LEADERSHIP STYLES OF LEE IACOCCA AND STEVEN JOBS

Lee Iacocca gained his greatest notoriety as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the Chrysler Corporation in the late-1970s and the 1980s, although he remained in the post until 1992 (Verespej, 1995). Steven Jobs, who has been lionized for his role in creating Apple Computer, was later forced out of the company when it was failing, and finally was brought back as Apple CEO when the company continued to fail (Carlton, 1997).

The comparison of the leadership styles of Iacocca and Jobs is preceded in this essay by a brief review of the literature on selected theories of leadership. The personalities and leadership styles of the two individuals then are compared.

Review of Selected Leadership Theories

Three theories of leadership are reviewed briefly. The theories reviewed are situational, path-goal, and transactional versus transformational.

Situational leadership theory suggests that leadership style should be matched to the maturity of subordinates; in other words, to the situation encountered by the leader. Maturity in this situational context is assessed in relation to both psychological maturity and job maturity. Psychological maturity refers to the self-confidence and ability and readiness to accept responsibility of subordinates. Job maturity refers to the relevant skills and technical knowledge possessed by subordinates (Hersey & Blanchard, 1996).

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ed, approach, such as that conceived by Carl Rogers, and (2) the behavioral-learning, or person-situation, approach, such as that conceived by B. F. Skinner (Ehrenreich, 1997). Iacocca and Jobs are compared within the contexts of these two concepts of personality. The person-centered approach to personality is one in which an individual holds an optimistic view of human nature, recognizes that humans are both growth-oriented and individualistic, and that humans develop in a positive and constructive manner. Leaders who have this type of personality tend to be relationship-oriented, to be accepting, and to be active listeners. Neither Lee Iacocca nor Steven Jobs are noted for having displayed these personality characteristics (Iacocca, 1988; Kunkel, 1997). The person-situation approach to personality assumes that behavior is a product of learning and that people are both a product and a producer of their environments. Leaders with this type of personality assume that that can influence the behavior of others through the process of reinforcement. Persons with abrasive personalities, such as both Iacocca and Jobs, tend to share this approach to other people (Iacocca, 1984; Carlton, 1997). They assume that they can enforce t
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Approximate Word count = 4146
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page)