In this paper, the leadership style of Steve Jobs is evaluated. The researcher chose tech-genius who revolutionized the computer, music and publishing industries but also because he is a true visionary leader who was able to communicate his vision of “computer for the rest of us” and bring his followers (staff, investors, customers) in his journey of achieving the vision. The objectives of this paper are: first, to evaluate the leader that I have chosen in terms of his leadership style, ethical conduct and effective communication; second, to determine three best practices organizational leaders can use to motivate employees; third, to discuss some of the challenges that leaders encounters when managing diversity and how diversity helps business organizations to better compete in global markets; and fourth, to develop an effective business strategy to address the challenges and issues.
A successful leader inspires others. The leader who have inspired and made a positive impact on my life is Steven Paul Jobs or Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs was the co-founder, chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc. Mclnerney (2011) described him as an unconventional leader who displayed an out-of-the-box management style; other writers considered him as a high-maintenance co-worker who required and demanded excellence from his staff. Petriglieri (2011) portrayed Jobs leadership as beautiful and functional just like his products that were works of arts. Jobs principles include “idea that work and passion can go hand-in-hand. That success can be a consequence of a life lived fully. That who we are can shape our work roles, and not the other way around. That being authentic can be rewarded, and enduring derision and failure without losing faith is ultimately worth it. That the true measure of success is how much meaning your work brings to yourself and others” (Petrilieri, 2011).
It is apparent that Jobs was viewed differently by various individual. With all the descriptions mentioned, the tech-genius had inspired me not just because he revolutionized the computer, music and publishing industries but also because he is a true visionary leader who was able to communicate his vision of “computer for the rest of us” and bring his followers (staff, investors, customers) in his journey of achieving the vision. The objectives of this paper are: first, to evaluate the leader that I have chosen in terms of his leadership style, ethical conduct and effective communication; second, to determine three best practices organizational leaders can use to motivate employees; third, to discuss some of the challenges that leaders encounters when managing diversity and how diversity helps business organizations to better compete in global markets; and fourth, to develop an effective business strategy to address the challenges and issues.
Leadership, as defined by Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy (2012) is the process of influencing an organized group toward achieving its goal. According to Bennett (2009) it is the key factor that determines the ultimate success or failure of an organization. Academic textbooks teach us that there are several leadership styles or approaches, which are based on varying theories and assumptions. Nevertheless, Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy (2012) emphasized that there is no simple recipe for effective leadership. The style that a leader uses will be based on the combination of his beliefs, preferences, values, and the culture and norms of the organization.
The prevailing leadership thinking, as mentioned by Ismail et al (2011) classified leadership as either transformational or transactional. On the one hand, Bass (1990) and Bennett (2009) characterized a transformational leader as someone who is intuitive and charismatic. Transformational leadership as discussed by Bennett (2009) entails creating a vision, selling the vision, inspiring greater performance, fostering creative ideas, and being sensitive to the needs of others. Moreover, it has been proven to result in increases in productivity and employee satisfaction. On the other hand, transactional leaders work within existing culture. They ensure that the members of the organization are doing things correctly. Rewards are given based on the performance. Also, necessary action is made once the performance is found to deviate from what is expected. Bennett (2009) further stated that the good thing about transactional leadership is that it can build an environment of loyalty and trust if rewards are given since the awarding of the promised rewards likely results to job satisfaction.
A combination of the characteristics of the transformational and transactional leaders is the composite leader. I classify Steve Jobs as one.
Apple Inc. was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozinak, and Ronald Wayne in 1976. It is the provider of consumer electronics and personal computers. It comprised of retail stores operating in different countries all over the world. The products of the company include computer software (Mac OS X), Mac personal computers, computer hardware and portable media players (iPod). The introduction of the first graphical user interface in 1984 is the first commercially successful contribution of the company in the digital.
Apple Inc. was described by Wilcox (2002) as a company that has a unique culture. The work culture at Apple was driven by passion for new and innovative products and is often described as “fun yet demanding”. Moreover, the corporate culture at Apply Inc. was illustrated by intense work ethics in which the employees work in a creative, relaxed and casual environment, were results-driven and with strong commitment to deadlines.
Evaluation: Steve Jobs’ Leadership Style
I mentioned earlier in this paper that Steve Jobs posses both the characteristics of a transactional and transformational leaders; he is a composite leader. He was someone to be admired and feared. According to Tim (2009) the personality of Jobs as being charismatic and at the same time tyrannical lead to the success of Apple.
