Okay, so apparently Steve Jobs is retiring as CEO of Apple. And like a famous rockers death, the obituaries and credits are coming out thick and fast.
Creative force. Revolutionary. Changed how we live.
Apple has done a fantastic job in the last decade at becoming a pop icon itself, and Jobs has a lot to take credit for. The rebirth of a computing company that actually included building good computers, although it is easy to forget that with the more mainstream products they are now famous for. The iPod, which laid the foundations to allow Apple to move from been solely a computer hardware producer and into the music industry - where the creation of iTunes is more important than any iPod nano... The iPhone which led the smartphone generation and again, allowed Apple to not just sell hardware, but then apps. And now the iPad.
I'm not an IT insider, but am led to believe tha Jobs has fingerprints over all of the afore mentioned goods. But if Steve Jobs is to truly be remembered as a great leader and not just a great inventor, then I think the headline below from the Wall Street Journal best sums it up:
If Jobs is to be remembered as a leader, then the succession planning and creation of an organisation culture is what will dictate his legacy. When Jobs was fired by Apple all those years ago, the wheels fell off and it took the white knight Jobs to ride in on his horse to fix it. This time around, the culture, the leadership brand of Apple needs to be assessed on its own merit. Jobs will still be involved as the Chairman but how will Apple operate on a day to day basis in this new era will reflect as much on Jobs as it does on incoming CEO, Tim Cook.
For my two cents worth, I reckon that the culture of Apple is now instilled enough that it will survive and thrive without Jobs. But time will tell when we look at what MBA students are studing in 10-15 years and see how many of them still use Apple as a case study of best practice in leadership, strategy and business planning.
JH
