8 Tips To Help You Create Greatness From the One and Only, Steve Jobs
Thinking differently is just the tip of the iceberg.
Steve Jobs was an ass hole - at times.
But you know what? Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and your best friend are also assholes at times.
Steve Jobs founded the multi-trillion dollar juggernaut that is Apple and led the teams that created numerous innovations that changed our lives.
He created what is nothing short of greatness and that’s what we are going to focus on today.
This is the same guy who travelled to India to find a guru, walked around barefoot, smelt like shit and experimented with LSD.
It turns out, there is a lot we can learn from a man like that.
1. Have a clear vision that you believe in.
Steve Jobs is what we call a visionary. He knew what he wanted to create, and he did whatever he could to make it happen.
He believed in his team to make it happen even when they didn’t believe it was possible.
He envisioned a cellphone with a touch screen - the iPhone.
He wanted all of his favourite songs in the palm of his hand - the iPod.
He envisioned the iPad for years before Apple successfully made it happen.
Without belief, clarity, and certainty in his vision, these incredible devices would have never existed.
2. Expecting greatness will create greatness
The best founders are the ones who expect greatness from their team.
They know what is possible, they believe in their team’s ability, and then they demand they make it happen.
Quite often their teams will tell them what they are demanding is impossible, and then by some miracle they somehow make it happen.
Steve Jobs had his vision and expected greatness from his team. In return, they created greatness together.
3. Keep amazing people around you
None of what Steve Jobs accomplished would have been possible if he didn’t have amazing people around him.
Steve hired the best, sold them on his unbelievable vision, expected greatness out of them, and then they made amazing things happen.
One person can only accomplish so much. But when that one person surrounds himself with amazing people, his vision can come to life.
You want to hire people who are smarter than you, who will work hard, and who believe in your vision.
You want to keep people around you that will bring you up, make you a better person, and challenge you.
The confidence to challenge you is key. If they are scared to tell you you’re wrong, then they are not a good fit.
Steve Jobs understood this very well.
4. Explore the world that is around you
When Steve Jobs was in his 20s, he travelled to India to find a guru. A lot of people don’t know that about him, but it was one of the things that helped him build his vision and opened his mind.
Among his travels, he also took a liking to Zen Buddhism. The simplicity in his designs that he so greatly admired was due to Zen.
Simplicity was beautiful to him, and now, it is beautiful to us too.
You have to explore the world around you to find what you love, dive into your passions, and bring them to life.
5. You must know when you are wrong
Steve Jobs was known to be one of the clearest speakers ever. He had such an effective way of clearly driving a point that most CEOs would be jealous.
Being in a power position, you are constantly directing people. Steve being a visionary meant that he had to direct well to have his vision come to life.
For most people, that would mean never admitting they are wrong.
While Steve rarely backed down, but he knew when he was wrong, and he would admit it.
A great example of this was in an exchange Intel’s CEO, Andy Grove.
The two had a conversation about Pixar helping Intel. Afterwards, an engineer from Intel reached out to Steve to follow up, and he responded with a rather rude response.
Steve also emailed Andy afterwards.
Andy, however, put him in line and called him out on his BS. Steve’s response was nothing short of exceptional.
“Andy,
I have many faults, but one of them is not ingratitude. And, I do agree with you that "in the long run, these things balance out."
Therefore, I have changed my position 180 degrees -- we will freely help (the engineer) make his processors much better for 3D graphics. Please ask (the engineer) to call me, and we will arrange for a meeting as soon as the appropriate Pixar technical folks can be freed up from the film.
Thanks for the clearer perspective.
Steve”
6. Failure does not have to be the end
It’s easy to fail if you stop trying. But, if you don’t stop trying, failure just becomes another step in your climb to the top.
Steve proved this to be true by making one of the greatest comebacks we’ve ever seen.
He was kicked out of the company he founded, Apple. He could have left with his fortune and lived a good life, but instead, he started a new company, Next.
On top of that, he bought Pixar and continued to fund it to help transform it into an icon.
After a few years, Apple ended up acquiring Next to get him back as their CEO.
Many people would have called it quits. Not Steve though.
He proved he had value and that they needed him, and instead of stopping, he made a triumphant return.
When he returned to Apple, he built it back into the giant we know today.
7. Stay hungry, stay foolish
This is a quote taken from his 2005 Stanford commencement speech. At first, these four words seem like a pretty simple thing, but the more you dive into it, the more you realize how well this represents his journey and the journey of many in Silicon Valley.
You have to stay hungry to remain competitive. To lose that edge and to lose that desire, will only result in you falling from the top.
You also need to stay foolish. When you go to “corporate” you stop innovating, you stop taking risks, and then you will also lose that edge.
These four words perfectly represent Steve Jobs.
Facebook also had a similar saying, “Move fast and break things”.
8. Think different
The most important lesson you can learn from Steve Jobs is to think differently.
If you think the same as everyone else, you will be the same as everyone else.
However, if you want to stand out, create incredible products (and wealth), and achieve greatness… you need to think differently.
Think Different was the title of Apple’s most famous commercial. This commercial has been rated the number-one commercial of all time by numerous publications.
After coming back to Apple, Steve Jobs wanted to put something out to remind people what Apple was all about. Their brand had lost its meaning.
He created this commercial to show us who the people at Apple’s role models are, and who inspires them.
I highly recommend watching it. It is incredible, and it truly captures the spirit of Steve Jobs.
Closing Remarks
It’s hard to tell anyone to look up to Steve Jobs because many people have heard nothing but bad things about him.
But, everyone has bad qualities.
That doesn’t mean we can’t learn from their good ones.
Steve was not easy to work for. That is the exact reason though that he brought the best out of people.
Several people have said that they didn’t like working for him, but that they without a doubt produced the best work working under him.
He was a great leader and incredible visionary, and because of that, he changed the world as we know it.
Thanks for reading
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