Steve Jobs, Co-Founder, Chairman, and former Chief Executive Officer of Apple leaves behind a lot of lessons for the new generation managers. Though it's very difficult to imbibe his brilliance, passion and energy, yet the lessons which we derive from his career can show the right direction to people who work in the management section. Steve Jobs proved that great leader’s lives are lessons never forgotten from history and such lessons keep them alive even after their death.
Here are the top 10 management lessons from Steve Jobs.
1) Engineers are Managers
Apple is completely run by its engineers. Project teams in Apple are really small and they're all driven by the engineers. Most managers are all engineers as well so that the people overseeing projects can understand the technology and provide necessary guidelines for a project. Engineering skills allow competitive advantage and productivity for a company. As a result, Apple is the largest publicly traded company in the world by market capitalization and the largest technology company in the world by revenue and profit.
2) Respect between Managers and Employees
Mutual respect blurs the division between managers and employees. There is no hierarchy between employees and managers. Mutual respect, along with small close-knit project teams, is a key piece of the puzzle to Apple's success.
3) Freedom to own and improve the products
At Apple, if an employee finds a bothersome issue with a product he uses, he has the freedom to go in and fix it without having to deal with layers of bureaucracy to get approval. The sense of freedom allows the employees to explore new and best things. All projects are driven by long-term goals in the Apple.
4) Challenge your employees to grow
Apple follows its unique method to develop its employees. It offers the skills they need to rise up within the company. It is the best place to grow and flourish. Management challenges the employees by giving harder tasks that were a little beyond their capabilities. That definitely helps them to push themselves, which result to high productivity.
5) Deadlines are crucial
Apple is very strict at deadlines. These deadlines help the company to maintain the quality in their products. Most employees never miss their deadlines and the motivation is high to reach their goal on time.
6) Less Importance to comparison
Apple focuses more on its goals rather than comparing to competitors and trying to outdo them on the same levels. Employees aren't focusing on what the competitor is doing, instead they're driven to innovate and come up with products that challenge the status quo.
7) Hire passionate people
Apple management looks for people who are really passionate about the company, its products, and its overall style and mission. People work hard when they love the product and the company henceforth; passionate people are hired in the Apple.
8) Emphasize work- life balance
Apple makes sure that employees have their own time to enjoy themselves. Employees are taken care with an excellent healthcare to generous office holidays around Christmas and Thanksgiving. Employees love to work in Apple as they get recognition for their hard work meanwhile they have time to enjoy.
9) Startup culture even after flourishment
As we've said before, Apple keeps winning because it's a giant startup. From its lack of bureaucracy, to its engineer-focused culture, to its emphasis on passionate and loyal employees, the huge company has maintained the corporate culture from its startup days. And that culture is plays a huge part in what makes it a successful company today.
10) Product focused approach
Apple is notably famous in the business press for its 'product-focused' approach. Everything from strategy to budgets to organizational design and talent management functions are designed around the product. One of the primary goals of talent management is to ensure that the workforce is focused on the strategic elements that drive company success.
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