jobs leadership attributes were different from each other.Though the effectiveness of leadership traits and attributes are dependent on varied factors like environmental, situational factors etc. But yet Steve Jobs against all odds provided a better leadership style to Apple as compared to Carly Fiorina leadership era in HP. He maintained good relations and portrayed sensitivity in dealings with his employees which Carly Fiorina did not attain to a greater level. Carly Fiorina downfall was attributed to her failure to relate and influence her followers whereas Steve Jobs kept his followers upbeat and motivated to convert the predetermined goals to actual ones.
Conclusion
As said by Steve himself faith, love and death always motivated him to take decisions in his life. With time Steve learned to use his attributes to strive for perfection and to control the command of people in a positive way. This paper highlighted how Steve stood as a remarkable leader while challenging the theories of leadership. He didn’t fit into any one leadership style yet he proved to be a great leader who brought a revolutionary change in the field if information technology. He possessed the characteristics of both transformational and transactional leaders (Bass, 1990) with comparison to Carly Fiorina we saw how their personal and behavioral attributes contributed to the success or failure to the goals. Though Steve was autocratic towards his employees.Yet he ensured that he kept his staff motivated towards the vision of organization.
Recommendations It is important for a leader to adapt to the changing situations and mold his leadership attributes and style to the situation. A true leader is recognized by how he handles his employees in both good and the bad times. It is essential to be systematic and structured in the approach if achieving and working towards the goals but yet it is important to give flexibility and maintaining sensitivity towards your own employees. This is because a leader is determined by his followers (Ashour, 1973). A leader cannot be determined by any one particular style but the ability to come out with appropriate attributes in different situations makes a leader a revolutionary and a phenomenal one.
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