In the article “How to Become Steve Jobs? Narcissism and Humility”, the author claims that narcissism is a necessary tool for success, especially for people who want to claw their way up through the ranks of a company. He also hold that it takes as much humility to be successful once they’re already leaders. First, he offers a new study from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management, which indicates that executives who curb their confidence in their vision by admitting mistakes and limitations, and acknowledging the contributions of others, tend to command the most respect and loyalty from their teams. Then he takes the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs as an example to support his idea. Steve Jobs was a person of narcissism and it is his obsessive commitment that helped Apple Inc to become the world’s most valuable company. Finnally, he cites Bradley P. Owens’ (an assistant professor of business ethics at the university) words in his conclusion. That is “The leaders that perform the best are those who have high narcissism and high humility, and humility is meant to supplement and buffer them from the extremes of narcissism.”
Though the author’s idea may make some sense, I quite disagree with his ideas. On the one hand, I think he overemphasizes the power of narcissism and humility. We all know that there are many factors that can contribute to a person’s success in life, such as profound knowledge, broad vision, strong ambition, consistent persistence, excellent interpersonal skills and so on. Narcissism and humility may help a person to be more charming but they are not crucial factors for a leader’s success. On the other hand, I believe the author mixes up the concept of narcissism and self-confidence. According to the Oxford Dictionary, “narcissism means the habit of admiring yourself too much, especially your appearance, while self-confidence means having confidence in yourself and your ability.” It is obvious that these two words both relate to self-appreciation, but they are quite different actually. In my opinion, self-confidence nor narcissism is the necessary tool for success.
In conclusion, the author’s viewpoint that narcissism and humility played an
important role in Steve Jobs’ success in is not right to some extent. He overlooks what I consider an important point about the effect of other factors for a leader like Steve Jobs to be successful in company and furthermore it is the character of self-confidence rather than narcissism that is helpful for a leader’s success.
In the article “How to Become Steve Jobs? Narcissism and Humility”, the author claims that narcissism is a necessary tool for success, especially for people who want to claw their way up through the ranks of a company. He also hold that it takes as much humility to be successful once they’re already leaders. First, he offers a new study from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management, which indicates that executives who curb their confidence in their vision by admitting mistakes and limitations, and acknowledging the contributions of others, tend to command the most respect and loyalty from their teams. Then he takes the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs as an example to support his idea. Steve Jobs was a person of narcissism and it is his obsessive commitment that helped Apple Inc to become the world’s most valuable company. Finnally, he cites Bradley P. Owens’ (an assistant professor of business ethics at the university) words in his conclusion. That is “The leaders that perform the best are those who have high narcissism and high humility, and humility is meant to supplement and buffer them from the extremes of narcissism.”
Though the author’s idea may make some sense, I quite disagree with his ideas. On the one hand, I think he overemphasizes the power of narcissism and humility. We all know that there are many factors that can contribute to a person’s success in life, such as profound knowledge, broad vision, strong ambition, consistent persistence, excellent interpersonal skills and so on. Narcissism and humility may help a person to be more charming but they are not crucial factors for a leader’s success. On the other hand, I believe the author mixes up the concept of narcissism and self-confidence. According to the Oxford Dictionary, “narcissism means the habit of admiring yourself too much, especially your appearance, while self-confidence means having confidence in yourself and your ability.” It is obvious that these two words both relate to self-appreciation, but they are quite different actually. In my opinion, self-confidence nor narcissism is the necessary tool for success.
In conclusion, the author’s viewpoint that narcissism and humility played an
important role in Steve Jobs’ success in is not right to some extent. He overlooks what I consider an important point about the effect of other factors for a leader like Steve Jobs to be successful in company and furthermore it is the character of self-confidence rather than narcissism that is helpful for a leader’s success.