This video, a graduation day speech he gave in 2005, showcases the impressive side of Steve Jobs. We have criticised Jobs for his negative traits, so it is fair we balance the story with a list of good points. In fact, we will repeat the same things we have already said: Jobs is a school dropout, a perfectionist, a maniac for secrecy, an intimidating boss and a blunt negotiator that knows no limits.

The reasons for Jobs being a role model:

1. Steve is a school dropout
See the video for Steve’s explanation. In short: he says he left the school because he was concerned about his foster parents’ money. Steve’s biological mother gave him up for adoption under one condition: that he would go to college. His working class guardians needed to save a lot of money for his schooling but he doubted the value of his college education. He continued to stay on campus and attended some inspirational courses instead.

2. Steve intimidates his people
It can be brilliant to work for somebody smarter than you. Apple attracts the best of the best and Jobs squeezes the best out of them. He does yell at them but as well he instills the conviction they have a higher calling. He would best be seen as a demanding father figure and may at times be actually pretending when he “explodes”.
The other side of the coin is the charm and the charisma that Jobs has in abundance.

3. Only perfection is good enough for Steve
Steve’s stated goal is to create easy-to-use technology for everyone. Perfection is for the benefit of the user - his sense for design and people’s needs is unmatched. He is most proud of what he eliminates or what he stops before it is produced; less is more for him.
The result is immense loyalty of Apple’s consumers. The appreciation for Apple’s level of polish can be obvious or exist at a sub-conscious level that people are unaware of.
And finally: Jobs is also hard on himself. He will devote weeks to prepare for the one-hour presentation he is famous for.

4. Steve is secretive to the extreme
Product secrets are really quite common in the technology business - news about new products may hurt the sales of your current gadgets. Jobs has merely developed this into a free publicity tool. Lack of official information creates a lot of hype and the public is dying to know what is cooking in Apple.
While there are no focus group tests with Jobs, he is a supreme tester himself. If it impresses him, it will normally also impress the common man. Steve knows that people don’t know what they need until you show it to them.

5. Steve will do everything to get what he needs or wants
Fortunately Steve’s needs usually align with consumers’ needs. He plays to his advantages brilliantly. Before the iTunes music store, major music labels were reluctant to offer their songs on the internet. Jobs offered them an experiment: to try it out on the Mac, the computer that represents less than 10% of the market. Once it proved to work very well, they were happy to extend the offer to Windows computers.
And above all, before Steve’s iPhone, mobile network carriers had all the power and they stifled innovation. Imagine MTN telling Nokia what features and menus it should put into its phone and how it should look - that was exactly what was happening in America! Jobs was powerful enough to get the gadget producers firmly behind the wheel, and phones have changed for the better.

To summarise, Steve Jobs may have managed to use his personality in the best way possible to develop an alternative approach to business and management. It is against the contemporary mantra of kindness, cooperation and compassion but, boy, it does work!

A disclaimer: A lesser personality will hardly manage to reproduce Steve’s ways. If you are not at his level, think twice before trying this at home.

So, what’s your take? Role model or bad model? Tell us in the comments…

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The Steve Jobs series:
- Part I: achievements
- Part II: bad model