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Think different (Who was Steve Jobs?)

Guest post by: James Ladd

Article Overview: Thanks to Steve Jobs we all think differently. Many, many stories have been written about Steve particularly since his death. They have primarily focused on how he influenced our thinking about technology, and about the way and through what vehicles we all communicate. Unquestionably, because of his innovative genius all of our lives are different. However, the question is, whether or not the differences are always entirely good?

Think different (Who was Steve Jobs?)

Thanks to Steve Jobs we all think differently. Many, many stories have been written about Steve particularly since his death. They have primarily focused on how he influenced our thinking about technology, and about the way and through what vehicles we all communicate. Unquestionably, because of his innovative genius all of our lives are different. However, the question is, whether or not the differences are always entirely good?

It seems to me though, that little has been written about how he lived his life and how he felt we should live our lives. Oh, the quotations are everywhere, but what I would like to do is to climb inside some of them to try to understand the man, his beliefs and his motivations for behaving the way in which he did. I am also interested in why he felt it so necessary to communicate his beliefs to all of us. In doing this, I hope to reinforce and further, to make the case for how effective his philosophy, or at least part of his philosophy toward living can be for all of us.

Understand that this is not about judging his behaviour, nor would I ever pretend to say that I knew him well. I can only comment on what he wrote or was quoted as having said, and on what others have written about him. My sources consist of having watched and listened to his commencement speech to the Class of 2005 at Stanford University, and to some extent, his appearances on television when launching a new product or new product innovations.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life ~Steve Jobs

Coincidently, I am able to emphasize with his struggle to stay alive both emotionally and physically because of my own lengthy battle and near death experience that ultimately ended when I received a double-lung transplant. And I also live with the realization all these years, as he did too, that my time, like his, is limited.

That is why the above quotation, attributed to Steve, resonates so well and so deeply with and in me. I have been there and consider myself very fortunate to still be here.

Finally, and why I have chosen to focus on what I will call his philosophy for living is because he was very genuine when he said what he did and, perhaps even more importantly, lived that way himself. And as it turns out, I just happen to agree with most of what he had to say on the subject. It is consistent and congruent with the message I have continually tried to convey through my coaching.

HIS PERSONALITY

Unquestionably, we know that he was a visionary par excellence. He clearly communicated strong intuitive personality characteristics or a primary style of intuitor; “the making of associations; having insights that yield a novel ‘big picture’ of a situation; the free flow of creative ideas; conceiving; projecting; inducing. Intuitors place a high value on ideas, innovation, concepts, theory, and long-range thinking. They tend to derive their greatest satisfaction from the world of possibilities.”

His accomplishments with Apple in particular speak to that. He had also been quoted as saying that:

“having the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become, everything else is secondary; trust follow your heart, find what you love, love what you do,” which further communicates not just an intuitive personality style but perhaps even something of a romantic.

Steve Jobs was a private man. Even though he presented as very charismatic especially when standing up promoting new and innovative Apple products he was an introvert.

We know too that he used the word ‘love’ when he described a number of what he felt were important aspects of how to live your life. We also understand that he valued and deeply cared for his family; his wife and four children. These mannerisms and characteristics are associated with a tendency toward being a feeler: “a feeler is an individual who places high value on human interaction. He/she seeks and enjoys the stimulation of contact with others and typically tries to understand and analyze own emotions and those of others. Concern for people, and understanding them, usually make him/her quite astute in ‘reading between the lines’ about what people say and do.” However, it seems the best of his “feeler” was confined to his family and perhaps close friends but not to his colleagues or employees at Apple.

He was passionate, demanding, stubborn, and, at times inflexible. But he possessed the ability to move out, to take action to move his ideas forward, as well as to support others in doing the same. It speaks to Steve being action oriented or a senser; “a tendency to sense reality by doing and to emphasize practicality in communicating about that reality.”

So to sum up what I believe to be his style preference and back-up associated styles, I will say that he is a strong intuitor, with the back-up or secondary styles of senser and feeler. The fourth style, thinker, which rounds out Carl Jung’s styles theory, is difficult for me to place with Steve. But having said that, I am going to place his thinker fourth. Of course, he was a thinker. We all have thinker characteristics, but with styles theory, it is all a matter of to what degree. My ‘thought’ is that once Steve had thoroughly come to the conclusion that his idea could work, he would turn it over to his technically skilled employees to work out the details. This characteristic is associated with the thinker style.

