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When you were young up it may have been famous people, superhero’s, maybe Jesus, your parents, the Fresh Prince of Bell-Air? Maybe a grandparent, I thought my grandpa was a hero. My parents were hero’s, my brother was a hero most of my life growing up. A few teaches at a young age, Ms. Davis and Mr. Hall in elementary school made it possible to think outside of what was possible, they truly changed me as a person. They were hero’s.
Superhero’s are those special individuals that make the impossible possible. They do what others can’t conceive of. Sure sometimes they fly or turn green, but more often than not Superhero’s are the ones who’ve been through the most, they’ve been down and out, horrible things have happened to them, but still some how they survive. They’re resilient. Not indestructible, resilient. It’s the destructible nature that makes them a hero, the immense possibility of failure is the precise reason it creates greatness. Superhero’s are all around us.
I think we need to bring back hero’s. Life sucks some days, life REALLY sucks some days, if you have a hero, you’re subconsciously shooting for something, you want to be your favourite hero. Life doesn’t suck so much to the young kid dreaming about being Wonder Women. I say dream away, set a crazy awesome goal, trying to be something in the future builds confidence. Confidence leads to self-esteem, that’s very healthy. Read more
Maverick written by Ricardo Semler in Brazil published in 1993. A transformational business book from start to finish. Completely counter what you’d come to expect from a Brazilian industrial tycoon. I think Mr. Semler is one of the most thought-provoking, honest, most humble leaders I’ve ever come across.
Semco, a heavy duty industrial manufacturer has no rules to live by. You pick your own hours, pick your own pay, pick your own vacation times, heck you even vote on your own managers regularly! Twice a year you fill out a 30 question questionnaire about your management and division you work in.
No one has a long term contact. No one is employed longer than 6 months. Everyone’s salary is openly known by anyone who cares to know.
Semco is the most democratic company I’ve ever read about, and they did it in a 1980’s Brazilian economy. Not the beacon of sought after economies you once thought, on the contrary, Brazil was avoid by many businesses because of the government, high inflation rates, and a fast growing unpredictable future. It’s astounding what Ricardo and Semco accomplished during this period in Brazil.
Ricardo lucked out in a sense, his father build a multi-million dollar company. He became of age and realized it would never last in its current state. Plus the fact that second generation wealth is squandered 70% of the time, Ricardo had to make a gamble.
He was courageous in his decisions but the theme throughout his career and the book was that he cared (and still cares) dearly about people. It’s so refreshing to see in someone like him in a leadership role, putting people before profits.
Telling, forcing, commanding, never works. Inspiring, helping, listening, always does. Read more
From John Mackey’s Conscious Capitalism he sums up what the vast majority of people are looking for when it coming to work.
A job, a career, or a calling.
We’ve all had a job. We’ve all hated a job.
A job is what we first want when we’re young. Mostly for means to an ends. We want cash money. We treat the job as such, we don’t get too attached, we try to do just a good enough job not to get fired. There are many people in this world that simply work at a job. It’s not fulfilling, they don’t love the organization they work for, and when another “job” comes along that seems similar but pays better, they’re gone fast than you can say “do you want fries with that?”
A career is a little different. Like a longer, well-paid boring job. Read more
Well do you? What’s your purpose? What’s your fate? Do you believe you were destined to do something? Don’t you worry child, heaven has a plan for you.
If you were Seth Godin you would say it needs to be remarkable! You know, your “Purple Cow” idea that will spread like wildfire.
If you were Jim Collins’ you’d start with a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG). Cities like Las Vegas, Austin, Amsterdam, Paris, even Victoria, all have a created visionary cities by doing something big, hairy and audacious. (they’re all REALLY good at something, or have something they are known for).
If you were Hugh MacLeod you would come up with a social object. Something people would have to talk about, have to share with their friends, it’d probably be really cool. Read more