We’re back with another Amazing Apple Anecdote. This week we learn about Steve Jobs’s caring side, as he went to grieve with a colleague, Heidi Rozen, who’d just lost her mother.
Heidi Roizen, now a venture capitalist, was the head of software company T/Maker, which distributed software for the Mac in the 1980s. She had many experiences with Jobs she would call “character-building,” but one was more personal.
“On Mar. 1, 1989 Steve called to talk to me about a negotiation, and as it was Steve I took the call, even though I had just learned the night before that my father had died suddenly while on a business trip in Paris. When I told Steve what had happened, he said, ‘Then why are you working? You need to go home. I’ll be right over.’
Jobs came to her house and sat on the floor beside her while she sobbed for two hours. “Yes, I had sofas, but Steve didn’t like to sit on sofas. He asked me to talk about my father, what was important about him, what I loved best about him. Steve’s mother had passed away a few months earlier, so I think he was particularly attuned to how I felt and what I needed to talk about. I will always remember and appreciate what an incredible thing he did for me in helping me grieve.”
This just shows, for me at least, one of the reasons Steve Jobs was so successful. His ability to detach himself emotionally from situations but also be there for people’s personal issues is a great trait. That’s it for this week, but we’ll be back soon with more. For now though, enjoy!
