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The Steve Jobs Way cover art

The Steve Jobs Way

By: Jay Elliot, William L. Simon
Narrated by: Christopher Hurt
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Editor reviews

The most intriguing bit of contemporary technological history is easily the rise of Apple Computer, and so of course, the most fascinatingly controversial person in that history is CEO Steve Jobs. A company doesn’t grow so large so quickly without stepping on a few toes, making the story of Steve Jobs’ rise, fall, and return to power at Apple a hotly debated topic among industry geeks as well as ordinary consumers. Particularly with the publication of William L. Simon’s unauthorized best-selling biography, iCON Steve Jobs, which notoriously skewered Jobs as a cutthroat overachiever, the debate over whether the “Stevian” style of leadership is worth emulating has become increasingly polarized.

Jay Elliot, former Senior Vice President of Apple who was responsible for corporate operations and overall business planning, reported directly to Steve Jobs during the company’s original boom and its subsequent renaissance. He is therefore in a unique position to dig into the truth behind the mythic man, and does so with the gleefulness of someone who has long been “drinking the Kool-Aid” of how awesome the Apple working environment is. Steve Jobs’ management style and his legion of loyal customers have often been compared to a cult, and Elliot has firmly bought in. In many ways, the subtitle for this book ought to be “A Staunch Defense of Micro-Management”. From his understanding of Jobs’ nit-picky methods as “attention to details” to his dismissal of innovations made during Jobs’ temporary absence from Apple, Elliot’s positive spin never wavers.

At first, it seems surprising that William L. Simon co-wrote this book. As the listen progresses however, similarities between The Steve Jobs Way and iCON become clear. The anecdotal evidence is largely the same for both books, and the main distinction is that Simon previously used these stories to vilify Jobs, whereas Elliott and Simon’s joint effort here glorifies Jobs. When it’s merely a matter of tone that separates these two perspectives on the same history, the choice of narrator is particularly important.

Christopher Hurt is a very solid choice, as most of his voice work is in classics and nonfiction. What could have been a very shallow and sugary take becomes in Hurt’s audio a beguiling and ultimately fairly persuasive portrait of a misunderstood guru. Entrepreneurs looking for insight will enjoy a very sensible-sounding listen, while Apple devotees will still feel that Hurt is on their side. He is careful to keep both feet on the ground, even when the text itself seems to be veering into the territory of simply singing Jobs’ praises. The Steve Jobs Way successfully tips the scales back against the recent spate of Jobs-bashing, but it’s the way Christopher Hurt takes this Apple love-fest with a grain of salt that makes it a worthy listen. —Megan Volpert

Summary

In iLeadership, Jay Elliot gives the listener the opportunity of seeing Steve Jobs as only his closest associates have ever seen him, and to learn what has made him - and the mystique of his management style - capable of creating tools so extraordinary that they have remade three industries and have transformed the way we create, consume, and communicate with each other.

Jay Elliot worked side by side with Steve as Senior Vice President of Apple and brings us his deep insider perspective of Steve's singular iLeadership style - which encompasses four major principles: product, talent, organization, and marketing.

Jay shares the lessons that come out of Steve's intuitive approach to show how the creative and technological brilliance of iLeadership can be utilized to drive breakthroughs in any organization, irrespective of size.

©2011 Jay Elliot and William L. Simon (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“There have been so many books about Steve Jobs but none that have the vantage point of an insider like this one. The narrative is very engaging and I could not stop reading.... Jay has done a fantastic job to provide insights that we all can use from the man who has inspired two generations of entrepreneurs.” (Naeem Zafar, Lecturer, Entrepreneurship, University of California Berkeley, Haas School of Business)
"Steve Jobs is a revolutionary leader and thinker who has been written about by many people. But for the first time, in The Steve Jobs Way, Jay Elliot brings a deep, insider perspective of Steve Jobs' unique leadership style, which has forever changed our everyday lives and the world around us.” (Howard Behar, former president of Starbucks Coffee International and author of It's Not About the Coffee)
“Christopher Hurt gives an outstanding narration of this insider’s analysis of Steve Jobs’s one-of-a-kind leadership at Apple. Hurt’s casual gravitas is perfect for an analytic business biography; he’s superb at using his vocal tone and phrasing to emphasize crucial points.” ( AudioFile)

What listeners say about The Steve Jobs Way

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Good content but a little sickening

This book has great content. It is very interesting to see the intensity and attention to details that Jobs put into his work and how that affected the outcome of his product. His unrelenting drive to deliver a product that he himself and his customers would love is what has made Apple the success it is.

The downside of this book is that it is a worship book about Steve Jobs. Several times while listening I almost gave up and stopped listening because it made me sick to keep hearing this man praised over and over. He does deserve a lot of credit for persevering but to go on and on over how wonderful he is was way over the top. Have a listen to this book but be sure to keep a bucket nearby!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • J
  • 14-06-11

Unique and inspiring leader of our generation

Steve leads his industry with creativity, energy and courage. He keeps creating new products and generating new ideas, eventhough he is already very wealthy and probably doesn't need the additional income. Computing and telecommunication is so much more fun with his company Apple intensifying competition with new products such as i-tune, touch phone and tablets.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

very enjoyable

I really enjoyed this book which gives a good insight about the roller coaster career of Steve Jobs.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Worth a read for brand managers/ entrepreneurs

The title obviously suggest that there will be "Steve worshipping" (so not for those allergic to Steve) but there are some valuable lessons to be learnt here, which I think can benefit everyone who manages a brand/ product, even if it is open source..
I disagree with author's minor android and windows bashing though.

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

conservative but interesting.

A great story told passionately and with genuine love. Much was left out and it could have been far more analytical but still worth reading.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Inspirational

Being an Apple product user as well as being aware of Jobs' status as an inspirational leader, I thought I would use one of my Audible credits on this and was not disappointed. New to management and leadership, I found the insights into Jobs from someone who knew him well and worked with him closely fascinating. Despite not being in a product-producing company (I work in Education), I was made to re-evaluate my approach to my role, its significance and my attitude towards it. The performance of the book was excellent too, making it a great purchase.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Inspirational Man

Any additional comments?

I only knew the headlines about Steve Jobs - but wanted to know more about how he came to be so successful - one of the best non-fiction audiobooks I have listened to.
thoroughly recommended !!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good and Inspring book

This book has very good content. It gives you good overview how Steve Jobs build Apple and become a market leader. Ups and down of Apple….I really enjoy listening this audio.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A history to learn from

Because this book is an overview of how Steve Jobs build Apple to be one of the largest companies in the world it is interesting for the entire book. I find books about leadership principles can get very repetitive very quickly.

Jay Elliot, a former Apple executive, takes us along on the intriguing journey of Apple's growth. We learn from observing Steve Jobs' charismatic leadership style, his successes and his failures along the way. Definitely worth a read/listen for some inspiration on how you will "make a dent in the universe" (as Steve Jobs would say).

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