The Death of Steve Jobs

 Steve Jobs is world renown for his innovative spirit and passion. His vision shaped the world of technology as we know it and his brand Apple has emerged to become the tech sector’s crown jewel. This was not always the case.

There was a time when Steve Job’s company struggled to find traction in an emerging market. He stepped away from the company he co-founded for more than a decade - only to return to his flailing company with greater determination and a clearer vision. The Steve Jobs story is one of trials and tribulations – articulation and realization – glory and then an untimely death. He was many things and more than anything  – he was a great business communicator.

Or was he?

Towards the end of his life Steve Jobs became reclusive. Rumors swirled as to the reason he dropped out of the spotlight. Was he retiring or was he up to something new – something big or was he dying? When the news broke about the death of the legendary CEO, the question about whether Mr. Jobs had the fiduciary obligation to disclose his terminal illness came to the forefront.

His shareholders thought so and many other business executives agreed. The business communication issue that arose from his battle with cancer and subsequent death was whether Jobs, the legendary thinker, communicator and engine behind Apples grand successes – should have made known his illness and even should have stepped down sooner.  

What made Jobs reluctant to disclose his illness?
Let’s look deeper here..

In the book, Presentations Secrets of Steve Jobs, the author recounts the story of how Mr. Jobs persuaded PepsiCo’s President John Sculley to join Apple.  Steve Jobs felt Sculley had the unique qualities Apple needed and thought the PepsiCo chief would strengthen the company with his marketing and management experience. It was Job’s communication skills that persuaded Mr. Sculley to join Apple for less money and at the cost of moving his family from the west coast.  Mr. Jobs sold him a dream of something worthy, noble and rare.

The two men stood on the balcony of Steve’s apartment in Manhattan. Jobs asked Mr. Sculley whether he would like to sell sugar water for the rest of his life or would he like to help change the world. That is exactly what Steve Jobs thought he was doing – changing the world. He was on a quest to collect the brightest minds to accomplish just that. He shot straight to the heart of the issue – he believed that the cause gave him that communication mandate.

Steve Jobs used his company as the vehicle for a birth of a product revolution. Mr. Job's belief in himself was his greatest strength. He has admitted that he was a product of timing, focus, skill and determination. But what happens when illness threatens to loosen one’s grip on what they believe to be solely theirs?

Steve Jobs is no stranger to strife and he never had an issue with mixing it up with Apple’s board members. Going public in 1980 made Jobs a millionaire but it also gave him that board to answer to. He traded greater control for more capitol and the tightrope he walked often created the urgency needed to push the limits of what was possible – or even ethical.

His decline..

Mr. Job’s health issues slowly surfaced and only due to his speaking engagements where he looked, ‘gaunt and emaciated’.  In 2009 Jobs took a leave of absence for medical reasons and emailed his employees stating, “my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.”

Interesting points were raised by Ben Heinman Jr. in his article for The Atlantic publication. Mr. Heinman stated, “The right to privacy of a CEO about medical conditions should be outweighed by the need for disclosure”. He suggest in this instance the SEC should have stepped in and investigated the issue. At The time Apple’s market cap was 300 billion dollars and when his absence was announced the stock dropped sharply.

Job’s failure to communicate with his employees and his shareholders about his health put his company in an awkward position and raised an important business communication question. Is it ethical for a CEO to conceal his terminal illness from his coworkers? Especially when the organizational structure is autocratic and its organizational mission

statement belongs to one singular vision – that of the CEO.

An article published in the Psychology Today questions Steve Jobs leadership in the wake of his death. When the CEO concealed his illness behind the idea of personal privacy – did he in fact fail to communicate with those who owned a stake in his health? Ray Williams, the author of the article, “Why Steve Jobs was not a leader” believes he did fail and then takes it a measure further. He concluded that Steve Job’s successes created a larger than life ego that muted out any sense of propriety and commitment to anyone other than him (Jobs).

Steve Jobs married himself to a vision and the idea of not arriving at the conclusion he saw so clearly was unacceptable. His lack of communication was a strategic measure to buy time for him to recover. He did not want the gains his company made on his competition to erode due to infighting and power grabbing if he were to disclose he was terminally ill. He did not want his illness to create an opportunity for competitors to gain any advantage.

Jobs did run his company like a family and he was the father. At times fathers will keep issues from their children to allow the children to focus on the tasks before them. I am sure this legendary CEO concealed his condition for the greater good of his company and it’s sad that he could not continue on the successes that were directly attached to his vision and efforts.

Steve Jobs was an excellent communicator – maybe one the best of our age. Carmine Gallo emphasized in The Presentations Secrets of Steve Jobs ,that every great presentation has the protagonist and that antagonist. Jobs himself was the hero and the villain. He created headlines with his ideas and he himself became the headline. His passion statement was expressed through his effort and creative manifestations. He was three things as told by those closest to him, seductive, magnetic and captivating.

 Not everyone thought that way though..

If I were to create a word cloud from my research into this communication issue, the words to describe Mr. Jobs most would cover the spectrum. Words like: visionary, innovator, genius, control freak, egomaniac, micromanager and cruel is how he is most described. Each of these words could describe any person who exudes passion and at times to a fault.

He was a great communicator but some were not ready for the message he brought – even if it was persuasive. Steve Jobs had his reasons for keeping his illness a secret and they were valid. He however did not have the right to. His lack of communication in his last years is regrettable. He in fact provides the evidence that his naysayers needed to prove their point about him. That he was self-serving – self centered  and in the end wrong.  Still -  he launched a revolution that will not only survive many lifetimes but will carry his spirit on forever.