Steve Jobs wasn’t known for being kind. He was known for being visionary.

But leadership isn’t always about warmth. Sometimes it’s about clarity. About building a culture where excellence isn’t just expected—it’s enabled.

At first glance, Jobs might not seem like the poster child for recognition. He was intense. Demanding. Sometimes ruthless. But if you look closer, you’ll see his leadership was steeped in recognition—just not the feel-good kind we often talk about.

Empowerment Over Praise

His genius wasn’t just the iMac, iPod, or iPhone.

It was this: he built a culture where ideas mattered more than titles. Where engineers, designers and executives all had a say in the process. And where the best idea won, no matter where it came from.

That’s not kindness. That’s respect.

Recognition doesn’t always look like applause. Sometimes, it looks like empowerment. Trust. Willingness to take feedback from your team.

Recognition in Action

Ken Kocienda, one of the engineers behind the original iPhone and Safari browser, shared in his book Creative Selection how Jobs gave him direct access—not only to present ideas but to own decisions that would shape the final product.

While designing Safari’s keyboard autocorrect feature, Kocienda faced a huge UX bug. Jobs didn’t micromanage and take away responsibility. He empowered Kocienda to iterate, to experiment, to fail forward. When the final product shipped, Kocienda felt fulfilled and recognized from his success.

This wasn’t just recognition—it was trust. Jobs empowered Kocienda and let him make the decisions.

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“If you want to hire great people and have them stay working for you, you have to let them make a lot of decisions. You have to be run by ideas, not hierarchy.” —Steve Jobs

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What It Means for Leaders Today

At Enzy, we believe recognition is more than a pat on the back. It's creating a high-performance culture where everyone wants to contribute because they are bought in to the company.

Let your team challenge you. Let them surprise you. Let them own it.

And maybe—just maybe—you’ll build the kind of culture where the next “iPhone moment” doesn’t come from the top, but from someone you empowered yesterday.

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Source: Creative Selection by Ken Kocienda

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