Collaborative Leadership

I find Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, a fascinating character.  As a gradual (and sceptical) convert to Apple products, from an iPod to an iPhone to a Macbook, it is great to hear the insights of how the company, and particularly it’s leader, operates.

In this shortened version of an interview, Jobs explains how he is a ‘facilitator’, not a manager, and how committees are frowned upon.  What I like is the recognition that to attract and retain key people means accepting that they will often know more than the man at the top.

There’s also an open culture to challenge other leaders, which helps to inspire ideas.  What Jobs does, almost subconsciously, is to realise that within this culture, each key employee will be motivated in different ways, and therefore needs to be recognised differently.  If we conducted a motivation review of his team I would guess most would reflect the company culture, but there would still be a few surprises.  Click here for more information on individual motivators.

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