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Steve Jobs once said the best managers are 'individual contributors' who aren't interested in managing people

Business Insider · 8m

Steve Jobs, the cofounder of Apple, once advised that the best managers are typically individuals who didn't aspire to be managers in the first place. In a 1985 interview, he criticized the professional managers they initially hired, stating that they knew how to manage but lacked the skills to actually do the job. Jobs believed that great managers were those who excelled as individual contributors and reluctantly took on managerial roles out of necessity. He emphasized the importance of having a visionary leader who also possessed the latest technological understanding. While this approach has been debated, it aligns with the notion known as "The Peter Principle," which suggests that promoting high performers into managerial positions without adequate training can lead to incompetence.