Leading Apple With Steve Jobs: Management Lessons From a Controversial Genius

The Worldwide Culture

It was critical that this culture of Apple values become a worldwide system—so every Apple employee, in every office, in every country would be in tune with the values that had been set at Apple headquarters in Cupertino. This was accomplished by making values indoctrination a part of the process for new hires in all countries and a refresher in leadership training seminars for new Apple managers. The values document became part of the fabric of the company.

In human resources, I made it one of the key responsibilities of the HR people to make sure the values were being adhered to on a daily basis, and I was to be advised of any deviations. I had listening posts all over the world, and the information I received was key to making this an accountable value system.

When executives from Cupertino would travel, we made it a key part of their job to discuss and monitor how values were being implemented in all parts of the world. Since in the early days I spent a lot of my time in Europe and Asia, I was able to make sure that the value system was being adhered to in Paris and Tokyo as it was in New York and Cleveland. At any Apple facility Steve and I visited, we would go on walk-throughs and in casual discussions with employees bring up the question, “How are the values doing here?”

I also created Apple Corporate TV. All employee meetings we would have in Cupertino would be available via satellite in Apple offices around the world.

Believing in the power of the ...