Excerpt on Stephen Jobs
05-Feb-2014 Dear Friends,I want to share with you a favorite excerpt about Steve Jobs from Chapter 1 of Impact, Great Leadership Changes Everything:
Do you remember how you felt when it was announced that Steve Jobs had died? I don’t know about you, but I felt sadness. We probably didn’t pause to analyze how he had transformed computers, movies, music, phones, how we buy computers, packaging, and so much more. No doubt Steve Jobs will be remembered for all that and as one of the most influential leaders of the twenty-first century; however, our collective reaction was much more emotional. We missed him.
Our collective grief was not about Apple, the company, but rather about Jobs the man. We missed him and his ability to wow us again and again. We felt regret that the world too seldom gives us someone who inspires us and models the relentless pursuit of vision. We instinctively knew that, for Jobs, making something that was beautiful and yet solved real problems was more important than profits. This buoyed our faith that work could, in fact, be meaningful.
During Jobs’ time at Apple, his employees had the same everyday problems we do; however, they instinctively trusted Jobs, and the power of his purpose shifted the plane of their perspective. Jobs constantly reminded them of the noble cause of their effort, and their daily problems seemed small in comparison.
Jobs’ biggest gift may have been to give us hope that we, too, can make our own dent in the universe. We may not possess the creative genius or brazen determination of Steve Jobs, but his example makes us at least consider how we could make a difference in our own sphere of influence. In those quiet moments of reflection, we long for a way to get started and make an impact in some significant way.
Just a reminder:
I am offering two free opportunities to everyone who buys a hard-cover copy of my new book from a major retailer between February 9th and 15th:
1. Access to a special webinar where I will show some contemporary examples of leaders whose cores are breached and what we must do to guard our core. This webinar is limited to the first 1,000 who enroll. We will send you access instructions.
2. Exclusive access to a very powerful interview with Steve Reinemund, retired Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo on the topic of how we use personal accountability to build our core.
Simply buy a hard-cover book between February 9th and 15th, and email us at: bookoffer@drtimirwin.com. We’ll send you instructions on how to access the webinar and the Reinemund interview. We’re on the honor system, so just send us an email.
Dr. Tim Irwin