Don’t be fooled. I don’t want to be like Steve Jobs.

 I was blown away…

Last week I finished the biography Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. This week I’ve shared a 2 part post called “7 ways be like Steve Jobs”

• 7 Ways to be like Steve Jobs pt 1
• 7 Ways to be like Steve Jobs pt 2

If you read the above, you might be surprised to see this post. Don’t be fooled, it’s not just a striking title to grab attention…I mean it.

For all that I read and admired about Steve Jobs, I also came to be turned off and irritated. Jobs could be insufferable to live and work with. He was offensive to enemies, competitors, co-workers, friends and his closest family.

Working for or with him was working for a tyrant who was either hot or cold. He either loved or hated you, and to compound the problem, he often would switch from day-to-day or even hour-to-hour. He created an environment where only the strong could survive.

When the rubber meets the road, and after looking at all he accomplished and created, I don’t want to be like Steve Jobs. I want to be better.

2 ways NOT to be like Steve Jobs.

As hard as I tried, I couldn’t include both points and narrow this down to less than 1000 words. Plan to see part 2 tomorrow.

As I reflected back on Steve Jobs, I wrapped up all of his negative points into 2 categories. Do the following, Don’t be like Steve Jobs.

1. Value people over product.

Jobs was wonderful in separating product from profit. He understood the biggest value of profit was its ability to continue creating great products.

However, he was so in love with his products, he heartlessly walked over people to see them come to life. Jobs was vengeful over both major and petty issues. In some cases he disconnected himself short-term and other times long-term from competitors, consumers, co-workers and family.

Here are some examples:

• competitors – Jobs publicly “made-up” with Bill Gates at the August 1997 Macworld conference, but he still continued to speak poorly of Gates and his philosophies. He promised to go “thermonuclear” on Google when it introduced the Android with what Jobs considered patent violations.
• clients – When asked at one point about doing market research, Jobs replied, “No, because customers don’t know what they want until we’ve shown them.” While there is truth to this statement, especially when creating visionary products, it points to the overall value Jobs had for people.
• friends & co-workers – Jobs denied good friend and early Apple employee Daniel Kottke stock options as Apple went public because he was an hourly technician. When confronted on it (by several people) Jobs remained as cold as ice, in essence ending the friendship.
• family – While he appeared to truly care for his family, his actions showed more concern for Apple than his family. Jobs all but abandoned his first daughter Lisa (from an early relationship) for the first 10 years of her life. Erin – Jobs 2nd daughter (with wife, Laurene Powell) – admitted to feeling neglected by her father to Apple through her life.

Isaacson’s conclusion to the book includes this about how Steve Jobs treated people:

Andy Hertzfield (an early Apple employee) once told me, “The one question I’d truly love Steve to answer is, ‘Why are you sometimes so mean?'” Even his family members wondered whether he simply lacked the filter that restrains people from venting their  wounding thoughts or willfully bypassed it.

Jobs claimed it was the former. “This is who I am, and you can’t expect me to be someone I’m not,” he replied when I asked him the question. But I think he actually could have controlled himself, if he had wanted. When he hurt people, it was not because he was lacking in emotional awareness. Quite the contrary: He could size people up, understand their inner thoughts, and know how to relate to them, cajole them, or hurt them at will.

The nasty edge to his personality was not necessary. It hindered him more than it helped him.

I underlined the end part to highlight the most concerning aspect to Jobs nature. He understood the effect his words and actions held on people. Rather than controlling himself, he actually used it to control people and get his way.

My assessment is Steve Jobs didn’t value individuals as people with emotions, feelings and concerns. He simply viewed them as tools to accomplish his goals.

Be better. Do better.

As a creative business owner you are in a unique position. You have the opportunity to exult and crush people with what you create. You hold that same power for those who are helping you create – your employees and staff.

No matter what you are creating (photography, art, business, etc), it isn’t more important than the people going with you. It’s not more important than the people you are creating for.

It’s admittedly a fine line, but Steve Jobs didn’t even try to walk it. You can do better. You can create a great product AND treat people well.

Let me end with this, if you need a practical reason to value people over product. Steve Jobs held 2 trump cards that most of us don’t have. First, he had an amazing charisma that he could turn on and off at will. He would charm people into his corner when he needed them most (I’ll share more on this tomorrow). Second, he had a wealth of resources (money, stock options, legacy, power, etc) to coax people into working and staying in a difficult environment.

Most of us don’t have those luxuries. Do better. Be better.

Have you read Steve Jobs? What is your assessment of Steve Jobs the manager?

Header image courtesy of Flickr/ercwtttmn
Job & Gates image courtesy of Flickr/–David and Jennifer–

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