Steve Jobs

The founder of Apple Computers, Steve Jobs was said to be a high maintenance autocratic boss. He was said to be a perfectionist who always wanted to position his products as the market leaders. He was also said to be a narcissistic leader who was aggressive and used to publicly humiliate his subordinates. After Jobs hired John Sculley, a former executive at Pepsi, he was fired from his own company by the Board of Directors, owing to his demanding nature.

He used to micro manage, exerted control on every aspect of his company, and instill fear in the employees in his quest for perfection. He is said to having rejected two prototypes of iPhone before he finally accepted the third model. His control is reported to drill further to the design of the company bus and the food served at the cafeteria. Jobs is also said to encourage accountability at all levels so as to review each product under development. Even though Jobs was labeled as a bossy leader, the turnover at Apple was low, owing to his ability to articulate his passion for work and the company’s vision to each employee. He used the top-down style, which made the employees chosen on the basis of their expertise, rather than the experience. He preferred these experts control a particular function instead of having managers, which allowed them to develop their expertise.