Attitude for the professional in you

Everybody is probably familiar with Google's famous catchphrase, "Don't be evil." It has become a mission statement for Silicon Valley, speaking towards upholding ideals of attitude that are good for business and good for the world, such as embracing open platforms, trusting the public opinion of customer bases, and of course embracing a positive attitude towards employees. Ironically, one of the most successful CEOs in the world, Apple's Steve Jobs, has historically ignored these points in doing business. Google and Apple may have a friendly relationship (Google CEO Eric Schmidt even sits on Apple's board), but by Google's definition, Apple isn't exactly angelic, behaving more like an old-fashioned industrial titan than a uniquely ingenious business of the future.

THE EVIL GENIUS from Wired Magazine

Despite his wild success, Jobs seems to lead with a closed, somewhat dictatorial attitude towards Apple’s consumers and employees. According to a TIME magazine article last month, Jobs doesn't hold focus groups - "it doesn't ask people what they want. It tells them what they're going to want next." He continues to ignore iPhone users' requests to have a replaceable battery, which exemplifies how he exploits Apple's cult following. As for his attitude towards treating employees, Jobs subscribes to the "Great Man Theory" of leadership, which is a model of executive power that is outdated. His attitude towards management has been described in Bill Taylor’s blog for Harvard Business Review as, "the regular rules do not apply. That means shrouding his company in secrecy; treating his employees to tyrannical outbursts; and refusing basic accommodations that would make beautifully designed products more customer-friendly." Touted in this blog, although he pushes his employees to make some pretty impressive and innovative products, he is a horrible person to work for and it’s because of one thing – an arrogant, closed attitude in his approach to leadership and running his divine tech giant.

SUCCESS NONETHELESS

Despite his attitude, undoubtedly, Jobs will go down as one of the most creative, visionary, and powerful business leaders in history. As posed in Taylor’s article, “how many corporate execs can make a legitimate claim to have reshaped not just one industry but four: computing (the Mac), music (the iPod), mobile communications (the iPhone), and movies (Pixar)? And how many CEOs can make the legitimate claim that they achieved their wealth and power by making tens of millions of people so unbelievably happy that they worship the company and its products with almost religious devotion?” Although Jobs has proven to be less of humanitarian and employee conscious leader, he has the ability to choose otherwise. He has dominated 4 industries. "Can you imagine if Jobs' quest for perfection was met with a kinder, humbler attitude that didn't generally overrule the brilliance of his own management and employees? What could the tech world look like today? Next to the iPod, iPhone, and iPad on Jobs' desk, he should consider incorporating an iBOTTLE into the mix.

by Raju Kansagra

e: rkansagra@goibelieve.com

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Raju is a business owner in New Jersey. He graduated from Boston College with a bachelors in finance and philosophy. After trading on Wall Street for many years, Raj shifted focus to pursue his entrepreneurial interests. He is a co-founder of iB-LIEVE and the director of product development.