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Rob MacLachlan

Rob MacLachlan

24 Oct 2011 | 16:27

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It’s hard to think of an individual who has influenced my life – in a practical and an aesthetic sense – more than Steve Jobs. Every day I speak, check email or browse the web on my iPhone, my MacBook laptop, or both. I might also listen to music or a podcast on my iPod. In the office we depend on the Mac operating system to view our creative work on PM at its best, and there’s an iPad on hand to check the magazine’s iPad app. And an iPad of my own is the Christmas present I hope for most.

Little wonder then, that many millions of Apple users felt almost a personal sense of loss at the passing of the company’s co-founder and creative genius. Since Steve Jobs’ death, an enormous amount has been written about his impact – on technology, design, business and culture. For a change, it hasn’t seemed like hyperbole to hear someone of our own time compared not only to the greatest business leaders of any age, but also to John Ruskin, William Morris, and even Leonardo da Vinci.

But Jobs was also a controversial character. Few could have been unmoved by the excerpts replayed from his address to students graduating from Stanford University in 2005, in which he spoke of the importance of learning from one’s failures, rejecting received wisdom, and listening to one’s “inner voice”. Alongside this strong sense of values went a fierce self-belief. Stories are legion of his autocratic management style. At Apple, things were done his way or not at all.

Yet by all accounts, Apple’s employees are as loyal and enthusiastic as its consumers. This is perhaps troubling to a school of thought in HR that sees distributed leadership, empowerment, collaboration and bottom-up creativity as the key to competitive advantage. Naturally, it’s more complicated than that. The four enablers of employee engagement identified in the first MacLeod report (see our cover feature) are empowerment, voice, leadership and integrity. We can surmise that Steve Jobs was so strong on leadership and integrity that this more than made up for the relatively weak sense of empowerment and employee voice at Apple.

By coincidence, another article in this issue – from no other than Apple’s arch-rival, Microsoft – throws helpful light on this topic. Reporting on major research, it identifies five different types of organisation “best placed to thrive in uncertain times”. One of these is the “People first” model, where supporting the needs of the workforce is paramount. Another is “Follow me”, where change is signalled by boardroom action.

Perhaps part of the legacy of Steve Jobs is to remind us that there are different routes to engagement, and different styles of leadership can achieve outstanding success in different contexts. HR professionals need to question all received wisdoms, and cultivate an intense curiosity – and Jobs would have been delighted to hear it.
 
 

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Claire Churchard

Claire Churchard

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Claire Warren

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James Brockett

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Jill Evans

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Rob MacLachlan

Rob MacLachlan

Editor of People Management

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Tim Smedley

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