From individual to collective leader

by Cristian Tenuta

2011 ended a few months ago, and as every year, the last days we were dedicated to watch TV specials like “The best goals of the year” or “The events of 2011”. In my case I read many reports about the technological facts that marked 2011 and that will make it unforgettable. Cellphones more “smart” and less “phones”, the rise of tablets, the consolidation of the Android operating system and the death of Steve Jobs were among the most important issues.

I would like to delve into this last event, which left tons of biographies and interpretations of the life of Apple’s founder throughout the world. The early death of Jobs – he was 56 years old – generated a wave of condolences and tributes across all the social networks. The impact it had speaks clearly of a character who has all the characteristics of what we call collective leader. It is collective because these expressions came from ordinary people who loved the brands and products that Steve created. People who shared his world view. I would be interested in showing the most representative characteristics of him, those are:

  • Strong conviction: in college, the former Apple’s CEO was very interested in calligraphy, even though in those days it didn’t look like something useful. He was convinced that in the future it would have a great value. Today the font type is key for the brand image.
  • Passion for his work: do what you love. That was one of Jobs’ slogans. “People with passion can change the world for the better” he once said. Since childhood his life went around technology and computers. He made of them his passion, and most importantly, he conveyed this passion to their employees and the public.
  • Vision of the future: he always knew that is an era of constant changes, where users and consumers have more power driven by a greater access to information.
  • ** Clear identification of what his public needed**:* “I’ve always paid close attention to the whispers around me”.* This is important to create the company identity with which many people around the world were identified.

When I analyze Steve Jobs’ life, I realize that there are a lot of opportunities for any of us to have the next idea that will make a change. I find phrases like “change is in your hands” clearer and easy to make it a reality. Advances in technology are giving us opportunities, they let us express ourselves and share our vision with people thousands of miles away, at any time and from anywhere. I think we should not keep silent, we must make the most of it, share ideas, create projects, think about the global world and not only in our personal circle. Steve Jobs once said, “Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life? Or do you want to come with me and change the world?”.

Then I ask everybody, what about all platforms that allow us to share knowledge and opinions? Can we go a step further, and get all this to reality through simple and concrete actions?