Reference no: EM133266651
Case Study:
Steven Jobs is probably the most famous entrepreneur of the late 20th and early 21st centuries and will continue to leave his indelible mark as both an inspirational leader and abusive manager. Recognized as a creator of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, along with Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak, Jobs was famously fired from Apple in 1985 after a clash with John Sculley, Apple's CEO at the time. He was criticized for being obstinate and for having tunnel vision with his then pet project, the Macintosh, amid unacceptable sales and a plunging stock price.91
An antagonistic and severe supervisor could be viewed as a motivating leader if the results are positive. Nevertheless, that same leadership style could be acknowledged as offensive. Jobs' screaming at his people and asserting his precise meaning of perfection was ironically not only accepted but also embraced when Apple flourished. Robert Bies of Georgetown University stated, "With Jobs, there is plenty of evidence of abuse. But you can see that he's a motivator. He was pushing the envelope for excellence in products."92
Kim Scott, cofounder and CEO of Candor, Inc. worked with Jobs and noted that Steve purposely created at Apple a culture of debate and confrontation to achieve excellent results. The question Scott believed that Jobs needed to address was, "How do you create A culture of debate without creating a 'mean' culture or destroying team relationships?"93 Scott's observations of Jobs' behavior lead her to the following conclusions on how Jobs tried to make debate and confrontation work, methods that sometimes failed.
1. Take out the ego. Jobs was completely against iTunes running on a Windows platform. However, he not only allowed the debate for Windows but actually switched sides and supported the opposition when he thought that the Windows supporters were conceding their position to him.
2. Deepen your relationship. Jobs had an amazingly strong connection with his key people. For example, COO Tim Cook offered Steve part of his liver for a cancer treatment; Steve refused to accept even though doing so might have saved his life. At Steve's memorial service, Apple's chief design officer Jony I've described Steve Jobs as his best friend.
3. Create an obligation to dissent. Steve insisted that it is the employees' responsibility to express themselves if contradicted. If dispute is expected, people will feel more uncomfortable when it is not occurring than when it is.
4. Be willing to be wrong and insist that people tell you when you are wrong. Steve Jobs believed, "I don't mind being wrong. And I'll admit that I'm wrong a lot. It doesn't really matter to me too much. What matters to me is that we do the right thing." When an employee caved in during a debate with Jobs, and ultimately Jobs was proved wrong, he exclaimed, "Well, it was your job to convince me I was wrong, and you failed!"94
5. Ultimately, speak the truth. Like Jobs, many managers steamroll over employees, or worse, do not speak up when they disagree. A culture that encourages and rewards differences, open discussion, and appropriate risk innovates and ultimately succeeds. A culture that rewards contentment and disciplines blunders perishes.95
Although Steve Jobs was more well-known as the leader at Apple, COO Tim Cook was known for being an effective manager running the day-to-day operations. Cook took over as CEO of Apple in 2011, but he didn't try to be a clone of Jobs. Cook uses his own leadership style and has changed the culture at Apple so that although conflict and confrontation is valued, it is handled in a nicer manner (i.e., without comments such as "that is a stupid idea"). Under Cook's leadership, Apple has also released such new products as the Apple Card, AirPods, and HomePod.
Questions to answer:
Many have argued that traditional organizational hierarchies structure conflict. Using transactional analysis explain Jobs' ego state and how that may have created his seemingly "split" personality when it came to conflict.
When Jobs asked why something occurred his employee pointed out that it had been Steve's call, Steve exclaimed, "Well, it was your job to convince me I was wrong, and you failed!" This is an example of which type of transaction - explain your answer.
Reading the case and seeing the video, describe whether you think Jobs was passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive or assertive.
From the case, describe what Jobs would consider his psychological contract with his employees.
What style or styles of conflict do you believe Jobs employed at Apple? Explain your answer.
What style of conflict resolution would you use as an employee respond to Jobs' statement that "Well, it was your job to convince me I was wrong, and you failed!"