Should Steve Jobs “management style” continue?







Why do employees put up with it?






A players hire A+ players



Jobs own take on his demanding reputation:


Should this ‘Leadership Legacy’ really continue?



RIP Steve Jobs!


6 thoughts on “Should Steve Jobs “management style” continue?

  1. Pingback: The Intuitive Group Pays Tribute to Steve Jobs « The Intuitive Group, Inc. on Personal Growth & Leadership

  2. I am so encouraged to read this post — I have long held that Steve Jobs was the perfect example of how complex the bully label can be. In fact, when I proposed writing a piece for a major news outlet (not HuffingtonPost), the reply was that they loved Steve Jobs and would not publish anything negative about him. So much for objectivity!

    The fact that you ended the post with no clear conclusion was a perfect demonstration of just how inconclusive the topic is. There is no real answer. Clearly, had any employee set out to eliminate Jobs because he was a bully, they’d quickly find that law or no law, they would lose that battle. Claims that anti-bully policies weed out bully leaders are absurd. Moreover, as you ask, bully or not, would getting rid of Jobs been wise? He may well have been the boss from hell, I don’t know. But I do know that even bullies have something to offer, but the more we tag them with the bully label, the less likely they are to change.


  3. The problem with some bullies is that they own the playground. They have ultimate control over everything – from the way people think, talk and act, to how they conduct themselves and whether or not they speak up or out. The various laws that exist in different countries make it extremely difficult to speak up or to even write about bullying behaviours particularly by those who are ‘well respected’. In some cases, it might well be that the ‘alleged bully’ is not a particularly bad person, it is just that their behaviours are such that they are perceived to be a bully. Once their behaviours are changed, they come back to the rest of general population.
    Boards want CEOS in place because they expect the CEO will drive the organisation to get results or outcomes. Publicly listed companies have shareholders who want a return on investment. In the process, some people do get exposed to bullying behaviours.
    As for selection, there is also a view that like picks like. So if the bully sits at the top of the tree, it is likely that they will pick a ‘clone’, and so it goes on down the line.
    The whole issue about bullying and harassment is a complex matter requiring complex solutions. Simply changing legislation will not working. The more difficult task comes when changes have to be made to culture, not only in the workplace, but also in society, particularly when it comes to tolerating and accepting abuse of power, that many of us describe as bullying. We need a world where all people are treated with respect and dignity, not abuse, intolerance, intimidation, threats or other coercive behaviours.


    • Thank you for your comment. I agree that legislation is not a panacea. But, I do believe that women’s position in the workplace was dramatically influenced by sexual harassment legislation and it did force the corporate culture to change. Obviously the problem still exists but I doubt many women who lived through it would want to go back to the way things were. My hope is that the same will happen here. I’m supporting the petition for national legislation because I think that it’s time to start making changes in the corporate culture. I like the petition because it’s not trying to dictate a solution – but rather asks that representatives of many different sides of the issue come together to try to find a workable solution.


  4. Steve Jobs worship is sickening. He was a feckless snake oil salesman whose ‘brilliance’ was nothing more than the ability to manipulate and charm others into giving him control of their intellectual property. He bullied workers because inside he was a small man. People with real power don’t display it by pushing others around like a child when things don’t go their way. He created a need and sold it to people desperate for an identity, to be an original like the millions of others who purchased something they never knew they couldn’t live with out. YAY.


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