Last night, I became really sad – unexpectedly so – when I heard that Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, had passed away. Of course it is always sad when anyone passes away, but this was a bit deeper. Initially, I didn’t “get” it. I never met the man. I don’t even especially like Apple iPhones, iPads or Macs…I’m totally a PC and Android phone person. So why did I care so much?
It all boils down to passion. For the last few weeks, I have been doing an online Path Finder course with the amazing Karen Walrond (Chookooloonks). Yesterday’s prompt was “what’s important to you” – to really think about what we admire and want to imitate in others. My top three were:
1. Integrity: It’s sorely lacking in this society so I’m totally drawn to people who are honest and reliable.
2. A sense of humor: I love people who take what they do seriously without taking themselves too seriously. Life is too short to be so serious about everything.
3. Passion: I love being around passionate people. It doesn’t even matter if I share their passion or not. That internal light that shines in people when they are enthusiastic about something (or even someone) is contagious!
As I mentioned, I don’t know Steve Jobs personally. I can’t comment on his personal integrity or sense of humor, because I don’t know him like that. (Although from all accounts that I have read, he was rich in both traits.) However, I believe without a doubt that he was a man of passion. I think that it is impossible to play such an essential role in building such an amazing company as Apple without being a person of passion. Think about it…when you do a google search of the term “apple”, the fruit that has been around forever is outranked by the company that the 56 year old Jobs helped to build. That is impressive and I won’t even delve into the creative genius that he exhibited with Pixar…
I’ll leave you with his Stanford University commencement speech. It is so inspiring…and his passion shines through.
