Steve Jobs…On a recent appearance on Fareed Zakaria GPS, Bill Gates discussed the inspirational leadership of his contemporary, Steve Jobs.
Gates revealed that he has never met a person who rivaled Jobs’ ability for “picking talent and hyper-motivating that talent.”
But Gates added nuance to his praise of Jobs, referring to the Apple founder as a “wizard” who “cast spells on people”, mesmerizing employees with his vision and captivating the public. That ability to enchant people enabled Jobs to push his team to work arduous hours and withstand withering criticism from the founder.
“I was like a minor wizard because he would be casting spells, and I would see people mesmerized, but because I’m a minor wizard, the spells don’t work on me,” said Gates…
When Gates refers to Jobs as a wizard, he’s describing Jobs’ ability to get others to buy into his vision for Apple and its products. In doing so, as Gates notes, he was able to convince the most talented people in the tech industry to join Apple and fulfill his vision… While he was undoubtedly difficult to work for, he was a masterful motivator who drove his employees to do the best work of their careers, often beyond what they believed they could do. In the process, they created products that set the standard for the industry and changed the way we live.
