He has returned to his first love, repaired the broken marriage, and made the bond more intimate than ever: Jobs and Apple are one, indivisible.
These were the comments a writer and industry observer made just before the release of the iPhone.
What struck me as important to business leaders, is the observation that Jobs and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) had become "one, indivisable." If you're a student of business leaders, you'll find all the great ones have this quality about them. Jack Welch when he was at General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Andy Grove at Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) immediately come to mind.
Two things come to mind when you look at being one with a company as a leader: 1. Being with it from the beginning. 2. Joining it in once it's got going.
There is no doubt it's easier to be one with a company when you've been with it from the beginning. Jobs of course was with Apple, and part of who he was filtered throughout the company culture.
So when he came back to Apple after being ousted, I think it was like losing a girlfriend and realizing what she meant to you. With that in mind, when Jobs got back together with Apple, It seems he had something of appreciation and passion with him that transcended his prior tenure with the company.
When you look at the products that have come out of Apple since that time, there has been a much more consistent success ratio than when he struggled from product to product at times in the past. I think it is related to his renewed passion for the company, and his being given a second chance.
Being with a company from the beginning, especially being one of it's founders is easier to me than it is to join a company already in operation.
In that case, to become one with it, we must be one with the existing purpose and culture of the business. That's something, if it's successful, we shouldn't tamper with. Rather, we blend in with it and become part of it. If we don't, the direction we take the company can tilt and become off kilter, and will ultimately suffer.
So in the beginning we form the purpose and culture and business, if we join an existing company, we merge, blend and immerse ourselves in the existing purpose and culture. From there, and only there, we can then put our personal stamp on it.
Other Steve Jobs Resources:
You've got to find what you love
Steve Jobs, Business Personality
Steve Jobs' Greatest Presentation
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