PRODUCT LEADERSHIP
Just read an article about Steve Jobs and his leadership style. Even though he was pretty abusive to his people, he obviously did well, and the article was about what we can learn from this. What struck me, was that there are three key elements to leading, whether that is a company/organization, or your own life. They are in a dynamic dance that is best done in balance. There is the money motive, the product motive and the production process motive. Lets back up and start with Steve.
Jobs was a leader who succeeded because he was product lead with his many visions of the next generation of personal computer tools. His fixation on the state of the art product and his uncanny ability to see customers desires around that, made him a rare success story. He saw money (profit) as secondary to making something cool and exciting. And, as we know now, he cared less how the product was made, for him, it was the product’s dance with the consumer.
Traditionally, most leaders of big companies, are driven by the money aspect of this triad. They have placed that as the key to success, and all decisions on product, customer, and process of delivery were secondary to the cost/benefit analysis. And many of them did well, especially in a world where all their counterparts were of the same ilk. But, it led to an ultimate downfall when cost cutting could not replace poorly made products that nobody wanted.
The third leg of this, the production or delivery process, was the latent key factor. Toyota opened this door with their surge to the top of the auto makers because they simply had such a better process to make a car with higher quality and lower cost. Took a long time for the US makers to get this as a strategic way to lead their companies. Enough of the business talk. How is this applicable to your living?
I see most humans living in this same world, when they try to “lead their own life”. There are the “product leaders” or the ones who try to manage their skill set, their degrees, their history, their successes, and everything else that portrays to the world that they are an “excellent product”. Unlike the computer products of Jobs, our “self product” is much more subtle and subjective, but the idea is the same. How do I present myself as something a user (employer/client) must have and be willing to pay for.
The next is the folks who live to make money. They see everything as a game to figure out how to make themselves more and more for whatever service they provide. The issue is always around ways to figure out a niche or uniqueness that others are willing to pay for. This may slip into illegal or borderline illegal activities. We all have met these folks who put money at the top of the list.
Finally, there are those who want to be excellent in their process of engaging the world. This is the folks who want to live in an impeccable way and show up more present to the world. These are the folks who want to make their living of high quality. Sometimes, they are the dropouts who love their living, but struggle to make a living. A high quality process that has products that do not fit the customer and can not be sold for much money. Ahh, the life of the artist!!
Without a doubt, to live in all three of these is no easy feat. To see the future around people’s needs and how to meet that, to create a business model to make money to do that, and to have the discipline and awareness to create a process that delivers, takes an unique talent. My view is that the “showing up to deliver” is the most difficult, but to do that without the others will not create success. But, if I had my druthers, I would always choose the latter. For that means, that even if you do not make lots of money, or find success in lots of customers, you will have the beauty of living in the creative moment of your life. And there is nothing greater, no matter what the rich people tell you. Tlane 2/2012
