Steve Jobs: an Example Of Dedicated And Hardworking Businessman

Before his death in 2011, Steve Jobs was one of the wealthiest business leaders on the planet. He was worth an estimated $8.3 Billion dollars, making him the 110th richest person in the world (Forbes, 2011). Jobs was a brilliant man full of ideas and was someone who always wanted to make a difference in the world. Steven Paul Jobs was born Feb. 24, 1955. As a college dropout, his early fascination with electronics took him to Atari to be a video game developer. This knowledge helped him to move on and become the co-founder of Apple Computers but later resigned and eventually came back to become CEO of Apple Inc.

until he died. Jobs also started a company called NeXT Inc., a computer making company, and was at one point the owner of Pixar Animation Studios (Fell, 2011).

Apple Computers was a pioneer in the world of home based computers. Steve Jobs and his partner Steve Wozniak opened the doors to affordable technology for the masses.

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With Jobs as Vice President of the company, he was in charge of marketing (Hom, 2013). Being the head of a company at such a young age, Jobs was forced to learn leadership very quickly in order to be successful. Although he was a very good leader he was viewed by some as arrogant, mean-spirited and a lot like a dictator (Henson, 2011).

With real passion and being fully involved in whatever company he worked with, Jobs thought that all of the employees should feel the same way. Teamwork was the way that Jobs knew would make everything work (Hom, 2013).

Jobs was a stickler for perfection. He demanded it from everyone, including himself (Robertson, 2011). Apple found itself falling apart after Jobs left and when he returned, he brought the company back from the edge of bankruptcy with his reputation for strong leadership and pushing the envelope on new technology (Robertson, 2011).

Although harsh at times, Jobs showed signs of the Path-Goal Theory of Leadership. He valued his employees and, although usually making the final decisions himself, Jobs welcomed input from his team workers (Hom, 2013). With a clear vision of what needed to be done, Jobs was very effective at directing his employees on what had to be done to benefit the company. His ability in show faith in his company and its workers showed very clearly, especially when as CEO of Apple Inc., his salary was only $1 a year (Hom, 2013). If that doesn’t show passion and dedication for what you do I don’t know what does.

As CEO of Apple Inc., Jobs made it a point to stay one step ahead of consumers. His company thought that it was not the responsibility of the public to know what they wanted but theirs instead. Jobs was known for not conducting any market research because he believed if he built what the public wanted, by the time he was done they would want something different (Hom, 2013).

When it came down to business, nobody knew better than Jobs what needed to be done to be successful. When he became CEO of the floundering Apple Inc., Jobs reached out to Microsoft and offered a $150 Million investment with a non-voting minority stake in the company. Making a deal with your stiffest competition just to stay afloat is one heck of a decision, and everyone trusted his judgment (Fell, 2011). Again to prove a point that he knew what needed to be done, Jobs came out of a medical leave of absence just before he died to personally announce the IPad 2 (Robertson, 2011).

Strategy played a major part of the Steve Jobs style of leadership. While in ownership of NeXT computers, Jobs sold his company to the currently failing Apple Inc. and was later asked back to the company and eventually became its CEO (Fell, 2011). Another strategy for Jobs was with Pixar Animation Studios which he purchased from George Lucas for $10 Million and later sold to Disney for $7.4 Billion in Disney Stock which made him the largest shareholder and gave him a seat on the board (Robertson, 2011). This is where Jobs made the majority of his fortune.

With the ever changing economy and technology, Steve Jobs has managed to stay on top due his keen ability to adapt to Organizational Change. He started with producing an affordable home computer for the general public, and as times changed he kept his vision of affordable technology for everyone and repeatedly came out with new and exciting products. From the Macintosh computer to the IPod, IPhone and IPad, Jobs has shown that there is something out there for everyone and it can be affordable (Robertson, 2011).

Many of Jobs employees not only respected him as a leader but trusted him with the decisions that he made for the company. He would cut projects and divert the attention of the company to where he thought would be the most beneficial. He gained this trust by time and again proving himself and his that he was completely competent in the field in which he was working (Henson, 2011).

In conclusion, Steve Jobs was one of the richest business leaders in the world because of his hard work and dedication to the companies he worked for and owned. His innovative mind and leadership changed the way that people consume data on a daily basis. Passion for what you do is very important to being successful. If you don’t love what you do, you will quit and never be successful. Steve Jobs proved his passion for what he did over and over again but the one thing that both surprised me and didn’t surprise me is that Jobs had an annual salary of $1 while CEO of Apple Inc. That is the definition of passion and dedication. He put his heart and soul into his work and didn’t take anything in salary in return for his efforts.

"We started out to get a computer in the hands of everyday people, and we succeeded beyond our wildest dreams."-Steve Jobs (Robertson, 2011)