A Final Lesson On Leadership From Steve Jobs

With Steve Jobs announcing his resignation from Apple, I want to take a look at one of his final lessons.  Knowing Steve Jobs, the title may be premature.  The man has made more comebacks that anyone can keep track of, but it seems like a good time to reflect on his final leadership lesson right now.

We all want to stay in our jobs forever.   Most of us believe we’re contributing to the economy and creating a legacy for those that come next in our businesses.  No one exemplifies that more than Steve Jobs.  Despite medical issues, Steve Jobs continued to work, creating a legacy that will be very difficult to top.  There were many people that were convinced that Steve Jobs WAS Apple.  It ran on his vision, his view of the future.  With Steve Jobs leaving the company, many are wondering what’s next.

Unlike many presidents and CEOs of US companies, Steve Jobs had a succession plan in place for when he did have leave.  He’d already had his successor in place, taking over the day-to-day operations of Apple.  Tim Cook is familiar with the role of Apple CEO, having filled in during medical leaves over the past several years.  Though Steve Jobs is leaving, his company is in very good hands.  After an initial drop in the stock price, Apple stock bounced back and continued to go up.

If you had to resign your position tomorrow, what’s your plan?  Would your stock price or consumer confidence remain high?  Do you have someone that knows what you do so well, they can slip you’re your role with barely a ripple?  Statistics reveal that less than 35% of organizations have a succession plan in place.  This could be for one of several reasons:

  • You might think that no one else could do what you do.
  • You think anyone else could do what you do.
  • You’re too busy to even think about training someone to fill your shoes.

Regardless of the reason, you do need to consider your succession plan.  Everything you work so hard to accomplish could be gone in the blink of an eye.  When there’s confusion at the top of the organization, that’s when you’re most vulnerable to losing your top talent.  And that’s when the downward spiral of the company begins.

No one wants to think about leaving.  No one wants to consider stepping down from your current position.  But what if something happened to you?  What if your CFO stepped off the curb and got hit by a bus?  What would happen to your company if you lost a key member of your leadership team?  Do you have a plan in place?  Or are you, like the majority of organizations, hoping it will all work out without intervention from you?  If that’s your plan, good luck with that.  I hope it works out.

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