A Lesson in Leadership from Steve Jobs
Posted by Lamees Abourahma on Tue, Oct 11, 2011 @ 09:08 AM
When I turned on my TV last Wednesday night, October 5th, I was very saddened, like millions around the world, by the news of the passing of Apple's founder, Steve Jobs. There was a lot of coverage on many channels of his life, his company, and his legacy. I was very captivated by the lessons of leadership that Jobs demonstrated during his life. one of the stories I particularly loved is one that John Sculley told.
John Sculley was the former CEO of Pepsi. In 1982, Jobs wanted Sculley to join Apple as its CEO so he said to Sculley: "do you want to sell sugary drinks for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me... and change the world". Sculley took the job and became Apple's CEO for the following 10 years. What I loved about this story is how Jobs sold Sculley on his idea. Sculley was not sold on salary; he was not sold on bonuses; he was not sold on perks. Jobs sold Sculley on a dream.. "to change the world".
In 1963, when Dale Carnegie wrote his best-selling book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People", one of the principles he taught to enhance relationship in order to achieve desired results is "arouse in the other person an eager want". As professionals, we are constantly selling ideas. But people consent to help for their own reasons, not ours. If we make it clear how our ideas will benefit them, there is no limit to the cooperation we could receive.
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