Google Exec: Steve Jobs Among the Greatest Leaders

Apple’s Chairman of the board and former CEO Steve Jobs has had a big impact on the technology and entertainment industries, and he’s also among the greatest leaders Google senior vice president of engineering, Vic Gundotra, says he’s ever met.

In a post on his Google + page, Mr. Gundotra shared an anecdote earlier this week to illustrate why he sees Mr. Jobs as such a strong leader. Mr. Jobs announced on Wednesday that he was stepping down as Apple’s CEO and the company assigned him the title of chairman of the board of directors.

Steve JobsApple’s former CEO Steve Jobs

Mr. Gundotra said that he received a message on his phone on Sunday, January 6, 2008 where Mr. Jobs said “Vic, can you call me at home? I have something urgent to discuss.”

The urgent matter was that Mr. Jobs wasn’t happy with Google’s logo for the Internet search company’s icon on the iPhone — an icon that would be highlighted in an Apple keynote presentation in only a few days.

“I’ve been looking at the Google logo on the iPhone and I’m not happy with the icon. The second O in Google doesn’t have the right yellow gradient,” Mr. Jobs said. “It’s just wrong and I’m going to have Greg fix it tomorrow. Is that okay with you?”

The icon was updated in time for the presentation, but the bigger picture is what stuck with Mr. Gundotra.

“When I think about leadership, passion and attention to detail, I think back to the call I received from Steve Jobs on a Sunday morning in January,” he said. “It was a lesson I’ll never forget. CEOs should care about details. Even shades of yellow. On a Sunday.”