A little salt for you

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About a year ago when I moved to a different apartment, I came across a little relic from my past. When I was young boy growing up, my parents would compete in chili cook-offs. The only fun I usually had was playing with the other kids I met during the day. Yet, I do I remember fondly always being interested in all the supplies my dad would use, and on occasion I would rifle though them to figure out their purpose. Somehow one of his old salt shakers made its way into my stuff and using it reminds of good, innocent times. I have my own concoction of salt in it now, but I still haven't mastered making chili.

Rejection vs. Failure

Failure is identified through lacking performance. Rejection is identified through wrong performance. Either way, you're inclined to have better direction on what's next.

 

If you want to succeed, decide that you will not let failure lead to rejection. At the same time, accept rejection as a means to avoiding failure.

 

Proud to be a Racker @rackspace

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Nobody ever wants to leave Apple, so for myself as an owner of the brand and guardian of the culture, I continue my ownership journey by announcing a new opportunity I have accepted at Rackspace Hosting here in San Antonio. I will be leaving Apple Retail of five years on November 12th, where everything invested in me will be put to new use. I hope to reflect each of my leader's legacies, and broadcast daily the great influence so many of you have had on me.

Today, the digital revolution still needs revolutionaries. Apply within. The ever increasing dependence on technology to enrich our lives requires us to bring forward every effort we can to make the experience enjoyable and consistently repeatable. This revolution is not like any other, as many of the battles happen virtually. A revolutionary in the digital age is unwilling to be associated with the mundane or the ordinary. As competition drives us closer together, we begin to subtly experience the convergence of our previous independent ideas and strategies. The commingling of innovative products and fanatical support are inevitable. When great products and great support collide, people have the greatest experience possible with technology. Let's keep that going, wherever we decide to work.

Davis

My reflections on Steve's announcement

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On my first day at Apple in 1996 I was handed this, the employee badge. It gave me access to where I needed to go. But more than that, it established my identity and signified my participation in something so much bigger than myself. 

Every vineyard has a vinedresser. The vinedresser comes along to take away every branch that does not bear fruit, but every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it so it may bear more. The pruning is necessary to save the tree, and produce a harvest for many seasons to come. 

There will never be another Steve Jobs, but there will be many, now and in the future, who will maintain his identity, carry the legacy, and continue to represent what's bigger than all of us can explain.

Defiant Leaders

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As the movie Defiance draws to a close, me longways on the couch clutching the edge, the final words uttered in the last scene beatutifully reflect a familiar leadership cliche about not seeing the forest for the trees. Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber lead a fitting cast retelling the true story of a family of four brothers who escape from Poland into the forest of Belarus during World War II to create a safe haven for Jewish refugees.  Continually, the characters played by Daniel and Liev carve an important milestone for every leader to recognize, digest and then accept, as part of the challenges of being influential during crisis, uncertainty, and lack of resources.

Overlaid with principles about leadership, friendship, teamwork and personal sacrifice, Defiance revealed to me a duality of leadership possibly ignored by many. The duality is this: We desire so greatly to be liked, we risk getting bogged down in the weeds of our work or our teams, thereby not maintaining the altitude we need to lead the vision. Desiring to be a likable leader, while knowing you must make some unpopular decisions to be successful, could eventually lead to you not being likable. Likability is important. Respect is greater. Yet, as much as we want respect, do we want to pay the price of it with likability? How does one make those tough, seemingly unpopular choices that as a leader we know we MUST make, while retaining a sense that we are liked and appreciated.

Here's a thought which will send you in the right direction. Watch the movie yourself to bring the principle to life, but I'll distill the old cliche again here -- when you're the leader, always stay above the pile. Grander visions take you higher. There you will lead people to accomplish bigger things than themselves.