Adopt the Steve Jobs Attitude

Steve Jobs helped to harness technologies that improve the quality of our lives and the lives of generations to come. He also provided a great role model for leadership success, and we can learn much from his remarkable mindset.

Acquiring 21st Century Tools

Steve Jobs signature products like the iPod, iPhone, and iPad have become a tangible, beautifully elegant force in this new millennium. In a similar way it is critical that your leadership tools develop in an innovative way that keeps you ahead of the curve and above the competition. Otherwise you’ll become irrelevant and will be passed over for those promotions you so badly want.

That means you need a much bigger and more versatile toolkit. Fortunately you can acquire those expanded resources if you simply invest in your own leadership development with focus, determination, and commitment.

Removing Self-Imposed Obstacles

But what may be preventing you from reaching your own full potential is a mental hesitation, fear, or feelings of low self confidence. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple he saw that kind of self-sabotaging mindset among his employees in the floundering company. So he said that he coached them to believe in themselves again and they emerged triumphant.

For decades I have enjoyed the honor and pleasure of doing that kind of coaching, but the first person I brought back from the brink of failure was Sarah Hathorn. That experience made me a believer, and it also ushered in a level of success I had never dreamed possible. Take it from one who knows: the rewards are phenomenal – and they will dramatically enhance your earning power, professional prestige, and personal fulfillment in life.

Your Heart Knows

“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition,” Jobs said, adding that our hearts and intuitions already know what we really want.

Most of you can almost taste it, and that kind of desire has gotten you this far. But just as Steve Jobs did in his garage as a passionate young inventor, you now must roll up your sleeves and act.

Jobs spent years perfecting his vision of the personal computer, and in a similar way you should put in the time to acquire the unique value-adding skills that your competitors do not possess. Make this year the year you take it to the next level. As Jobs said, “If you do something and it turns out pretty good, go do something else wonderful. Figure out what’s next.”

Make Your Signature Impact Now Your relentless pursuit of leadership development will put you into that rarified class of leaders who will be rapidly promoted because they represent a sustainably robust asset. Nobody else can achieve your dreams for you, but unless you act now to take control of your career destiny someone else will be given the opportunity to live your dream.