Leadership – Erol Fox https://erolfox.com Clarity for leaders who know there’s more Mon, 02 Jun 2014 18:50:58 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://i0.wp.com/erolfox.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/cropped-logo_shadowed_tight.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Leadership – Erol Fox https://erolfox.com 32 32 244300441 Kutcher gives 3 tips for life, seeming to channel Steve Jobs https://erolfox.com/kutcher-gives-3-tips-for-life-seeming-to-channel-steve-jobs/ https://erolfox.com/kutcher-gives-3-tips-for-life-seeming-to-channel-steve-jobs/#respond Fri, 16 Aug 2013 18:15:44 +0000 http://inherentexcellence.com/blog/?p=725 Chris “Aston” Kutcher gave a very inspiring speech on Sunday at the Teen Choice Awards. It seems his recent role as Steve Jobs has had a deep influence on him. He passed on to these young people three keys for life maybe all of us could use:

  1. Opportunity looks a lot like hard work.
  2. The sexiest thing in the entire world is being really smart. And being thoughtful and being generous.
  3. Everything around us we call “life” was made up by people no smarter than you and you can build your own things.

“Build your own life other people can live in.”

It’s great to see a young man at 35 realize his huge influence over young people and at least attempt to inspire them to live beyond their egos. As he said in this second tip:

“Everything else is crap. I promise you. It’s just crap that people try to sell to you to make you feel like less. So don’t buy it.”

I had the opportunity to work with Ashton’s sister, who is a teacher, a few years ago on a project to teach enlightenment to children in the most challenging cities. I can tell you, they really seem to be very genuinely caring people, especially about children.

In a world where we are being conditioned to follow our own egos because we can’t trust anyone to be our role models, it’s great to see a young man at least take a shot at trying to inspire people. Of course, many will attack him, look for his flaws, so that he cannot inspire anyone. It has one wonder why the media circus is so against any form of real inspiration other can cat videos.

If we can take off our glasses of judgement and imperfection, we might find great inspiration in this short video:

Brief highlights in this CBS News article: http://cbsn.ws/17vBs3F

]]> https://erolfox.com/kutcher-gives-3-tips-for-life-seeming-to-channel-steve-jobs/feed/ 0 725 What can you learn from the co-founder of personal computing? (video) https://erolfox.com/what-can-you-learn-from-the-co-founder-of-personal-computing-video/ https://erolfox.com/what-can-you-learn-from-the-co-founder-of-personal-computing-video/#comments Mon, 18 Apr 2011 19:20:00 +0000 http://inherentexcellence.com/blog/?p=599 Bill Gates may be as important to human history as Guttenberg, who invented the printing press. Human knowledge went from a tiny number of people who bought books in stores to every single human having information, and connection to the whole world, in the palm of their hands. Even decades of dictatorship have recently been toppled because of the freedom of information that at one time, only churches and kings were allowed to have.

But, did you know, Gates didn’t do it alone? He did it with his childhood friend, Paul Allen, just 2 years older than Gates. This should blow out of the water your ego’s story that “YOU HAVE TO DO IT ALONE TO BE VALUEABLE!” I think the idea of doing things alone is one of the most childish and painful misunderstandings of ego that exist.

Original video link: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7363070n&tag=related;photovideo

We could learn a lot about partnership from this story! Don’t let the media’s focus on conflict to sell products get to you. Instead, focus on how these two boys WERE able to work together for so many years, even though they were geeks with little to no relationship skills. When we have a higher purpose, especially a project that helps mankind advance, the challenges really become meaningless. Dreaming works better when you have a friend by your side. (Maybe even a coach?)

image
These kids dreamt of a computer in every home and did it together.

]]> https://erolfox.com/what-can-you-learn-from-the-co-founder-of-personal-computing-video/feed/ 1 599 Warrior’s Creed https://erolfox.com/warriors-creed/ https://erolfox.com/warriors-creed/#respond Sat, 18 Dec 2010 19:42:00 +0000 http://inherentexcellence.com/blog/?p=562 I heard this poem many years ago and was reminded of it today. Poetry is essential to the human experience. It reaches past the ego mind to the depth of truth, beyond thinking.

Here is a poem about a man that is truly free. Free from fear and holding back. In pure service without doubts. Enjoy!

samuraiI have no parents; I make the heavens and the earth my parents
I have no home; I make awareness my home
I have no life or death; I make the tides of breathing my life and death
I have no divine power; I make honesty my divine power
I have no means; I make understanding my means
I have no magic secrets; I make character my magic secrets
I have no body; I make my endurance my body
I have no eyes; I make the flash of lightning my eyes
I have no ears; I make sensibility my ears
I have no limbs; I make promptness my limbs
I have no strategy; I make "unshadowed by thought" my strategy
I have no designs; I make ‘seizing opportunity by the forelock’ my design
I have no miracles; I make ‘right action’ my miracles
I have no principles; I make adaptability to all circumstances’ my principles
I have no tactics; I make emptiness and fullness my tactics
I have no talent; I make ready wit my talent
I have no friends; I make my mind my friend
I have no enemy; I make carelessness my enemy
I have no armor; I make benevolence and righteousness my armor
I have no castle; I make immovable-mind my castle
I have no sword; I make absence of self my sword

Anonymous 14th-century Samurai

 

What if you were this free? The true self, who you really are, is this free. Only the false self, the ego chattering mind, is imprisoned and makes the world full of problems.

PDF to print out: WarriorsCreed.pdf

]]> https://erolfox.com/warriors-creed/feed/ 0 562 How to start a movement https://erolfox.com/how-to-start-a-movement/ https://erolfox.com/how-to-start-a-movement/#comments Sat, 09 Oct 2010 15:31:00 +0000 http://inherentexcellence.com/blog/?p=490 Here’s a brilliant 3-minute look at leadership from  the February 2010 TED Conference. Watch a shirtless dancing guy create a movement in minutes.

TED Talk: The First Follower transforms the nut into a leader.

The key lessons:

  1. A leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous. Be happy being a nut!
  2. He must be easy to follow. Remember the importance of nurturing the first few followers as equals. Make everything clearly about the movement, not yourself.
  3. The First Follower transforms a lone nut into a leader. The later followers emulate the First Follower, not the leader.
  4. Be public. Be easy to follow.
  5. Leadership is over glorified. It is the First Follower that transforms a nut into a leader. There is no movement without the first follower.

View online: https://erolfox.com/?p=490

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