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The world lost a great innovator and entrepreneur as Steve Jobs passed away. He has left Apple with a vibrant culture and way of working that generates the kind of innovation most organizations dream of. In many ways he epitomizes the change leadership (Kotter article) capability needed to lead for agility and impact in an increasingly complex and ambiguous world.
We see change leaders as building the kind of social, operational, managing and learning practices that maintain high levels of Conviction, Ignition and Diffusion of behaviors that deliver strategy. Steve Jobs demonstrated these three ways of leading change in all he did.
Steve Jobs wasn't perfect as a leader. His lack of patience was well known. But he was a learner, acknowledging that his ouster from Apple was a painful experience from which he emerged a better person and a better leader.
An October 6th Forbes Magazine tribute to Steve Jobs The Entreprenerial Spirit is about Connecting the Dots that Don't Even Exist is a great description about the way Steve role modelled change leadership. He demonstrated a relational leadership style far more effective for building clarity and adapting in a world of rapid change.
His famous 2005 commencement address at Stanford University is something for every leader to reflect on as we mourn his passing.
“I came to see, in my time at IBM, that culture isn't just one aspect of the game – it is the game.” Lou V. Gerstner Jr., Former CEO IBM
