What's most important

Recent events in the IT world, at least to me, have raised some awareness to whats really important in life. It's certainly to short to find out what new phone is out, or what game in the horizon. These are simply the little things in life; they only serve a small purpose.

The world recently lost a legendary figure in the Tech world. Most non-tech and techie folks even know him as Steve Jobs, and it is truly hard to realize what the PC world would ever be without him. He is the man that made smartphones fun, computers sexy, and music readily available. His knack for understanding the consumer will never be matched, along with ability to predict the future and bring it to the present.

In the Stanford 2005 commencement speech he made, he said "Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life." *

Knowing that the "dots" in my life will connect is to know that the path I am on will lead to something I want. In a way, it just means that knowing what you are doing is right is key. Never back down from things when you know what you are doing is right. Integrity is key, and never losing faith is always the master plan of the universe.

I recently had a very awkward and unusual thing occur this week at work. I won't go into details, but essentially it was a challenge of this integrity. Personally, I don't shy from many standoffs, but professionally, a little bit more is on the line. What I accomplished and did was recognized, and in any way you may look at it, it was the right thing to do. I'm, however, getting challenged by an old set of standards, of which have no future.

Through it all, I knew what I was doing was right. Insecurities or leadership issues have no place for positive growth. I may have drawn a line in the sand, but if I never did, nothing would have changed. This may cause temporary headaches, but will lead to future success. Being in control of it is the ultimate strength. Proving yourself as the professional is only true when you take the steps needed to make this change.

I believe extremely heavily in positive and strong leadership. Leaders don't take, they give. They can give opportunities to grow, they can give their spot in the chow line to their subordinate, but they can never take from them. Leaders always wake up first and sleep last, and they always make sure who ever is under them are taken care of. That is a leader.


With that said, I'm more than willing to sacrifice present pleasures for ultimate goals. Here are my two priorities in this world, the rest means nothing:





What are your priorities?


* http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html