This one personality trait unites Musk, Gates, and the late Steve Jobs.
Elon Musk and Bill Gates share a personality quirk that defined Steve Jobs' character and contributed to their success. According to Walter Isaacon, who authored Steve Jobs' biography and is currently writing one on Elon Musk, the two, like Bill Gates, don't develop emotional ties with employees or colleagues and don't make concessions when it comes to achieving commercial objectives.
"It's about that ability to not be as emotionally involved and empathetic. It's something Steve Jobs had, it's something Bill Gates has. It's something that a lot of these people have, because they're not looking to gain affection from the person in front of them. They just want to send rockets to Mars," Isaacson told CNBC.
Some Tesla employees have previously portrayed Musk as a demanding boss who isn't afraid to express his annoyance when people fall short of the standards he sets or miss his excessively tough deadlines. Employees remarked that while he may be demanding and difficult to work for, he is also frequently inspirational and hilarious. However, Musk has come under fire for Tesla's poor working conditions, which workers have complained about.
Much the same thing Apple employees said about Jobs. It appears that he was very forthright when expressing his opinions on the work of his staff, especially if he wasn't satisfied with it. Guy Kawasaki, a former Apple CEO, claimed in 2019 that Jobs "demanded perfection" from his staff. According to Kawasaki, "You had to prove you were really good every day or Jobs would eliminate you." According to Isaacson, there are many similarities between Musk and Jobs: "Musk and Jobs are extremely similar in that they both speak their minds a lot. His brilliance is partly due to his honesty."
Bill Gates said that "people clearly didn't like him" when he initially took over Microsoft. In a 2020 interview, Bill Gates recalled how he and his friend Steve Jobs had a reputation for having a fierce sense of competition, which led to very high standards for both their staff and for themselves.
According to Isaacson, Musk, who oversees both Tesla and SpaceX, may be overly impulsive with staff members as a result of the time constraints brought on by his many responsibilities. Musk "clearly cares about his reputation," but it doesn't change the fact that when it comes to getting the job done for his firms, he is overly direct or even brutal with staff. "According to Musk, if I confront someone who has done something wrong and instead of shooing them away, I start to feel empathy for them, it is the incorrect type of empathy. Not the person in front of me, but the effort of travelling to Mars should be the object of my empathy, "added Isaacson
