Imagine Apple without Steve Jobs. Virgin
without Richard Branson. Unthinkable? Yet, General Electric has had to
survive without Thomas Edison. Ford Motor Company survived without Henry Ford.
HP figured out how to thrive without Bill Hewlett and David Packard. More recently,
Microsoft formulated a plan to (hopefully) survive without Bill Gates.
Yet, longevity is not a given. As my friends at famous jeansmaker Levi Strauss &
Co. remind me, it is `easy' to launch a start-up company with the booster rockets
of entrepreneurial flair and a spirited press. But it is much different to hold the reins
of a company with 100+ years of organizational tradition and hierarchies. One of the
things that helps great companies endure - aside from innovation and product - is culture.
Companies that survive their founders have a community and a culture uniquely
their own. If that culture is attractive,
consumers are drawn to them like iron filings to a magneto. The act of creating such
enduring culture is one of the key responsibilities
of leadership.
Culture is created by the leader. For years, Steve Jobs seems to have adopted the
dictum of wily, United States Civil War General Thomas `Stonewall' Jackson who said,
"Always mystify, mislead, and surprise the
enemy." Jobs proclaims that no one will ever
watch video on tiny one-inch monitors, and three months later launches the Nano Video.
Jobs announces that few will want to read a book on a handheld digital device, then
launches the iPad. What next? For all the best
reasons, Steve Jobs has inspired millions with his repeat innovations and balls-out
bravado. A college dropout, Jobs has trampled MBA rivals with masterful strokes that leave
the watchful giddy. |
