Former Apple CEO John Sculley reveals the skill that made Steve Jobs a brilliant leader

“As he’s the co-founder of Apple and the visionary behind some of the world’s leading personal computing innovations, few would question the late Steve Jobs’ expertise,” Karen Gilchrist reports for CNBC. “But it was a rather more common interpersonal skill that turned him into a “brilliant” business leader, according to former Apple CEO John Sculley.”
“That skill? The ability to listen,” Gilchrist reports. “Sculley, who served as Apple’s CEO for a decade from 1983 to 1993, told CNBC Make It that ability did not come naturally to Jobs. Rather, it took 12 years and a contentious departure from Apple to hone it.”
“When Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 following the purchase of NeXT, he was a “different person,” said Sculley, who previously led Pepsi,” Gilchrist reports. “‘Steve was brilliant in terms of seeing where the world would be 20 years in the future. He was so charismatic that he convinced himself, as much as he convinced other people, that he was always right,’ Sculley said of Jobs 1.0. ‘But young Steve Jobs was not as good at listening as the Steve Jobs that came back years later,’ he continued, noting that it opened him up to new ways of thinking.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Ah, the tedious, unprepared sugared water sales bozo is always good for a sigh.
Related articles:
Ex-Apple CEO Sculley: Tim Cook got Wall Street to fall in love with what Steve Jobs built – August 3, 2018
Former Apple CEO John Sculley: What I learned from Steve Jobs – May 29, 2018
John Sculley: Apple TV will be the company’s most revolutionary product (as if he knows anything) – September 1, 2015
John Sculley: Forcing Steve Jobs out of Apple was a mistake – April 18, 2014
Failed Apple CEO John Sculley: If I were Samsung, I would tap Ron Johnson – April 10, 2013
If John Sculley says Apple must do this then Apple probably shouldn’t – January 17, 2013
Former Apple CEO Sculley gives his take on Steve Jobs – January 13, 2012
John Sculley: I wish I told Steve Jobs ‘This is your company, let’s figure out how you can come back and be CEO’ – Septemeber 13, 2011
Steve Jobs steps down the first time: The 1985 press coverage – August 26, 2011
John Sculley: Apple’s big mistake was hiring me as CEO – October 14, 2010
Sculley: Uh, maybe I shouldn’t have fired Steve Jobs – June 7, 2010