For those of you who did not read Walter Isaacson’s biography called Steve Jobs, I would encourage you to read his most recent article in the April 2012 issue of the Harvard Business Review called “The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs.” Six months after Job’s death, Isaacson identifies fourteen practices that every CEO and their leadership team should embrace. In this thoughtful and excellent essay, the author outlines fourteen imperatives behind Job’s approach: focus; simplify; take responsibility end to end; when behind, leapfrog; put products before profits; don’t be a slave to focus groups; bend reality; impute; push for perfection; know both the big picture and the details; tolerate only “A” players; engage face-to-face; combine the humanities with the sciences; and “stay hungry, stay foolish.”
While many people have focused on the rough edges of Job’s personality, it is good to read an article which focuses on what he actually accomplished, namely the transformation of the following industries: personal computing, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, retail stores, and digital publishing. I hope that many senior teams will read and discuss together this article during the coming weeks. Many of the core concepts will generate great debate and dialogue. Given Job’s impact, his aforementioned fourteen key concepts are worth exploring.
Here is a link to the on-line version for those of you who do not have a subscription: http://hbr.org/2012/04/the-real-leadership-lessons-of-steve-jobs/ar/1
I hope you find this article thought-provoking and helpful as you think about and plan for the future.
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