4 Times Steve Jobs And Jeff Bezos Agreed About Life

At the top of most successful organizations stands a successful leader. Of course, exactly what it takes to be a successful leader is up for debate.

Leaders come in all shapes and sizes, and they can have a wide variety of talents and convictions. The one thing they all tend to have in common, however, is an ability to motivate and inspire others around them.

For businesses, it’s typically very beneficial to have a great leader at the helm. Strong leaders in CEO or other executive positions have a unique ability to use their skills to establish corporate policy and companywide attitude from the top down.

Over the past two decades or so, many great leaders have emerged at the top of some of the world’s biggest companies. Of those leaders, perhaps none have been more outspoken and influential as former Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) head Steve Jobs and current Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos.

In many ways, Jobs and Bezos illustrate how leaders come in many different forms. They disagreed on many things in business. Jobs was never afraid to sacrifice cost for style, whereas Bezos has always said to be on the side of making the product as affordable as possible. Under Jobs, Apple was flashy and creative, while much of Amazon’s recent success is owed to behind-the-scenes changes and internal investment.

Nevertheless, I think we all would have loved to be able to just sit and watch Jobs and Bezos have a drink together. Just watching those two minds interact would be fascinating, and despite the differences in their broad business strategies, they sometimes did seem to have similar takes on life, happiness, and leadership.

Here is four times where they unintentionally said the same thing:

1. Innovators are leaders:

“I think frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do. One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out.” - Jeff Bezos.

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” - Steve Jobs.

Although these two quotes are obviously in two different contexts and are being used to illustrate two different points, they both highlight what each thinks about the qualities of a leader. To both men, leaders are people who innovate and blaze their own paths.

2. Love what you do:

“I strongly believe that anyone working in a company that really is like the one described in the NYT would be crazy to stay. I know I would leave such a company. But hopefully, you don't recognize the company described. Hopefully, you're having fun working with a bunch of brilliant teammates, helping invent the future, and laughing along the way.” -Jeff Bezos.

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.” - Steve Jobs.

These quotes serve to illustrate that both men value the importance of enjoying your work and professional life. Interestingly enough, the Bezos quote comes from his response to a New York Times story that accused Amazon of fostering brutal work conditions, and Jobs was known to clash with many of his employees. Either way, it’s clear that both Jobs and Bezos thought about how professional motivation comes from an internal passion.

3. Try, try again:

“If you're going to invent, it means you're going to experiment, and if you're going to experiment, you're going to fail, and if you're going to fail, you have to think long term.” - Jeff Bezos.

“Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.” - Steve Jobs

With these quotes, each man is taking on a classic philosophy about not giving up when you do not succeed. Both Jobs and Bezos were able to recognize that failure is an inevitable part of innovation and it is necessary to accept this failure if you want to be successful in the long-term.

4. I want to change the world:

“I want to see good financial returns, but also to me there’s the extra psychic return of having my creativity and technological vision bear fruit and change the world in a positive way.” - Jeff Bezos.

“I want to put a ding in the universe.” - Steve Jobs.

These might be the most simple of all these quotes, but they probably do the best job of illustrating the overall vision of Jobs and Bezos. These are leaders who wanted to do more than make a big company. These are leaders that wanted—and still want—to change the world.

Bottom Line

As I mentioned, successful leaders come in just about every shape and size. There is no single quality that defines a great leader, and people can lead with a variety of different convictions. Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos are both examples of great leaders, and that’s nearly impossible to argue given their success. While they weren’t always in agreement, sometimes Jobs and Bezos taught a similar lesson, and perhaps we can learn a thing or two from their words.