Tribute to a Legend

    

       Unless you live under a rock, you know that this country lost an amazing visionary this week. Steve Jobs has been eulogized all over the internet. I have to say I am not an Apple, or Mac user but I do love my ipod and itunes, so I do understand the genius that is Steve Jobs. People did not buy the Apple brand, they joined it. They knew they were a part of something different, special and they were following a true leader that was changing the world. When he resigned from his post at Apple a few months ago my niece posted his commencement speech given in 2005 at Stanford University. If you haven’t had the chance to watch it I highly recommend it. It may be the best 15 minutes you ever spend. Many of the quotes and life philosophies you have read this past week came from this speech. Quotes like “You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backward. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.” Many of you with a few more years on you can totally relate to this one. The journey makes so much more sense once you have traveled through it. I know looking back I see some choices that made no sense at the time led me to where I was supposed to be. Understand and believe in something larger than yourself.

     Here’s another great quote we should all live by.
"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it."
So many of us have a love for this industry, we share it every week on NTR every day on Facebook. Keep learning, growing and striving to be great and amazing things happen. Steve remained very much a hands on leader and his passion was infectious.

 

     Another area Apple stood out from the crowd was their customer service. Apple’s customer service was second to none. It truly was what built the company because of Steve’s focused attention to the details. He states,
“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected." He was relentless is his pursuit of excellence in his products. Pushing those around him to the brink until they had breakthroughs that would become the next big thing. Where does your customer service rate? If you don’t have raving fans like Apple then you’ve got some work to do.

   Lastly he shared the best advice of all, in my opinion.
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." The world lost one of its greatest innovators but his spirit will live on every time anyone pursues their life’s passion with no compromises. Full on Steve style.
(originally posted October 11, 2011)