It appears that
Steve Jobs, the Great One, praised be He, has returned to his perch at Apple.
His name showed up yesterday on an Apple press
release for the first time since he took medical leave in January, and Reuters reported that he
was spotted on the Apple campus.
Aside from empathy
for another human being's pain
and suffering, why do some of us care so much? Why are we so fascinated by
this man? Is it because we're still trying to figure out how one guy could
create the first truly personal computer (Macintosh), and then change the way we think about music (iPod and
iTunes), and then put the
Internet in a person's jeans pocket (iPhone)? Is it because we fear Apple can't
thrive without him? That as soon as Steve Jobs goes away, the magic new
machines will stop coming our way?
Speaking for myself,
I think it's because I'm still hoping that I will somehow grow to genuinely
like the person I have so long admired. It is vexing that this man who has done
such extraordinary things is such an (allegedly) nasty
and unpleasant person. Maybe this is the year he'll grow out of his
petulant narcissism, and will become as decent as he is brilliant. One can
always hope.
Or perhaps the
darkest possibility is also the true one: that to be that extraordinary a
leader, you must be a tyrant. From a recent Fortune profile:
"Jobs' personal abuses
are also legend: He parks his Mercedes in handicapped spaces, periodically
reduces subordinates to tears, and fires employees in angry tantrums. Yet many
of his top deputies at Apple have worked with him for years, and even some of
those who have departed say that although it's often brutal and Jobs hogs the
credit, they've never done better work."
Jobs may have spectacular personal taste. But his true greatness, it seems, is in his ability to get the most of out of his subordinates. He has found a way to blend an artist's style of vision and discipline with the practical realities of being a corporate leader. But while his products are amazing, his methods are not very pretty to behold.
More:
- The Apple "i" -- a parody of Steve Jobs and Apple.
- Atlantic piece about what makes a great leader.
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