Everyone had a million dollar idea. Everyone had the thought of being an entrepreneur but they never transformed their dreams into reality. What they lacked was the «mind» of an entrepreneur. They didn’t put their heart into it. Ive finished reading the Steve Jobs biography(FYI I’m a big fanboy of Steve) last week and learned a whole lot about how he became the man he is. I strongly recommend you to read it. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. Now, let’s see how Steve was such a great leader.
1.Reality Distortion Field
You might be wandering, “what is the reality distortion field?”. Well look it up on Google, just kidding. The reality distortion field is when you make the impossible, possible by applying some metaphors. The reality distortion field is a confounding melange of a charismatic rhetorical style, an indomitable will, and an eagerness to bend any fact to fit the purpose at hand. Let me give you an exemple of Jobs using this:
Steve Jobs wanted to release the Macintosh, but the boot up time was way too long. What Steve wanted the engineers to do is shave off 10 seconds of the boot up time. The engineers said it was just not possible, we’ve got this thing as small and as fast as it could be, we can’t take off a second. Steve used one of the tool called the power of the metaphor or “reality distortion field”. This is how he used it:
Could you shave 10 seconds of the boot up time if someone’s life depended on it. -Steve Jobs
The engineer replied by saying, “if a life depended on it, maybe…”
Well think about it, we’re going to sell millions of Macintosh computers. We’re going to change the world and people might boot this computer up three times a day. Think of it. Each person, twenty, thirty seconds a day times the millions of people in a year you wouldn’t be saving one life, every year you’d be saving maybe 5000 lives. Does that change things. -Steve Jobs
And the engineer said, “okay maybe we can do something..”
He comes back a month later and he wasn’t able to shave off 10 seconds, he was able to shave off 20.
That’s the power of the reality distortion field. Using this power, this allows you to become a great leader and achieve impossible feats.
2.Think Different
Steve Jobs embraced innovation. Jobs was one of the first to adapt the mouse with computers, he was the first to create touch screen phones and iPads. You can do that too. Think of something that irritates you, something that should be changed. Steve hated the small screen and keyboard phones, so he changed it. It takes some time and effort, but anyone can think of a genius idea that could change the world.
3.Be professional
Steve Jobs loves profession presentations, his famous KeyNotes. His presentations were clean and business type. He wasn’t just like that on the stage. He was like that in life and work. Think of how do you want people to see you? Don’t change who you are but present your true self in the best way possible. The best way is to know both yourself and your audience really well.
4.Perfection
Don’t cut corners. You always want the best in your market. Steve Jobs always wanted perfection, from his products to his stores. Don’t aim below perfection.
5.Strong Vision
Steve Jobs had a strong vision of the present and the future of Apple. It would be hard to become a strong leader without a clear plan of your company. You must be able to consistently plan the future of your business.
Summary
So this is only a light resume of how to be a great leader. The rest you need it to find it in yourself, you have to believe what you are doing and take risks and take opportunities. Being successful isn’t a simple task. It takes time and effort. Thanks for reading!