Best Practices Organizational Leaders Can Use to Motivate Employees
Motivation is defined as anything that provides direction, intensity, and persistence to behavior. Motivation is an important aspect of performance and many of the approaches to understanding motivation have distinct implications for increasing performance and satisfaction. There are several different theories of motivation. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs assumes that people are motivated to satisfy a universal set of needs. Achievement orientation views motivation as a personality trait and assumes some people are hardwired to be more motivated than others. Goal setting examines motivation from a cognitive perspective. This approach assumes that people make rational, conscious choices about the direction, intensity, and persistence of their behaviors, and generally engage in behaviors that maximize payoffs and minimize costs. The last two theories namely, empowerment and operant approach, examine motivation from a situational perspective. Leadership practitioners likely will be
more effective if they learn to recognize situations where various approaches, or the insights particular to them, may be differentially useful. Several other theories seem to be more useful for explaining followers’ attitudes about work. Some research suggests that individuals vary in the characteristic tenor of their affectivity; some people generally have positive attitudes about work and life whereas others are generally unhappy about work and life. Such differences have a genetic component and may limit the extent to which initiatives by leaders will change follower satisfaction. Leaders may be able to increase satisfaction levels by giving followers more meaningful work and by treating them fairly. Followers (and leaders) are more likely to have positive attitudes about work if they believe that what they do is important and that the reward and disciplinary systems are fair and just.
Challenges Leaders Encounter When Managing Diversity
Diversity in the workplace pertains to the multiplicity of differences between people in the organization. It involves people’s perception of their selves and their perception of other people. Those perceptions affect their interactions. For a wide assortment of employees to function effectively as an organization, human resource professional needs to deal effectively with issues such as communication, adaptability and change. Diversity will increase significantly in the coming years. Successful organizations recognize the need for immediate action and are ready and willing to spend resources on managing diversity in the workplace now.
The success of an organization is determined by its ability to embrace diversity and realize the benefits. When organizations actively assess their handling of workplace diversity issues, develop and implement diversity plans, multiple benefits are reported such as: increased adaptability, broader service range, variety of viewpoints, and more effective execution.
Increased adaptability. Employing a diverse workforce increases the adaptability of the organization since increased diversity implies more variety of solutions to problems that be encountered. More talents and experiences are available brought by employees from diverse backgrounds. This also means that the organization become more flexible in adapting to changing market and customer demands.
Broader service range. The availability of variety of skills and experiences allows the organization to provide global services.
Variety of viewpoints. Because of the diverse backgrounds of the workforce, this provides a larger pool of ideas and experiences. This leads to a bigger pool of ideas and experiences that allow the organization to meet business strategy needs as well as customers need effectively. A diverse workforce that feels comfortable communicating varying points of view provides a larger pool of ideas and experiences.
More effective execution. The presence of diversity tends to encourage and inspire employees to perform their best. In turn, company-wide strategies to be properly executed that leads to higher productivity, profit and ROI.
Taking full advantage of the benefits of diversity in the workplace is not without its challenges. Some of those challenges are: communication, resistance to change, implementation of diversity in the workplace policies, and successful management of diversity in the workplace.
Communication. Because of the diverse backgrounds of the workforce, communication became a problem. The differences in view points, culture and language become barriers for the attainment of the organization’s goals, hence the organization has to overcome such problems. Ineffective communication tends to result in confusions, lack of teamwork, and low morale among employees.
Resistance to change. In any organization with cultural differences among employees, there will always be a group or groups of employees who will resist any change that will be introduced in the organization.
Implementation of diversity in the workplace policies. A customized strategy is needed in order to optimize the benefits of workplace diversity. A thorough assessment and research are needed to come up with such strategy. The challenge would be the implementation of the new policy in the workplace.
Successful management of diversity in the workplace. The implementation of diversity in the workplace policies is not the end in the process of dealing with workplace diversity. Aside from the diversity training, a culture of diversity has to be infused in all of the departments and functions of the organization.
Effective Business Strategy to Address the Challenges and Issues
Effective business strategy to address the challenges and issues caused by diversity in the workplace includes: assessment of diversity in the workplace, development of diversity in the workplace plan, and implementation of diversity in the workplace plan.
Assessment of diversity in the workplace. It has to be an integral part of the management system of the organization to make the assessment and evaluation of the diversity process. A satisfaction survey can be used in assessing what challenges to diversity are present in the workplace. Also, such survey can be used to assess what particular policy has to be eliminated or added.
Development of diversity in the workplace plan. After the conduct of assessment of diversity in the workplace, the organization has to develop a plan for the diversity in the workplace. Such plan has to be comprehensive, measurable and attainable. Also, the organization has to decide the necessary changes to be made as well as the timeline for the attainment of the identified changes.
Implementation of diversity in the workplace plan. In the implementation of the diversity in the workplace plan, the commitment of the top management is important. That is, the top management (leaders and managers) have to commit and cooperate in incorporating the policies in the organization’s purpose and function. This is to create a culture that is conducive for the success of the plan.
The recommended solutions to diversity in the workplace include: ward off change resistance with inclusion, foster an attitude of openness in the organization, promote diversity in leadership positions, utilize diversity training, and launch a customizable employee satisfaction survey that provides comprehensive reporting.
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