Today, I read the new article from Walter Isaacson in the Harvard Business Review, Issue April 2012. It is a really good summary of some habits from Steve Jobs. I like this article, because there are some relevant insights within a few pages.
Isaacson mentions following leadership principles (see [Isaa12]):
- Focus
- Simplify
- Take Responsibiliy End to End
- When Behind, Leapfrog
- Put Products Before Pofits
- Don’t Be a Slave to Focus Groups
- Bend Reality
- Impute
- Push for Perfection
- Tolerate Only “A” Players
- Engage Face-to-Face
- Know Both the Big Picture and The Details
- Combine the Humanities with The Sciences
- Sty Hungry, Stay Foolish
Although Steve Jobs has never articulated these principles, he has lived them by nature at Apple. In my opinion: No matter how many leaders and companies you will look at, you will never find all these principles within one executive.
Take a look at the article from Isaacson, it is definitely worth being read.
Reference list:
- [Isaa12] Isaacson, Walter: “The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs”, Harvard Business Review, Issue April 2012, Volume 90, Number 4, pp. 92-102, HBR Reprint R1204F; Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review, 2012