Throughout his tenure as Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs would often send personal messages directly to his customers.
Whether he was expressing admiration towards a nine-year-old girl who used her iPad to combat a vision disorder or defending himself against a harsh critic, the message was always honest, clear, and humorously succinct. To a 300-word diatribe on a new app that measures mobile radiation levels, he responds: ‘No interest.’
Contradictions like these explain his allure. He works tirelessly to please his customers but has no patience for them. He led a company many would kill to work for but operated it like an autocratic micromanager. He changed the way human beings interact with technology but (allegedly) can’t program. He made no corporate contributions to charity but ran what was, for a few moments, the most valuable company on Earth.
I don’t know what Jobs’ departure will mean for Apple. I suspect that enough of his vision has permeated its walls to ensure continued success for a very long time. But when Steve Jobs moves off-campus, Apple will have lost something far more important than a ‘visionary leader and CEO’ – it will have lost its biggest fan. And if there is one thing to learn from his success, it is that we cannot afford to be doing anything but that which we love. Whether we are brand-builders or school teachers, we must strive for congruence in who we are, what we do, and why we do it.
To anything less we must respond, simply: ‘No interest.’
Earlier on Branding Strategy Insider we pondered whether Apple depended on Steve too much…here’s ‘Apple Brand’s Dangerous Liaison‘.
The Blake Project Can Help: Accelerate Brand Growth Through Powerful Emotional Connections
Branding Strategy Insider is a service of The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy specializing in Brand Research, Brand Strategy, Brand Licensing and Brand Education
3 comments
Jlmorrow
August 27, 2011 at 2:44 pm
Steve Jobs, although still with us, leaves a huge gap in so many areas — visionary technology, insightful marketing, extraordinary product design. I hope your observation that his vision has permeated Apple will be true. There was a time in the past, when that gap became all too obvious. Thanks for the insight on his allure … and contradictions. Love the visual.
Mani
August 30, 2011 at 3:32 pm
As you aptly pointed point in this article, Jobs had a single-minded focus on excellence. I always admired that. I believe this would be his lasting legacy to the corporate world well beyond the narrow confines of technology.
Alan Brew
August 31, 2011 at 1:35 am
Apple is a figment of Steve Jobs’ imagination. Nothing can replace that. It’s a beautiful concept that will take years, or even decades, of caretaker CEOs to reduce it to business statistics again… and then what? Steve will be gone for good.
Comments are closed.