What Did Steve Jobs Do That Was Great

I had earlier written a blog post called, “What Did Steve Jobs Do Right.” With Steve Jobs’ just-announced resignation as CEO of Apple, we can look back at the totality of his career at Apple and pronounce his leadership great. I compare his leadership to that of Warren Buffet at Berkshire Hathaway.

While Warren Buffet is the anti-technologist and Steve Jobs is the embodiment of cool technology, both men did such outstanding jobs as CEO that their departures trigger concerns about succession in Wall Street. The Street realizes that their companies cannot be the same without them. 

There are three companies I am passionate about as a consumer—Apple, Amazon and Costco. My husband will attest that I spend thousands of dollar every year at each company.

Their long-term CEOs are all iconic leaders, but I would rate their job performances differently. So, on a Susan Man scale, here are their ratings (out of 5):

In English, the word googol (10 to the power 100) is used to represent a very large number. In Chinese, we use ten thousand. (We are after all a very ancient civilization! Think inflation.)

In Chinese, to wish someone a long life, you wish them to live to 10,000 years old. To Mr. Jobs, may you live to be 10,000!