The business world lost one of its most influential leaders last week, and while the technology world mourns its industry mogul there has been repeated talk of how Apple will not be able to cope without him.
Steve Jobs was the man behind Apple, he made it what it is today but he did not make it a one-man only company. In his years at the company, Jobs has become the leading influential figure in the organisation and has dictated the cultural aspects.
Yes, it is risky to build an organisation and culture around one individual as ultimately they won’t be there forever, and once they’ve gone the business impacts can be severe. As so many people have speculated (and indeed we are already seeing) the loss of such an individual can cause share prices and valuation to fall rapidly.
Succession planning is the obvious issue here and this was widely discussed earlier this year when Jobs’ health began to deteriorate. At a&dc we recognise the need to plan for the departure of any influential leader and we have worked successfully with businesses in the past to develop their talent pipelines to prepare for the inevitable time when the charismatic leader leaves.
The flipside to all this though is that Jobs has spent years building up the culture in the company based on his own strong profile and personality. To do this he has had to attract the like-minded talent he needs to work with him and keep this venture going.
While it is not recommended to rely on one individual to develop the company culture, as long as you have the right talent management strategy in place from the beginning you can bring in the right people to carry on the legend, in this case those who can mirror the innovation and passion that Jobs brought to the organisation.
Apple see themselves as outsiders in the market, a company that does things differently, and it is no secret that their talent management strategies reflect this. Working in an industry where skills needs change rapidly Apple expects employees to be self-reliant, leaving them responsible for their own development and training, a skill which will certainly benefit the company now.
Managing the transition
We have to remember as well that this is something which Apple have seen coming for a while and they have a great talent management procedure in place which will allow them to keep the culture Jobs defined running through the company. The challenge now is with handling the transition processes. Do we accept this leader has focus on the skills left behind? Or do we overlook everything Jobs has built over the years?
As long as Apple continue with the talent management strategy they have in place which recognises the characteristics that Jobs created in his image and continue recruiting for these skills it is possible to have a smoother transition process.
The market has a tendency to create hero figures and as such things can get blown out of proportion. Jobs is a great loss to Apple, but ultimately he is just one of thousands of people there. We shouldn’t be looking to fill his shoes and his successor shouldn’t be judged on how different he is to Jobs, but instead what his own strengths are.
It’s not just an issue of having leadership qualities in the successors role either; the context of leadership as well as the behavioural strengths and diversity points need to be assessed too. Jobs as we have said was a particular individual with a very strong personality, style and ethos. This steered Apple along its very successful course for many years.
The question for Apple now is what sort of leader does the business need going forward? A focus on context centred leadership will ensure that the business attracts and develops the right skills and leadership qualities for its current and future environment.
The more stable situation of a large global company that Apple now has become may require a different leader to the entrepreneurial start up that Steve Jobs started. Jobs has spent years creating a culture and bringing in the right people to continue this once he’s left and we can’t look over the fact that he is one of the cogs in a bigger machine.
Although he is gone, the talent and culture he built remains.
Will Mitchell is director of consulting at talent management consultancy, A&DC.
We welcome any and all contributions from the community, so please feel free to share your views and opinions with us, your colleagues and peers via our blogs section.
