Level 5 Leadership Communication and leadership

Level 5 leadership: Steve Jobs

According to Jim Collins, Level 5 leadership is a kind of transformational, selfless style of leadership that few CEOs possess. Level 5 leadership is not synonymous with charisma -- although some Level 5 leaders are charismatic, some are not. Level 5 leaders "build enduring greatness" rather than merely show competency and drive and blend willfulness and fearlessness in their approach to leading people (Collins 2005:4). They can be unbending in their objectives, but their objectives always place the interests of the company first, not the flattery of their own egos. Level 5 leaders are humble enough to acknowledge the contribution of others to their success. This ability to focus on what needs to be done, rather than what will satisfy their personal wants, ensures their success at their endeavors. But this lack of egoism also means that they are not afraid of doing things that might be unpopular, if they believe such actions are necessary for the greater good of the organization. Finally, Level 5 leaders ensure that their successors are equally competent to carry on the best practices they created for the company, rather than set successors up for failure and jealously guard their past achievements (Collins 2005:7).

Steve Jobs is perhaps the most famous corporate leader of our current age. He is often called a 'genius,' a rare appellation for a CEO. Jobs was uncompromising in his pursuit of excellence and had many characteristics of a Level 5 leader. For example, Jobs always prioritized quality above market research. He gave the public what he thought it wanted, not what it said it wanted, which was often two different things. Jobs said, with a blend of confidence and arrogance: "customers don't know what they want until we've shown them" (Kazenbach 2012:1). He was also a perfectionist, and would willingly spend extra money on development if he felt a product was not in keeping with his standards. "Over the course of a year he threw out two prototypes of the iPhone before accepting...

However, Jobs was lacking in many of the Level 5 characteristics that Collins says are necessary for a true 'good to great' transition. Jobs never groomed a successor to fill his shoes (or his famous black turtleneck and jeans). He dictated to even the most brilliant of engineers how his products would operate, rather than listened to input that might contradict his convictions. Jobs' main focus was on getting his vision realized, not necessarily advancing the Apple brand, or rather he viewed his personal vision and Apple as synonymous. Everyone he needed to realize that vision was not treated as an equal, but as a means to an end. He was known as a 'control freak,' even dictating the shape of the company's buses and the food served at the Apple cafeteria. He maintained a "culture of strict accountability at all levels of the organization by meeting each Monday with executives to set the tone for the week. Run by a strict agenda, these meetings reviewed every single product under development" (McInerney 2011). These meetings reinforced the message that workers were constantly being monitored by Jobs.
No one can deny that Jobs was intensely focused and committed to his desire to create products that were both functional and beautiful. He was confident enough to take risks and charismatic in the sense that even when they were berated, his followers would put up with being periodically yelled at and even fired and rehired. However, he was, even by those who loved him, described as a "mercurial, demanding, and tyrannical" boss and secretive to near-paranoia, as manifested in the degree to which he withheld the release of new Apple products from the media and orchestrated their release like a tightly-controlled symphony (Kazenbach 2012:1).

Jobs was also not above in engaging in favoritism, although his personal preference for specific colleagues was based upon his assessment of their job performance, not…