Distorted Reality: Steve Jobs, Barack Obama et al

Much is being made about Steve Jobs, and his penchant for 'distorting reality'. This includes contributions from FBI interviews, when he was alive. Not that he needs defending - and I never personally worked for him - but I have worked closely or directly for five CEO's and feel I have good experience from which to speak.

Distorting reality is such a consistent feature of CEO's, it's almost ignorant to proper it as a negative, or dis-qualifier. I submit that the ability to do it well, however that's defined, makes it a prerequisite to extraordinary results, good and bad. Who is to say that distortion is not required in order to go places, where no one has gone before. I'm sure people thought Einstein was distorted.

The better question is if this distorted leadership is taking us someplace good - particularly in the case of our political leadership on both sides of the aisle. In this case, and whether each knew it or not, at the end of his life Jobs was definitely the teacher, Obama the student.

James C. Collier

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