October 19, 2011, 11:51 AM — Steve Jobs, the iconic co-founder and CEO of Apple was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2003. He died on October 5 at age 56. But he left behind a wealth of memorable quotations. Here are 5 of our favorite leadership lessons from Steve Jobs.
Employee Motivation
We attract a different type of person -- a person who doesn’t want to wait five or ten years to have someone take a giant risk on him or her. Someone who really wants to get in a little over his head and make a little dent in the universe.
- Playboy, February 1985
Employee Potential
My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to make them better.
- CNNMoney.com/Fortune, February 2008
Excellence
People judge you by your performance, so focus on the outcome. Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.
- Steve Jobs: The Journey is the Reward, 1987
Apple’s Core: Employees
All we are is our ideas, or people. That’s what keeps us going to work in the morning, to hang around these great bright people. I’ve always thought that recruiting is the heart and soul of what we do.
- D5 Conference: All Things Digital, May 30, 2007
And... a touch of sadism
Many times in an interview I will purposely upset someone: I’ll criticize their prior work. I’ll do my homework, find out what they worked on, and say, “God, that really turned out to be a bomb. That really turned out to be a bozo product. Why did you work on that?…” I want to see what people are like under pressure. I want to see if they just fold or if they have firm conviction, belief, and pride in what they did.
- In the Company of Giants, 1997
Reprinted with permission from the forthcoming book "I, Steve: Steve Jobs In His Own Words," edited by George Beahm, Agate B2, November 2011.
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