Steve Jobs was named CEO of the decade Thursday by Fortune magazine for remaking (count them) four major industries in the past ten years: computing, music, movies, and mobile phones. As Fortune pointed out in honoring Jobs, “remaking even one industry is a career-defining accomplishment:” Henry Ford, for example, defined the auto industry, while PanAm’s Juan Trippe created the global airline. Remaking four industries is nothing short of remarkable.

Steve Jobs’ stellar success can be attributed to his commitment to following his dreams, combined with strong business acumen and careful attention to detail. At age 20, after dropping out of Reed College, Jobs dreamed of creating a new kind of computer. Jobs and his friend Steve Wozniak built the first Apple computer in Jobs’ parents’ garage in Los Altos, CA. The Apple computer took off, loved by computer geeks.

In 1985, at age 30, Jobs was fired from the $2 billion company he had founded, loved, and driven to success. Due to a difference in philosophy and direction with the president he had hired, Jobs found himself unemployed.

Devastated, Jobs didn’t know where to turn. Barred from the one thing he loved doing, Jobs felt hopeless. The devastation became an opportunity for soul-searching, for Jobs to reexamine what was important to him, and eventually, to re-choose his dream. In retrospect, speaking to Stanford students at their 2005 commencement, Jobs viewed the firing as the best thing that had ever happened to him: “The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.” Jobs started over again. He founded NeXT computers and drove his new company to even greater success.

In an ironic twist of fate, Apple bought NeXT in 1997, and Jobs found himself back at Apple’s helm. Apple faced possible bankruptcy, and Jobs used what he had learned at NeXT about dreaming big to turn Apple around. The “Think Different” advertising campaign, the release of iTunes, the iPod, and the Mac OS X in 2001, the launch of the iTunes music stores in 2003, and the release of the iPhone in 2007 all stemmed from Jobs’ ability to think outside the box. Along the way, Jobs survived pancreatic cancer and a liver transplant, dreaming big through it all. Now a $170 billion company, Apple outstrips Google and Dell.

Jobs dared to dream and he dreamed big, again and again. In this respect, Jobs models soulful leadership. Daring to dream propels leaders forward, allowing them to become the people they were created to be. While Jobs’ imperious manner, single-mindedness (for many years, Apple’s products were the least “green” of any in the industry because of Jobs’ single focus on creating the quality he wanted, to the neglect of all else), and brush with scandal (a stock options backdating securities violation), mar his leadership record, Jobs has also proven teachable. For example, Jobs apologized for the securities violation and has admitted his slackness in allowing dirty technology in Apple products, now turning Apple around to become a leader in green technology.

While Steve Jobs still has some rough edges, he has much to teach the world about leadership. Daring to dream, again and again, in the face of failure and setback, Jobs has contributed to the world some of the most innovative technology it has ever seen. While not turning a blind eye to his limitations, may we learn from Jobs’ strengths. Dreaming big in the face of impossible challenges is something this world could use more of.


Margaret Benefiel, Ph.D., author of Soul at Work and The Soul of a Leader, works with leaders in healthcare, business, churches, government and non-profits to help them stay true to their souls. Visit her website at www.ExecutiveSoul.com. © Copyright 2009 by Margaret Benefiel.