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  • He gave the world iPhones and iPads...

  • and gained a reputation as a bully along the way.

  • She makes delicious macaroons

  • and changes the lives of young people in the process.

  • It's really important to have people's voices heard,

  • so even when they're challengingand especially when they're challenging.

  • If you have a vision,

  • we look at how you can manage your self-belief

  • alongside the need to take people with you.

  • Pioneer, innovator, genius:

  • words often used to describe Apple founder Steve Jobs.

  • He brought an artist's eye to technology.

  • What began as a business with his friend Steve Wozniak

  • operating from his parents' garage in the 1970s...

  • became one of the world's biggest corporations.

  • Along the way, came the Macintosh computer,

  • the iPad and the iPhone.

  • Jobs' product launches turned into headline-making events.

  • His charisma and passion for his products were on full display.

  • For those of you that have never used it,

  • iTunes is the best music jukebox in the world

  • and if you've lived in the US,

  • it's been the best online music store in the world.

  • But there were also stories of his harsh

  • and controlling behaviour at work.

  • He would humiliate people in public,

  • be offensive and rude,

  • set near-impossible tasks for his team.

  • Some were able to stand up to him and gained his respect,

  • but Apple lost many talented people

  • because of his harsh leadership style.

  • So, did Apple's game-changing products

  • have to come at the expense of so many hurt feelings?

  • There's one key practice, which was problematic

  • in Steve Jobs' leadership, and this is common

  • to many, many charismatic and visionary leaders like Steve Jobs,

  • and that is that he didn't listen.

  • He had very strong views, he had very strong preferences

  • and it was very difficult to...

  • to have a conversation with him even, never mind a debate,

  • about whether his ideas were good ideas or not.

  • So, Steve Jobs didn't always listen.

  • He often wanted things to go his way.

  • What did this mean for his staff?

  • In practice, working for the kind of visionary leader

  • that Steve Jobs was

  • often means doing exactly what you're told to do. It's not...

  • it's not a collaborative process and it's not a collective process.

  • You have a single leader, who has very strong and very clear ideas,

  • and who wants you as an employee

  • to put those ideas into practice.

  • If there's a problem, in putting those ideas into practice,

  • it's your problem; it's not the problem of the leader

  • or the idea, or the vision.

  • Leaders like Steve Jobs can make it difficult

  • to be collaborative, or work together.

  • So, is it best to avoid leaders with a strong vision?

  • So, this kind of leadership can be very inspiring

  • and it's very important to recognise that.

  • Whenever we talk about charisma, we are talking about leaders

  •   that people want to follow and we're talking about leaders

  • who are... often who are successful

  • in terms of creating organisations

  • or successful corporations like Apple.

  • It's a kind of organisation, though, where you either fit or or you don't,

  • and so it's a... it's a black or white situation.

  • I think it's very important to be clear with yourself,

  • if you are thinking about joining that kind of organisation

  • or following that kind of leader,

  • that it might not work out and you may need to move on.

  • A leader with a clear vision can be inspiring,

  • but it's important you believe in that vision too.

  • So, how could Steve Jobs have done things differently?

  • So, with a charismatic or a visionary leader, the...

  • one of the key dangers is that it's very easy to get carried away,

  • to... to lose yourself in the vision,

  • and to lose sight of the other people that you work with

  • and the collaborators that you rely on to make your vision happen.

  • So, I think one of the key messages about visionary leadership

  • is always to remember any kind of product,

  • any kind of success, putting a vision...

  • making a vision become reality involves a whole group of people

  • and it is not just about the leader.

  • So, visionary leaders should recognise the value of others;

  • it's not just about them.

  • Meet Rosie Ginday, the founder of Miss Macaroon,

  • a company based in the British city of Birmingham

  • and named after the delicious little biscuits they make.

  • But it isn't only the macaroons that make this company special.

  • Its chefs are some of Birmingham's most troubled young people.

  • Rosie uses her baking business to help her community.

  • And she gives her young staff the skills and confidence

  • to make a mark in the world.

  • So, how important is vision to Rosie?

  • Vision is incredibly important.

  • As a leader, it's so important

  • for you to be able to set a longer term vision

  • something that's bigger than, you know, small and medium-term goals,

  • but a real purpose for your business.

  • So, something that everybody within your organisation,

  • whatever level they work at, can get behind

  • and understand whether their job contributes

  • to that longer-term vision.

  • Rosie Ginday's vision gives her business a purpose.

  • So, how has she gone about achieving her vision?

  • So, to be able to achieve your vision,

  • you need to have a clear direction of where you're going.

  • You need to really understand your values

  • and you need to put a plan in place

  • to be able to achieve that vision.

  • You also need the flexibility to...

  • and understanding that everything's not going to go to plan

  • andlikelihood isit really won't go to plan.

  • So, you have to be able to adjust

  • to whatever's going on around you.

  • Rosie has a clear plan about where she wants to take her business,

  • but is flexible about how she gets there.

  • To achieve your vision, you need a really strong team of people around you.

  • At Miss Macaroon, we have a fantastic board of non-executive directors

  • that helped me to set the strategy.

  • We also have an amazing team of people that help us

  • to build young people's skills and confidence,

  • and help them to get back into work,

  • but everybody really understands what the vision is.

  • Rosie's clear vision has helped her build

  • a strong team of people around her,

  • who share the same passion as her.

  • Even though everybody is super-committed to that vision,

  • it's really important that people come from different backgrounds

  • whether that's different industries,

  • you know, different ages, genders, sexualities,

  • you know, religious backgrounds or ethnic backgrounds,

  • or even, kind of, the...

  • the commitment level to our social impact:

  • we need different voices and thought processes

  • around the table.

  • Rosie actively seeks out a diverse range of people for her team,

  • but doesn't that sometimes cause challenges?

  • It's really important to have people's voices heard,

  • so, even when they're challengingand especially when they're challenging

  • listening to what they're saying, because you could learn something

  • from every conversationso, being open to that challenge.

  • Asking for help is really important when you need it,

  • and just making sure that that diversity of thought

  • helps you to grow your business and achieve your vision.

  • Rosie understands listening to what people have to say is important,

  • especially if it is not always what she wants to hear.

  • So, visionaries can inspire others and make powerful leaders...

  • but they need to remember to listen, and diversity is useful.

  • There may be others who can help make their vision even better.

He gave the world iPhones and iPads...

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