Are You Leading for the Good of Those You Serve?

by: Eric Geiger

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Jony Ive is the senior vice president of design at Apple and is known as the great design mind behind the products at Apple. In a rare interview, Jony shares some lessons he learned from working with Steve Jobs. In the interview, he recounts a conversation with Steve where Steve rebukes him for leading to be approved, for wanting approval from his team more than anything else.

According to Jony, he wondered if Steve could “moderate” his comments about his frustration with a product. When asked for the reason for the request, Jony expressed the desire for moderation because “he cared about his team.” Steve challenged him and remarked:

You are just really vain. You just want people to like you. I am surprised at you. I thought you really held the work up as most important, not how you believe you are perceived by other people.

Jony, and I assume Steve, don’t use the term idolatry, but the confrontation centers on a common leadership idol—the idol of approval. When we lead for approval, we really are vain. We are leading for ourselves, to feel needed and appreciated. While we can mask our pride by insisting our decisions are really for the team, if approval is our ultimate goal, then we really aren’t leading for the sake of others.

Of course, I am not suggesting that the product, ministry, program, or initiative is more important than people. We should not exchange the idol of approval for the idol of success, the idol of accomplishment. But many leaders struggle with leading to be approved instead of leading for what’s best, for the health of those they serve, for the mission of their team/organization.

Often times, “I care really deeply about my team” can really mean “I just want my team to really like me.” Or “I am just protecting my team” really means “I need my team to love me because my soul needs that.”

Jony Ive says he was crushed because he knew Steve was right. Some leaders need the confrontation that Steve Jobs provided Jony Ive. Are you leading so people will approve of you or are you leading for the good of those you serve?

>> More from Eric.

Tags: Eric Geiger, Johnny Ives, Steve Jobs, leadership approval

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Steve Jobs Delivers 3 Life Lessons on Personal Clarity

by: Will Mancini

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Tags: Personal Clarity, Steve Jobs, Vision Clarity, video

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The Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs

by: Walter Isaacson

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Steve Jobs is among America’s greatest business leaders. He transformed industries, changed society, and altered how companies do business. After his best-selling biography of Jobs came out, author Walter Isaacson saw many commentators focus on Jobs’ personality — without understanding how he led.

Listen as Isaacson and Harvard Business Review Editor Adi Ignatius talk about the keys to Jobs’ success, and the lessons that leaders of any organization can use in their own work.

Click here to view the webinar: A conversation with Walter Isaacson.

Tags: Leadership Development, Leadership Engine, Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson

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Church Communication Heros: Steve Jobs

by: Steve Fogg

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Yes. I know what you’re thinking. How can Steve Jobs possibly be a church communications hero? As reported in the recent autobiography, Jobs was a Zen Buddhist and he was highly dysfunctional in the way he interacted with those around him. So why on earth would I choose him for being a church communications hero?

It’s simple really. I’m a firm believer that we can learn how to be better at what we do if we are willing to look outside the existing paradigms of the tiny church bubble.

Jobs understood what it meant to think differently, beyond the marketing slogan. He didn’t want to be just another carbon copy out there. Here are a few principles I’ve learned from Jobs that I think I can apply to what we do:

1. Vision: Jobs had a clear picture of what he wanted Apple to be.

It wasn’t to be like Microsoft. Or Dell.  He had clarity right down to the brushed aluminum screws on his products. He wasn’t influenced by the biggest player in the market. In fact he was very vocal about what was wrong with Microsoft and what was right about Apple. Unfortunately, too many churches have a creative and communication vision that look, feel and sound the same. Your vision for your church’s communications should distinctly represent the values and voice of your church. They should not be a carbon copy of the big church up the road. Too often we settle for the mediocre and unremarkable rather than creating something that changes peoples’ lives. What’s your vision of what your church should look and sound like? What’s the compelling story you need to tell?

Read the rest of the story here.

Tags: Brand, Communication, Steve Fogg, Steve Jobs

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