Steve Jobs had an uncompromising drive toward excellence. Our CEO Bob Rosen speaks in detail about Jobs as a leader in his book, “Grounded: how leaders stay rooted in an uncertain world.” Jobs’s leadership, specifically his vocational health, was so extraordinary he transformed seven different industries – from personal computers and animated movies to telephones and music, to tablet computers, digital publishing and retail stores. He changed the world and became a leadership icon.
Success attracts talent.
What can a healthy leader learn from Jobs’s drive to succeed? People like to work for successful people. Everybody likes to be a winner and be surrounded by winners. How will you know if you are a winner? Demonstrate tangible results while making it possible for others to excel and reach their potential. Lead yourself and others to success.
Develop Personal Mastery
But here’s the rub: Technology will continue to replace people. Technology facilitates convergence and integration of work processes to get better, faster, cheaper results. If the future of work is just about obsolescence and automation, what’s left for people to do?
Practice Lifelong Learning
Demonstrate that you have an innate desire for growth and self-improvement. When you invest in learning, you develop autonomy, confidence and insight to lead yourself and others. Healthy leaders are great teachers and the “best way to learn is to teach.”
Drive to Succeed
Are you willing to work hard? You need to possess the drive to succeed and back it up with hard work. Malcolm Gladwell’s book, “Outliers: The Story of Success” coined the “10,000-Hour Rule,” claiming the key to success in any field is a matter of practice. While hard work is not the only determinant to success, you have control over whether you go for it, keep raising the bar to pursue excellence.
Is Hamlet a Loser?
For a thought-provoking, yet entertaining, look at success today, watch Alain de Botton‘s Ted Talks presentation, “A kinder, gentler philosophy of success.” He challenges society’s definition of success and what makes us successful. You will get a few chuckles.
Questions to ask yourself regularly:
Do you know what you’re good at? Are you working on your weak spots?
Are you actively teaching others how to become healthy leaders themselves?
Do you push yourself to perform even better?
Are you helping others tap into their highest performance?
