A complex character, Steve Jobs is an interesting leadership study, especially when deconstructing his Emotional Intelligence (EI) competencies. There's no doubt that his IQ outshined his EI with fewer EQ (Emotional Quotient) competencies than most great leaders and certainly fewer than when I help executives develop in themselves and their team. Yet he was a huge success.

Today with assessments like the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQi 2.0) and the Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI) a 360 degree feedback tool, you can measure your EQ and your teams EQ. Just let us know if you want to do these EI online assessments.  We’ll be happy to work directly with you.

What if you believed you had super powers like Superman, extreme confidence in yourself, pushed your points and others more and were totally committed to your vision? What could you or team accomplish?

We tell our children, "You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it."   In Steve Jobs’ case, he put his mind into everything he did full throttle.

He had handful of derailers or fatal flaws that should never be emulated, and in spite of these, he had some glaring strengths that have led him to be arguably one of the most influential figures in modern times. Jobs revolutionized 7 different industries: Computers, Animation, Phones, Music, Digital publishing, Tablets and Retail stores. 

Let’s look at some of Jobs specific flaws or leadership derailers and then his EI Strengths.

Derailers:  In my book published by McGraw-Hill, Leading with Emotional Intelligence, I provide both an EI Star assessment that measures your EI and a “Derailer Detector".  Here are a few of the key derailers Jobs has from that assessment:

• "Smartest Person in the room,
• "Drives others too hard",
• "Perfectionism",
• "Defensive and Inflexible"
• "Lack of impulse Control and Abrasive" and 
• "Mistreats Others."

Peter Elkind in a 2008 Fortune article, stated: “Jobs' personal abuses are also legend: He parks his Mercedes in handicapped spaces, periodically reduces subordinates to tears, and fires employees in angry tantrums. Yet many of his top deputies at Apple have worked with him for years, and even some of those who have departed say that although it's often brutal and Jobs hogs the credit, they've never done better work.”

If any of these derailers happen monthly they have to become a focus of your development so you don’t derail. For Jobs, as we know, he derailed and got kicked out of Apple for over 10 years.

Although these derailers would have prevented someone else from succeeding,  Jobs not only had a high IQ, he had some highly developed EI competencies.  Now let’s take a closer look at those.

EI Competencies where Jobs Excelled: Power of Vision, Confidence, Optimism, Communication and Change Catalyst: Jobs' success and perseverance was underscored by these five EI competencies.  When put in the hands of someone who believes himself empowered with special qualities and vision others do not have, these qualities combine into a powerful formula.

Jobs became an inspirational leader, an EI competency that catalyzes the team’s competencies.  A study of 20,000 360 degree feedback surveys of executives by Zenger and Folkman found that the most influential competency is Inspirational Leadership.  A powerful vision is like a branded sign burned into the brains of employees. It becomes the glasses that all reality is filtered through.

Jobs had laser power of focus which allowed him to revolutionize the different industries. His "distortion reality field" as typified by Apple employees and elucidated in Walter Isaacs's new book Steve Jobs highlights what neuroscientists have stated, we can change our brain with attention and focus. He not only changed his brain but the minion of Apple employees and millions of Apple users. Brain alignment is a task of leaders to have their teams and organization on the same page and to be drawn by the same magnetic pull to future goals.

Jobs' perfectionism, vision of simple style and optimism to make it happen permeated Apple's product design and reality. It overpowered his coercive leadership style, poor emotional intelligence and an iPod full of derailers.

Was his style just tolerated by his employees for the sake of being a part of his vision? Did the exhilaration and pride of being in a select few and having a seat at the table of the coolest company on the planet mitigate his "emotional towel snapping" and humiliation in front of peers? I think so.  The Apple values of innovation, the power of his vision, his design style and connectedness of the Apple products all seem to have muted the negativity of his management.

Jobs was known as an extraordinary communicator for his product launches. He really worked at it, prepared well and each slide and sentences were perfectly crafted for its influence and impact. Carmine Gallo in The Presentations Secrets of Steve Jobs, writes, “The Apple co-founder is the most captivating communicator on the world stage. No one else comes close. A Jobs presentation unleashes a rush of dopamine into the brains of his audience. …Some of the most common terms used to describe Steve Jobs are ‘seductive,’ ‘magnetic,’ ‘captivating,’ and ‘charismatic.’” We all can learn from his overwhelming power of vision and influential communication skills, something that leaders often under-utilize. The inspiring vision competency motivates others to follow and champion your ideas. Jobs was a master at inspiration and influence.

Peter Elkind writes about Steve Jobs in Fortune (2008), "…the marketing showmanship, the inspirational summons to 'put a dent in the universe,' the siren call to talent. ...Jobs famously seduced Sculley to Apple by challenging him: 'Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world?' '' Jobs' magnetic pull jet-fueled Apple’s stretch goals and helped actualize his demand for perfection in their products.

When leaders aren't clear enough about the vision or don't communicate it often enough, they lose the power of focus and commitment of their followers.  Jobs’ confidence, vision, optimism and ability to be a catalyst for change, were his driving forces.  It allowed what others saw as his "distortion reality field" to be his beacon for the impossible and grandiose.   As a superman put on this earth to make difference in how we relate to our technology, nothing deterred his vision.

So what tall buildings could you scale in going for your dreams with the vehemence of Jobs?  So how much of your success is your belief, passion and ability to influence others to follow your guiding light?

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