THE SPEECH

In 2005, a little over a year after first being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Steve Jobs spoke at Stanford University’s commencement ceremony. It would be an understatement to say there were a few pearls of wisdom in what he had to say to the graduates. I touched on a few of them earlier when discussing his personality, but I would like to focus here on what he had to say about “our time on earth.” I think this message is very important for all of us, and particularly one that resonates with me. It is, in point of fact, congruent and a part of my strategic approach to personal coaching.

YOUR TIME IS LIMITED

The first of four points made by Steve Jobs;

Don't waste it (your life) living someone else's life.

His point here, essentially is to ask, “What are you doing with your time? How well do you know yourself, what is your life purpose, and what are you doing to fulfill that purpose?”

You can determine the answer to how effectively you are doing this to some extent, by examining the level of stress you might be experiencing in your life. How much stress are you feeling; physically, cognitively, and behaviourally? As I have said so many times before it is about congruence with the essential nature of who you are.

Don’t be trapped by dogma which is living with the results of other peoples thinking.

It is important to learn from what others have to teach. Otherwise for example, why would you listen to and believe what Steve Jobs had to say? The essential point he makes is that once you have collected an adequate amount of information (you determine how much), then form your own opinion. Make sure that opinion is congruent with who you have come to know as YOU. Otherwise, you are inviting distress into your life. But always stay open to new ideas.

Don’t let the noise of others opinions drown out your own inner voice.

This point is pretty much an extension of the previous explanation. Listen, but do not let your inner voice be compromised. Hold onto yourself, your identity, and your truth, in spite of the aggressiveness that exists in the world in its many forms. When and if you must, be assertive and state your truth.

Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

This last point is just a bit tricky. Steve Jobs found it easy to make this statement because it is congruent with whom he is, an intuitor (see personality). However, what about all the feelers, thinkers and sensers in the world? My point here is that I agree with most of the comment. But, depending upon ones primary style of communication or relating in the world, it all comes down to how one approaches this assertion.

I do not agree at all that everything else is secondary. Life, as we all know, is just a bit more complicated than that. What I mean is, that pursuing one’s dream at the expense of everything else, suggests a very self-centered, egotistical approach to life. This is perhaps a truth Steve might have considered before making that statement. We all know we are social beings, and that we need meaningful relationships in our lives. To neglect those relationships, to indulge our passion is unbalanced and unhealthy for all concerned. I’m not saying that you have to sacrifice your dreams, but you need to balance your self in the dimensions of life (at work, away from work, alone, with others).

Stay Hungry; Stay Foolish. ‘The Whole Earth Catalog,’

Maybe!

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Article Tags: behaviour, courage, intuition, lives, personality, relationships know yourself, Steve Jobs, style, time



Related Forum Posts
Re: What If Steve Jobs Hadn't Returned To Apple In 1997? - Thanks for sharing with us Yinko. Steve Jobs is definitely a visionary. Not only his products are innovative in a technological sense, but he's managed to turn a tech-company's products into a lifestyle.... a lifestyle!! [quote:zfqoq43n]Fast Forward to today. Apple has the sexiest products in the business: iMacs, Macbooks, iPhones, iPods and more.[/quote:zfqoq43n] I think not only tech would be different (music players and phones), but ways we can think of marketing and branding. What Steve Jobs did was of course no easy task for the smaller businesses, but he did start somewhere. What I did not know was that Apple is worth about as much as Google. How do you think Apple accomplish what they did? In terms of strategy wise? If you could advice Steve on one thing, what would it be?
Re: Citizen Journalism: There's no such thing - This clearly shows that if Steve Jobs sneezes the price of the stock will drop. Since Apple is a great company why do they have to link the rise and fall of the stock to one man? So eventually when Steve passes on what is going to happen to Apples stock?
Re: Are you getting an iPad 2? - @GT - we can talk more about it once I get one and I'm happy to answer any questions to see if it might fit your lifestyle. @Yinka - Sorry, no payment from Steve Jobs... I wish!
Re: What are the top videos for entrepreneurs on YouTube? - I've seen the Steve Jobs video a few times and it is a great one. Off to watch David's suggestion right now. Thanks guys! I'll try to find one of my own to add to the list.
Re: Citizen Journalism: There's no such thing - [quote="ideasuniversity":2zpdpyk9]This clearly shows that if Steve Jobs sneezes the price of the stock will drop. Since Apple is a great company why do they have to link the rise and fall of the stock to one man? So eventually when Steve passes on what is going to happen to Apples stock?[/quote:2zpdpyk9] That's a very good point. He needs to appoint a successor now or in some way affirm that the company will exist even if he goes under!


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