Steve Jobs Leadership Lesson #1 Focus

Steve Jobs was famous for his laser-like focus. This natural personality trait was further honed by his
study of Zen philosophy; deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do. Shortly before
his death, Larry Page, Googles co-founder visited Jobs to ask for advice. Jobs told him to figure out the
top five products Google should focus on and get rid of the rest, because theyre dragging you down.
Page followed his advice, announcing to Google employees in January 2012 that they would focus on
just a few priorities, and make them beautiful, the way Jobs would have done.

Steve Jobs Leadership Lesson #2 Simplicity

Steve Jobs focused on annihilating complexity when creating products. He lived and breathed the
Leonardo da Vinci tenet that appeared in Apples first marketing brochure: simplicity is the ultimate
sophistication. Ten years ago, the portable music player industry was ripe for a shake up, and Jobs quest
for simplification led to the revolutionary iPod followed by the iPhone. When setting their sights on what
to do next, todays emerging business leaders need only find products that are more complicated than they
need to be.

1. The RealLeadership Lessons ofSteve Jobs

2. Deciding what not to do is as important asdeciding what to

doThats true forcompanies and itstrue for products

3. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication To be trulysimple you

haveto go really deep

4. He was allergic to thethought , that unapproved apps or content

mightpollute the perfection of an apple device.That was an approach that
did not always maximize short- tem profits, but it led to astonishing
products marked by delightful user experiences

5. WhenBehind, Leapfrog If we dont cannibalize ourselves,

someone else will

6. Put products before profitsDont CompromiseMake Products

insanely greatPut a dent in the universe When the sales guys run the
company, the product guys dont matter so much, from that stage
companies start to decline

7. Dont Be a Slave To Focus Groupsread things what are not yet

on the page Caring deeply about what customers want is much different
from continually asking them what they want

8. Bend RealityYou can doimpossible ifyou dontrealize it

isimpossible Jobss (in) famous ability was to push people to do the
impossible

9. People dojudge thebook by itscover

10. Nobody will ever know but you will know A great carpenter isnt
going to use lousy wood for the back of aPush for perfection cabinet, even
though nobodys going to see it

11. Tolerate Only A PlayersBy expecting them to do great things,

you can get them to do great things.

12. Engage face to facePeople who know what they are taking
about dont need PowerPoint

13. Know both the Big Picture and the DetailsOne of the jobs
salient traitswas his ability and desire toenvision overarching strategywhile
also focusing on thetiniest aspects of design

14. Combine the Humanities with the sciencesThe creativity that

canoccur when a feel forboth the humanitiesand the sciences existsin one
strongpersonality was whatmost interested jobs

15. While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the
world are the ones who do