Analysis of the Personality Traits of Steve Jobs

Analysis of the Personality Traits of Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is arguably one of the most successful CEOs of our times. In his time at Apple and Pixar he has redefined business across the Computing, Music and Mobile communications industries. In spite of being a college dropout he has gone on to become a technology and a business icon.

His ability to achieve extraordinary success against tremendous odds makes him an extremely interesting personality to study.

Following are his key personality traits.

1) Charismatic

Charisma refers to the ability of a person to be able to mesmerise and hold the attention of others. Steve Jobs has charisma in ample abundance. His talks at the annual Macworld Expo have an attendance akin to that of a rock concert. People from all over the world flock in to listen to him for hours together as he delivers his famed talks on technology, innovation and Apple products.

2) Ingenious

Ingenious is a rare personality trait that enables an individual to be clever, original and innovative. Prior to the launch of the iPod, the entire industry was looking at desktop publishing and the internet as new sources of revenue. Steve Jobs however was among the few who realised that there was latent demand in the MP3 player segment. He followed up on his insight by launching an iPod which had extremely innovative functions and a unique design. The product captured the attention of the world and along with his other innovation iTunes went on to change the way the world listens to music. Quite clearly he is an ingenious person.

3) Persistent

Persistence is the ability of a person to stick to his convictions in spite of huge obstacles. With regard to this an early manager of his had commented that Steve never takes "no" for an answer... For him "no" is only a comma and never a full stop. He will keep coming back till his objective is achieved. Years later his persistence was in ample display as he stubbornly stood his ground against internal opposition to his unconventional plan to turnaround Apple.

4) Unempathetic

Empathy is the ability of an individual to understand Steve Jobs is known for pushing his employees to extreme limits. He is known for firing his employees often in an erratic fashion. This shows that he is unempathetic to people around him.

5) Emotionally Unstable

When the Macintosh was initially not doing well, Steve Jobs was known to sob on the shop floor of his company. He is also famous for his mood swings. That is a clear evidence of emotional instability.

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