What made Steve Jobs legendary?

I think it’s a combination of these traits:

Unparalleled Instinct: Nobody knew what would succeed with consumers as accurately as Jobs. While every other consumer electronics company needs to talk to consumers more, Apple never spoke with consumers. In fact, Jobs famously said that it isn’t the customer’s job to know what he wants. Rather, Jobs knew what customers wanted. He felt it. As a result, Apple never put out products that were not met with a wildly enthusiastic consumer response. Even the iPhone 4, which caused an uproar over its antenna issues, was purchased by millions who, ultimately, loved it.

Moral Certainty: Just as Apple created evangelist customers who spread its gospel as though it were religion, Jobs fought for his vision as though it were his religion. He believed so certainly that what he wanted was the right thing, that he didn’t care if he pushed, screamed, swore or offended to get there. When people pushed back, Jobs didn’t question himself. He didn’t doubt. He didn’t consider. He made it happen his way. This moral certainty that his vision was the right vision was Jobs’s main management style.

Perverse Attention to Detail: Of course, every consumer in America benefited from Jobs’s perversion. Sometimes, as recently detailed by Guy Kawasaki, the black colors of the devices weren’t black enough. Sometimes the icon’s corners weren’t rounded enough. Sometimes the icons didn’t move across the screen in the right, perfect way. Jobs designed the products Apple made, because he was the one who dreamt them up. Sure, the company employed staff and specialists, but Jobs was Apple’s chief designer, and everyone at the company designed for Jobs. It had to be perfect. Jobsperfect. 

Marketing Genius: His instinct for marketing was as keen as his instinct for consumer desires and product design. Basically, Jobs created the modern product launch event. His keynotes and unveilings are legendary. What made him such a successful marketer?

• Charisma. You couldn’t take your eyes off of him when he was introducing his product.
• Passion. He loved the product, the event, and the energy in the room. He believed. So we believed.
• Language. When Jobs introduced a product, the events were littered (not sprinkled) with words like “amazing, incredible, terrific, beautiful, stunning, best, first, etc.” This was no accident. He was teaching the world to talk about his products. The next day, every newspaper in America was quoting him, using his language, to describe Apple’s new products. He was a master of language.
• Eventually, mystique. Success begets success if you continue doing the right things. And for Jobs, around the time of the launch of the first iPhone, his mystique was in full effect. What would Steve say? What the heck is a Mac phone?

Singular instinct. The strength and certainty to fight for his vision and belief. Attention to detail. And marketing genius.

Find me one other executive in America who has this combination of vision, management, design and marketing excellence.

People have been asking me over the last few weeks, “Who’s the next Steve Jobs?”

I tell them there isn’t one. People like him come along once in a lifetime.