Follow the discussion of M.Azim Ulfati

•  What makes the person an effective leader or manager in terms of the seven competencies and please provide specific examples to support your response.

I would like to discuss about Steve cofounder and CEO of Apple. He cofounded Apple in the garage of his parent’s in 1976, was ousted in 1985, returned to rescue it from near bankruptcy in 1997, and by the time he died, in October 2011, had built it into the world’s most valuable company. Along the way he assisted to transform seven industries: personal computing, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, retail stores, and digital publishing.

Steve Jobs was the founder of Apple and Pixar and during his tenure was an iconic manager with a passion for embracing challenges believed to be impossible. In his lifetime he saw the span of business from near bankruptcy, to hostile takeover to corporate world domination. Finally could inspire and influence a world full of people. His eclectic collection of beliefs set him apart from many other leaders in the World. With a passionate single-minded focus on his vision of the future, he was able to create simplicity to replace dysfunction. His spiritual beliefs invigorated the effort and inspired him to "Think Differently," which very well could have kept him grounded in the moment.

These are the top 5 Leadership styles and strategies of Steve Jobs, which is admired, emulated and aspired to as a leader and a professional.

The first leadership style is; Make Things Easier. For instance, when Job's designed the iPod he eliminated the on/off button, instead the iPod continuously powered down, and flashed on when turned back on. Job's went to great lengths to create the complexity behind the scenes so that the user experience was simple and intuitive. An ecological environment-an iPod could then be connected to an apple computer, which would then be connected to an apple cloud service (iTunes)-allotted for a separation of functions. The Apple Computer could administer the global system, allowing the portable devices to be free to play music or show videos. This lead jobs to create the iPhone which, when compared with competitors could be utilized out of the box without a user's manual and toward the end of his life he was starting to design his vision for the simplification of TV.(Chris) 

The second leadership style or strategy is; create a consistent experience.

From the beginning Job's and Apple took responsibility of the users experience from end to end within their system. From the manufacturing process, where they ended up purchasing their own facilities around the world to the experience within their various online stores and social media forums, it is all very tightly networked. This may be in part due to Steve Jobs need for personal control but also because of his vision of the factor of market differentiation consistency gives you and his personal passion for perfectionism. (Chris)

The third leadership style is; revolutionize, be original! All innovators aren't necessarily pioneers they may just be modernizing an outdated industry. Innovators don't have to be inventors. Especially in technology it takes a very keen eye on evolving trends and technologies to stay ahead of the curve.(Chris)

For example, when Apple had the original iMac computer it didn't play music or CD's or burn CD's at time when that was the current trend. As the retail market continued to download music and burn CD's here Apple sat with a PC that had a drive that couldn't burn CD's. Instead of being tempted to jump on the trend of the moment Jobs began creating the system of the future, which eventually became iTunes and revolutionized the music industry. Who would have though iTunes ratings would be used in place of radio requests or CD purchases in just a short time to define a successful album or song?

The fourth leadership style is; be fearless. Steve Jobs was well known for his ability and passion for pursuing the impossible. This was coined his "Reality Distortion Field", in honor of an episode of Star Trek in which extraterrestrials create an alternate reality through pure power of will. For example, one time when he was younger working at Atari it was reported that he was able to will games into creation within days when other programing teams would take months. (Chris)

The fifth leadership style is; be confident. Leaders have to be decisive which means they must be confident in themselves and their vision. Steve Job's embodied this again and again as he built his various organizations. For example, one particular story told was when he figured out that iPhones scratched too easy and that the front needed to be glass. He scheduled a meeting with the CEO or Corning Glass Company to find out that that they had a special glass patent that would work but they weren't currently manufacturing it. He put in a huge order to be delivered in 6 months, when questioned by the CEO of Corning he looked him straight in the eye and said trust me it can be done. They were able to meet the demand. (Chris)

In conclusion I would say that Steve Jobs was an unconventional and unique leader. His management and leadership style wasn't the stuff of university textbooks - he wasn't known for his consultative or consensus building approach.

He was a "high-maintenance co-worker" who has great confidence in his beliefs and demanded excellence in his environment.

While some people see him as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

Reference

Sarah , M. (n.d.). Steve jobs: an unconventional leader. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/management/steve-jobs-an-unconventional-leader-20111007-1lcmo.html

Chris, S. (n.d.). The top 5 leadership principles i learned from steve jobs. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Top-5-Leadership-Principles-I-Learned-From-Steve-Jobs&id=7206512