Steve Jobs' Big Mistake: Firing Line

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Steve Jobs has been deeply involved in the tactical decisions about Apple's(AAPL Quote) new touch-screen tablet computer. He reportedly scrapped the initiative twice in the past year or so because of memory and power issues.

Jobs returned to the front office in June after a medical hiatus. His medical issues, including a liver transplant, raised eyebrows on Wall Street because the company communicated about them cryptically. As a public company, Apple has certain fiduciary duties with respect to disclosure of material facts, and many believed Apple failed to adequately disclose what was happening to its chief.

During Jobs' absence, employees took on more responsibility, and this is a good thing. Good leaders need to help those underneath them grow and take initiative. In a June column, I discussed succession planning at Yahoo!(YHOO Quote), Merrill Lynch(MER Quote), Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and Citigroup(C Quote).

Leaders must allow those under them to make mistakes and learn. As a leader, I recognize that the people I attempt to empower will come up short on occasion. I certainly do. But I also work to make these "successful failures" that provide useful lessons that can can be applied down the road to improve our organization.

This probably won't be news to anyone, but Jobs is not going to live forever, as his recent medical leave demonstrates. Eventually he will need to hand the reigns over to someone else. Apple needs to decide sooner rather than later whether it is a cult or a religion, the difference being that religions survive the loss of their leaders. Currently, Jobs is Apple. He appears to Main Street and Wall Street as the brand and the brains. If Apple suffers an unexpected loss of its leader, or someone isn't ready to step up and take command, the company is going to take a hit.