Delegation versus micromanagement. Richard Branson on Steve Jobs:
“Leadership doesn’t have a secret formula; all true leaders go about things in their own way. It’s this ability to think differently that sets them apart – and that enabled Steve Jobs to create perhaps the most respected brand in the world.
What leadership boils down to is people. Whatever your style, whatever your method, you need to believe in yourself, your ideas and your staff. Nobody can be successful alone – and you cannot be a great leader without great people to lead.
Steve Jobs’s leadership style was autocratic; he had a meticulous eye for detail, and surrounded himself with like-minded people to follow his lead. While he was incredibly demanding of his people, he wasn’t the best delegator – he wanted to involve himself in every detail, which is the opposite of my own approach. Personally, I have always believed in the art of delegation – finding the best possible people for Virgin and giving them the freedom and encouragement to flourish. When I set up Virgin Records, I even decided to separate myself physically from the company, by moving into a houseboat.”
While on the topic of the sad news about Jobs, I liked what James Fallows wrote earlier this week about Steve’s role as an American:
“Of Americans in his era, he is one of a handful who had the greatest and most visible effect on people he had never met in countries he had never visited. I think he is recognized worldwide for his individual traits, and for the particular Apple corporate culture — but also as quite distinctly an American. Biological son of a Syrian immigrant, raised by adoptive parents, college dropout (Reed!), serial re-inventer of his businesses and himself. He could not have done what he did if he were any different person, and he could not have done it anywhere else.”