Steve Jobs had once mentioned that “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”. Innovation, by definition, refers to the process of making changes in something established by introducing new methods,ideas or even products. This powerful quote encapsulates the most important criterion for a leader, that a leader is about refining, changing and adapting to the environment.

Born in the 1950s in San Francisco, Steve Jobs grew up in Silicon Valley, the birthplace of technology and innovation. During his early schooling days, he was studying in the Homestead High School before dropping out of the Reed College. Although society had decided that ‘he wasn’t going to make it big’, he continued to attend classes outside of school and worked at Atari, a video game company. At the age of 21, he co-founded Apple in his garage with Steve Wozniak, a computer scientist. Working by his side, they created their first product, the ‘Apple I Computer’. Soon after, Apple grew exponentially launching both the Apple II and the Macintosh, the first mass-market computer with a graphical interface. This boost in popularity and revenue paved the path for the iconic products like the iPod, iPhone, iPad and the Macbook. These revolutionary discoveries transformed technology altogether. These discoveries gave him an identity within society but he was not just focused on selling devices, he had a vision to make technology more accessible for all. The legacy that he created wasn’t an overnight miracle, it was formed through years of dedication and perseverance.

His visionary and charismatic leadership qualities together with being detail-oriented played a crucial role in the lead up to his success. He was someone who was very bold,innovative and wanted to make an impact. In the 2000s, he had noticed many people carrying MP3s and digital cameras separately, his vision was to combine these functions into 1 device, which became the iPhone. This completely revolutionized technology, he was the first to even create such an astounding product. He even said, “People don’t know what they want until you show it to them”. This statement is true to a large extent, many people don’t dare to imagine what they want in the belief that they are restrained by technology and society. Not only was he visionary, but he had the ability to coordinate the team to work together. He was able to effectively rally different groups of people to harness their unique individual strengths to achieve the outcome that he desired.

Furthermore, he had his unique way of promoting his company which had really boosted Apple to thrive. He created emotional narratives, which wasn’t the norm then. It brought about emotional depth, which reflects his philanthropic mindset to engage and empower people.  A unique example of this would be the launch of the first iPhone. He had first demonstrated the product as if he was launching 3 different separate products, the web communicator, a phone and an iPod with touch controls. He used various techniques like repetition that created suspense in the lead up to the final reveal. In the reveal, he showcased that the 3 functions were actually all part of 1 product, the iPhone.

Personally, I have felt very inspired by his boldness, innovation and the drive to serve others. Before the creation of the iphone, no one had imagined combining the MP3, the web communicator and the phone into one singular device. In the planning stages, there was no way for him to determine the success of his idea, so there was definitely a significant risk involved. But this same risk that he took, had completely transformed the technological landscape. Furthermore, he was daring to make a new type of advertisement to grab the attention of users. The advertisements then, were targeted by specifying the key features of the products. However, Apple’s advertisement was groundbreaking since it told a story to the users. It depicted a world where Apple brought creativity and freedom, with a woman throwing a hammer through the screen with one clear message, “On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be ‘1984’”. This unique approach had turned out to be a huge success, even though it was only nationally aired once on the Super Bowl, News Outlets replayed it for free, giving Apple millions in free publicity. These innovative and bold methods played a huge role in their success which really inspired me.

All in all, Innovation really does distinguish between a leader and a follower. Steve Jobs didn’t just innovate technology, he restructured leadership as a whole, leaving a legacy for the future generations as we know it. Steve Jobs has played a crucial role in paving the pathway for revolutionary technology today like Artificial Intelligence. His unique story has always fascinated me. It always reminds me that even if a college dropout can transform the technological landscape, what’s stopping the rest of us from making an impact too?

But its important to realise that innovation is not just about technology. The impact that he has made shows that innovation is not just about physical products, it’s the mindset to make a difference. In that same way,  philanthropy is about driving positive transformation with a lasting legacy. As Mr Viswa Sadasivan put it, “Philanthropy is not just an action, it’s an attitude”. Its this mindset to contribute to something greater than oneself that shapes one into an innovator, a changemaker and a philanthropist.