As he's the co-founder of Apple and the visionary behind some of the world's leading personal computing innovations, few would question the late Steve Jobs' expertise.

But it was a rather more common interpersonal skill that turned him into a "brilliant" business leader, according to former Apple CEO John Sculley.

That skill? The ability to listen.

Sculley, who served as Apple's CEO for a decade from 1983 to 1993, told CNBC Make It that ability did not come naturally to Jobs. Rather, it took 12 years and a contentious departure from Apple to hone it.

Jobs famously resigned from Apple in 1985, aged 27, following a clash with Sculley (a former ally) and Apple board members over the strategic direction of the company.

In the 12 years that followed, Jobs founded another computer software company, NeXT, before returning to Apple in 1997.