Leadership Qualities of Steve Jobs. Throughout his life, the late Steve Jobs was known as being one of the most influential and innovative leaders of his time. Jobs is not only the founder of Apple and Pixar but he was able to lead several organizations into being some of the most powerful in the country. by Mohammad Ali Jaafar Ph.D. in Governance and Policy Making

1. By
Mohammad Ali Jaafar
Ph.D SM & Stgy.

2.  A leader whose subordinates always agree with him reaps the
counsel of mediocrity.
 A wise leader never berates those bearing bad news, but
removes those who fail to do so.
 A leader who asks the wrong questions will get the wrong
answers.
 A wise leader never asks a question for which he does not want
to hear the answer.

3. The greatness of a leader is measured by the
sacrifices he is willing to make for the good
of the people.
A leader must always rise above pettiness,
and encourage others to do the same.
A leader cannot succeed if he loses his
nerve. He must be self-confident, self-reliant,
and willing to take risks.
Self-centered, conceited, self-admiring
individuals are seldom great leaders.

4.  Great leaders never take themselves too seriously.
 A wise leader knows how to adapt and how to avoid
compromise.
 Weak leaders surround themselves with weak people; strong
leaders surround themselves with strong people.

5.  Every decision involves some risk.
 Time does not always bring solutions, nor does it always
improve a situation for a leader’s people.
 Quick decisions are not always the best decisions. On the
other hand, neither are unhurried decisions.

6.  Errors are unavoidable when the unqualified are allowed to
exercise judgment and make decisions.
 Leaders should not rush into confrontations. When victory will
not be sweet, a leader must keep the people out of battle.
 The ability to make difficult decisions is a defining factor in
leadership.

7.  Leaders are only necessary when someone is responsible to
see that actions are carried out and directions followed. No
king, chieftain or subordinate leader should ever be allowed to
serve who will not accept full responsibility for their actions.
 Wise leaders never place people in positions where their
weaknesses will prevail over their strengths.

8.  A wise leader never expects the people to act beyond their
wisdom and understanding.
 Abdication is not delegation. Abdication depicts weakness.
Delegation depicts strength.
 Delegation, like decision-making, always involves risk.

9.  Strong people have strong weaknesses. A leader's
duty is to help a person's strengths prevail.
 People learn less from success than they do from
failure. Therefore, people learn much faster when
faced with adversity.
 A good leader risks delegating to an inexperienced
person to strengthen that person's leadership
abilities.
 The experience of people must be structured to
allow them to broaden and deepen themselves to
develop the character they will need when
appointed to leadership.

10.  Without challenge, a person's potential is never
realized. Thus, people are best prepared to
become leaders when given appropriate
successively higher levels of responsibility.
 Two types of people gravitate toward leadership,
those who are motivated by principles, and
those who are motivated by self-interest. A wise
leader will select and develop people motivated
by principles.
 Appropriate stress is essential for developing
new leaders.

11.  Diplomacy is the art of saying “nice doggy” until
you can find an adequate stick.
 Conflict is a natural state.
 People should not apply force when they can
gain through diplomacy.
 Do not consider all opponents, or everyone you
argue with, as enemies. These are accidental
enemies. Choose your enemies with purpose.
 Hospitality, civility, and courtesy can captivate
the most oppressive foe.

12.  Superficial goals lead to superficial results. Leaders should
always aim high, going after things that will make a difference
rather than seeking the safe path of mediocrity.
 Critical to one's success is a clear understanding of what the
leader wants.
 A Hun can achieve anything for which he is willing to pay the
price.

13.  As a group, we will achieve more if we behave as if the group's
goal is as important as a personal goal.
 A person's conformance does not always result in desired
performance.
 Written reports have purpose only if read by the King.

14.  Never appoint acting leaders. Put the most
capable in charge, give them both responsibility
and authority, and hold them accountable.
 A wise leader never depends on luck but trusts
the future to hard work, stamina, tenacity, and a
positive attitude. Strong leaders stimulate and
inspire performance from their people.
 Being a leader is often a lonely job.
 A wise leader knows they are responsible for the
welfare of others, and acts accordingly. Shared
risk-taking will weld the relationship of a leader
with the people.

15.  A person who takes themselves too seriously has lost
perspective.
 A person's perception is their reality.
 People who appear to be busy are not always working.

16. It is good if your friends and foes speak well
of you; however, it is better for them to speak
poorly of you than not at all. When nothing
can be said of a person, they have most likely
accomplished nothing very well.
Contrary to what most chieftains think, you
are not remembered for what you did, but for
what most people think you did.
If all people were blind, a one-eyed man
would be king.

17.  There is more nobility in being a good person
than in being a poor leader.
 Great leaders accept failure at some things in
order to excel in areas of greater importance.
 You must not let your desire to lead take the form
of over-eagerness.You must be willing to temper
your thirst to lead with preparation, experience
and opportunity.
 You must be willing to remain your natural self
and not take an aura of false pride in your
countenance.

18.  You must be willing to accept the simple fact that
you have flaws and will need to work every day
to become a better chieftain than you were
yesterday.
 Be marked with armament that distinguishes you
from the masses. Own the biggest horse and
sword. Be first in everything, but never appear
pompous.
 Every person is responsible for shaping their
circumstances and experiences into success. No
other person, and certainly no adversary, can do
for a person what they neglect to do themselves.

19.  People should be taught to focus on
opportunities rather than problems.
 Harness your peoples' desires for short-term
gains. Grant small rewards for light tasks.
Reserve heaps of booty for other times, and be
generous with items that hold a value to yourself.
 Disagreement is not necessarily disloyalty. A
Hun who, in the best interest of the tribe,
disagrees, should be listened to.
 Some people have solutions for which there are
no problems.

20.  Suffer long for mediocre but loyal people. Do not suffer for
competent but disloyal people.
 Every person has value. With some, it is to serve as a bad
example.
 To benefit from the strength of leaders we must tolerate some
of their weaknesses.

21.  It is the responsibility of all Huns to choose and
fellow only those chieftains who demonstrate a
desire to lead. Such leaders will be of no
composite character.They will be as different
from one another as one Hun is different from
another.They will not be laden with all human
virtues, nor will they possess a flawless
character.
 Teachable skills are for developing people.
Learnable skills are reserved for leaders.
 The consequence of not adequately training
your people will be their failure to accomplish
what is expected from them.

22.  Learning by observation and through instincts sharpened by
tested experience, chieftains must anticipate thoughts, actions
and consequences.Anticipation bears a level of risk that is
willingly accepted by a chieftain who will excel when others
turn to the comfort of personal security.