It’s not easy being a creative genius who changes one industry after another, that takes a lot out of a person, of course, those who do will go down in history as the eminent achievers of their time. Steve Jobs was no exception. One thing I’ve learned while running a think tank is that with such abundant brilliance often comes a little baggage or at least less than stellar attributes, at least by society’s politically correct standards that is. Okay so, let’s talk about this for a brief moment shall we?
There was an interesting article on the Forbes Blog recently by Gene Marks titled; “Steve Jobs Was a Jerk. Good for Him,” posted on October 10, 2011. Gene stated;
“In his personal life, Jobs was no angel. According to Tate he “regularly belittled people, swore at them, and pressured them until they reached their breaking point. In the pursuit of greatness he cast aside politeness and empathy. The verbal abuse never stopped.” Sounds like a real jerk, doesn’t he? I wish I could be more like that.”
Well, this was an interesting article. I’d say rather than using the “jerk” term – we might just say “highly autocratic” and perhaps a “little dictator” type. It is rather amazing that someone could run such a large company in such an autocratic way. I see Larry Ellison does too, and other highly successful folks. Call it Machiavellian if we desire, but it worked, Apple is a huge success. Steve Jobs could be called an “Ayn Rand” character based on your article, so be it.
Demanding performance and watching the details with vengeance is needed to make it happen. That’s how I always ran my companies, and no I didn’t care what anyone else thought either, only the score board. Steve Jobs saw the company as an extension of self, we all felt that when he was on stage. He was the spokesman behind the vision, his vision, or the highway. It worked, he won. And, I agree the article listed above, it’s just that I don’t like the term “jerk” as it seems like a jealous adolescent slur in many regards.
But, Gene’s point is completely well taken here. So, we ought to celebrate the winners in the world, even with any perceived baggage we see, because often that baggage is an asset. All hail the individual visionary and creative genius eminent achiever, which Steve Jobs was, and thus, his vision will live on. Personally, I don’t own any Apple products and do not anticipate on owning any, but he developed a cultish following, he did it his way, and he proved that “individual” will is paramount for success.
As a society we should be very weary of attacking the “individual” or demanding political correctness, as we all lose if we do. If Steve Jobs didn’t run things the way he did, or push that hard, we’d be without. Remember Microsoft tried to do the same thing with mobile communication 10-years the prior and they gave up on the project, battered by bureaucracy, FCC frequency bidding, and angry competitors crying monopoly. Perhaps, humans could have had all this technology 10-years ago – it did exist back then too.
Sometimes it takes a “take no prisoners” type fearless and ruthless leader to make it happen, that is to say it takes an individual with that sort of personality. In our haste to make everyone equal through political correctness we are killing the opportunity for more Steve Jobs types in the future, so this should be a lesson to all of is, that is if we want innovation and forward progression. Please think on this.