Introduction Variety is what spices life and people who are heroes or villains make life interesting if not adventurous. People are constantly looking for something new or innovative way of going about the similar old things at their own convenience. Those who have managed to come up with something creative that completely gets everybody going after their inventions achieve massive recognition as heroes. An example of such a hero is Steve Jobs, who will be the topic of discussion here. Steve Jobs Born in 24th February 1955, Steve Jobs grew up as an adopted kid while living with his foster parents. Biologically he is half a Syrian Muslim and the mother Joanne Carole who is an American. The father having objected to their marriage forced the young boy to be put up for adoption since they were still graduate students. He led a private marriage life after having married Laurene Powell Jobs in 1991 and died of pancreatic cancer in 5th October 2011. He is famous for having founded the Apple, which happened to revolutionize the music world by the invention of the iPod, the iTunes and Apple laptops. What also stands out about Steve Jobs is the fact that at some point he got fired form his own company after a business disagreement with Sculley over Macintosh sales.
Reasons for Steve Jobs’ recognition Apple had three founders, but it turns out that Steve Jobs is the most recognized member of the trio. Thus, is largely attributed to his personality that he managed to influence his co-workers with to attain his goals. He blended his character with the drive, vision and oratory skills which were evident in his speeches during conferences. Isaacson attests to this fact when he notes the Steve Jobs acted like the normal rules were not applicable to him (Isaacson 92). Additional he states that the passion, intensity and extreme emotionalism he approached his daily interactions are what he also applied when dealing with his products.
His character was not the major reason for his worldwide recognition. The variety in his inventions and their marketing strategy worked to his advantage. The fact that Steve Jobs came up with the Mac and later recovered the Apple through the introduction of innovative products that changed people's lives made him a hero. He had the skills to combine both innovation and commercial success, and this was a propelling part to the growth of Apple. The iPod with their corresponding iTunes licensing strategy attests to this fact (Steve and George 1) especially after he campaigned for a simpler interface that could make the gadget user friendly. The iPhone was another invention of Jobs that took the world by storm since it entered the market in 2007. Apple was not the very first company to build smartphones but instead it managed to come up with a better product that customers turned out to like very much, another example of Jobs' marketing skills (Amol, Nick and Li 1 - 2). The Mac OS X was the foundation for all the growth of the iPhones, iTunes and the iPhone. Other inventions include the iPad and Pixar. All were very outstanding products. Personal stance on the actions of Steve Jobs Steve Jobs stands out in all the inventions that the company had made among other apple founders. It was because of his personality style which seemed to work to his advantage all the time. Unlike most entrepreneurs, the driving force for every invention that he made was out of a desire to make life simpler and the fact that he had the ability to see life beyond the sales that he made. Sculley abandoned Apple, but it was Jobs who eventually resuscitated this mood and managed to spring the company from its low sales during then (Amol, Nick and Li 6). He might not be the real brains behind the inventions but what stands out is the fact that he is the face of Apple products. The recognitions he gets should not, therefore, be attributed to his brainchild but rather the real inventors of the various products. Nurturing an idea and having an idea are two different and independent things. A person may not have an idea, but they can possess the zeal to carry out the idea and this is the most important part in executing an idea. It is what makes Steve Jobs stand out. personally have no problem with his character especially given the fact that he delivers results since after all a person may argue with his means, but cannot argue with the results (Jim, Dave and Norm 3). The only problem for me with Steve Jobs is the fact that he gets the most recognition in all the Apple inventions. I would not blame him though; the media is a contributing factor in this. Personal stance on his intents Steve Jobs did not invent products for personal gain but rather to make life simple for every person who would wish to have their lives made simple, and that was his driving force always. Besides, he received recognition from his co-workers not for his intellectual capacity but his ability to help people see beyond the future when they were coming up with a new product. By extension his character also immensely contributed to the company's marketability that in turn boosted its sales. At every point during which he made decisions, he did not just make them for his personal gain but he had a bigger picture in mind. The simplicity that came with his products was not for his personal gain, but rather he was more concerned about the people who would use the products in the long run. I fully support his intentions for every decision he came up with while in the company. What it means to be a hero Definition of a hero is very much contextual in its application. However, from a general perspective, a hero has to be a person who has been able to succeed against all odds to achieve a particular purpose. It could be a humanitarian crisis or it could even be an invention that saves a lot of people the problem of doing something. The process of becoming a hero at times comes as a one-time affair or it could be progressive. An instance of a one-time affair is when a police officer saves a child from compromising situations such as being held in captivity by their own parents from an interview. A progressive case of being a hero is the case of Steve Jobs among many others (Isaacson 93). The reward often comes in the way of recognition from differently important people in the society. Being the hero also comes with a number of duties such as being the face of what the act of heroism has been, an improved standard of living or higher expectations from the society. Because the society attaches high value to every contribution, the hero has to make and similarly they are required to maintain these standards that, of course, means added responsibilities. The society's concern about labeling such acts as being for heroic is because they set the moral expectations of the society towards every person. When a person goes out of his way in full filling their responsibilities, it is a virtue that is worthy of recognition. Thus, it creates a desire for having a society in which people will always strive for the best all the times and this assists in upholding the ethical standards of the society when such acts get rewards. It also eliminates the possibility of laxity as in the case of inventions such as Steve Jobs.' The dynamic needs of people will always be the driving force behind new inventions that make life better. It brings about more competition and it is from this that people become more creative, this not only creates new opportunities but also results into new ways of looking at old things in a simpler manner. Conclusion Heroic acts get rewards in every society. However, the reward is different depending on the culture of the society concerned. The most common form being recognition. Also, it worth mentioning that in as much as heroic acts takes different forms and rewards; the media is an important factor in propelling a person to this kind of greatness.
Works cited
Isaacson, W. "The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs." Harvard Business Review. 90.4 (2012): 92-100. Print.
Steve, J. “Thoughts on Music.” Sacramento Users Group (2007): 1-16
Amol, S., Nick, W. & Li, Y. “How Steve Jobs played Hardball in iPhone birth.” (2007)
Jim, I., Dave, U. & Norm, S. “Leveraging Leadership Competencies to Produce Leadership Brand: Creating Distinctiveness by Focusing on Strategy and Results.” Human Resources Planning. (2000): 12-23. Print
