There’s been no end of hero-worship since Steve Jobs passed away last month. Wave an Apple Magic Mouse and you’ll hit another blogger, writer, or civilian status update attempting to reduce his life into short recipes for wisdom and success.

Yes, Steve Jobs was a full, talented, passionate man who could sell you a dream with the simplest of song (and a few “booms” thrown in).That he succeeded as well as he did, by combining two opposing fields like business and design, should inspire every under-acknowledged art major and MFA holder to throw themselves into the wheels of commerce with renewed vigor. Yes, he suffered famously, getting sidelined by the Board of Directors of the company he founded and the man he hired to run it. Yes, he synthesized his successes and failures into an eloquent 2005 Stanford Commencement address for us to study for ever after.

But what many overlook is the simple truth that Jobs succeeded most when Jobs was in charge: Apple, Pixar, Next and Apple-the-sequel. He failed most when he wasn’t: Apple under any other CEO.

So you can be as passionate, driven, and single-minded (some say high-minded) as Jobs, if you’re building your own business. If not, well imagine if one of your employees came to work the Monday after Jobs’ death and announced, “I’ve been inspired by Jobs’ death to be more like him. . . “ That approach won’t work because, as our colleague Scott Berkun blogged yesterday, “You can’t copy and past success.”

Should you want to try, or you’re faced with an employee eager to do so, we recommend three steps:

1. Let them try
2. Give them the space and time to do so, like a product, market, or sales territory and three years to wow you.
3. Protect them with resources and sponsorship they’ll need, and from the organizational interference their activities will inevitably attract

Roy Disney did this for his brother Walt. And Bill Gates did this for Steve Jobs in 1997 when Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple to help keep it afloat.

But don’t take our word for it. Warren Bennis said it best in his 1998 book Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaboration. The passing of Steve Jobs has inspired us to re-read this excellent book. You and your newly inspired employee might do the same.

And if you’re in charge, let us know in the comments below how you’re managing creativity, organizing genius, and protecting the generators of innovation in your company.