Steve Jobs' Leadership Lesson 8 - Impute

The Oxford Online Dictionary defines "impute" as meaning to "assign (a value) to something by inference from the value of the products or processes to which it contributes."

In his article, Isaacson* relates this to Steve Jobs' sense of design; in particular to his emphasis on the form and packaging of a product.  He saw it as "a signal rather than being functional".

Extending this from design into the more general world of leadership, this may be interpreted as the need for a leader to address not just the material needs of his/her follower, but to consider (and use to advantage) their emotional and spiritual needs.

Next: Lesson 9 - Push for Perfection

*Adapted from "The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson, in hbr.org.