Elon Musk Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

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Ashley Vance, a prominent writer on technology ranging from cyber espionage to DNA Sequence and Space exploration, describes an informative and easy-to-flow biography of one of today’s top innovators. While maintaining a lively pace, he delves into Elon Musk’s works with particular passion in a way that is more accessible and exciting.

Elon Musk, one of the most impressive contemporary American “Engineering Entrepreneurs,” has developed a reputation for boldness, brashness and vision in many ways and competence. He is passionate about not just landing people on Mars but creating a new human society there.

Musk was born in Pretoria in 1971 to a Canadian mother and Afrikaner father. Musk’s father was a rare researcher, neither Elon nor anyone else in the family will talk about the ways he was a scarring influence. Musk suffered enough violence as a child both at home and school. The author gave an instance of back when Musk was in eighth or ninth grade, he was kicked in the head, thrown down a flight of concrete stairs then set upon the landing. He was kicked and beaten till he blacked out. He required hospital care and a week at home to recover. Irrespective of that, Elon Musk was a die-hard reader. He exhausted the school library and literally read the encyclopedia. He was good at spotting facts statistics, explanations and most importantly remembering what he read. As an undergraduate, he was an exceptional kid who was versed in space-based solar power plants and its use of ultracapacitors for energy storage with a consistent interest and a goal to make a difference.

Vance underlines the degree to which Musk’s dual-track undergraduate years were obviously reflected in his thinking even in his early 20s. He presented that those Silicon Valley experiences gave Musk both the capital and contacts that he was able to use as a springboard for his more ambitious projects. They gave him an early introduction to corporate infighting which bred a strong impulse going forward to make sure that he kept control of his companies and they taught him at least limited lessons in how to be an effective and hard-driving manager. “I could code way better,” Musk says to the software engineers at Zip2 “And I would just go in and fix their code. I would be frustrated waiting for their stuff, so I’m going to go fix your code, and now it runs five times faster, you idiot”. The author cites another example in which Musk publicly chastised and then corrected an engineer who had miswritten a quantum mechanics equation, “I’m like, ‘how can you write that?’ Then I corrected it for him. He hated me after that. Eventually, I realized though I might have fixed that thing now I’ve made the person unproductive. It just wasn’t a right way to go about things. He learned a profound lesson not to completely ignore how other people feel.

Musk has consistently brought clarity on both the engineering problems and the financial hurdles that have heretofore kept humankind earthbound. The triumvirate of companies most dear to Musk, and with which he is most closely associated is made up of Tesla Motors, which produces electric cars, SolarCity, which produces electricity; some feeds free fueling stations for Tesla owners and SpaceX, a private company which is not entirely low key but aims at making humanity a multi-planetary species.

Vance quotes Antonio Gracias, a friend of Musk, also an investor in both Tesla and SpaceX, founder and CEO of Valor (Equity Partner). He said “I’ve never seen anything like Musk’s ability to take the pain. The year 2008 was a big year for Musk both personally and financially. His first marriage ended; he became perilously close to losing just about every penny he had earned; both Tesla and SpaceX were on the brink of bankruptcy. There are few important bright spots as well. In July, Musk met Tallulah Riley, a British actress 14 years his junior who would end up being his second wife. September, he finally launched Falcon I and most importantly his business was financially reprieved.” Vance wrote, “the deal ended up closing on Christmas Eve, hours before Tesla would have gone bankrupt. Musk had just a few hundred thousand dollars left and could not have made payroll the next day. Musk eventually put $12 million, and the investment firm puts the rest.”

One of the strengths of Vance’s book is healthy skepticism. Within Silicon Valley, he writes in his first few pages, Musk was a “deity.” Wrapping it all up at the end provides a good overview and synthesis. The author concluded with a sentence that was drawn from Vance’s last supper with Musk which includes the following quoted line:

“ I will like to die on Mars, Just not on impact.”

THE BIG THREE – KEYPOINTS

Key point #1: Musk invested enough time studying as a child. He believes in effective time management.

Key point #2: He worked with the right people ranging from company employees to the investors

Key point #3: Musk survived through the brink of bankruptcy, divorce, even near-death diseases because of his unwavering drive and passion for his dreams.

One Last Thing

“Good ideas are always crazy until they’re not.”
― Ashlee Vance

The Everything Store. Jeff Bezos and The Age of Amazon

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“The Everything Store” offers an intrinsic view of the harsh business world. The book is divided into three parts, each part describing how Amazon transcend from a book selling store to everything store. The vision was birth by Jeff Bezos, a dogged visionary and the founder of Amazon.  Brad Stone breaks down the book into three parts as said earlier, the faith which describes the early years of Amazon, Literacy influence which explains the days of struggle and the Missionary which define the success stories of Amazon. The book tells how Amazon started up with a small family like business on a shoestring budget. What keeps the dream growing is the success stories. No matter how little the success might be or how large, they celebrate every success. This helps to keep the goals, achievement, and expectations attainable.

Jeff took every possibility he has to develop himself and learn something. Frequently he quotes Alan’s observation that “Point of view is worth 80 IQ Points”.  This is a reminder that looking at things in a new way can enhance one’s understanding. Jeff made customer satisfaction his priority which leads Amazon to the continual development of new features that traditional publishers often find doubtful such as the customer review.  He also initiated a platform for individuals to sell new products. He was able to realize the potential in e-commerce over traditional businesses and explored it with some features like product recommendation.  Jeff has a saying that you can work long hard and smart, but in Amazon, you can only pick two out of three. Over the years, Amazon approach has been to establish fulfillment of centers in economically weak areas to exploit cheap labor and the ability to fire worker once the season is over.

The author made an actionable point which is one of the key takeaways of the book; he said marketing budget could be well spent on enhancing customers experience instead of tweaking the website, improving services or reducing prices. Not all product and companies can be feed on marketing because sometimes achieving ROI on marketing campaigns is simply not possible. When the company reached success, what matters is the perception of the success of the company. He listed all the virtues companies need to have in order to be considered cool.

The Cool and Not Cool Effect list includes: “Rudeness is not cool. Defeating tiny guys is not cool. Close-following is not cool. Young is cool. Risk taking is cool. Winning is cool. Polite is cool. Defeating bigger, unsympathetic guys are cool.  Inventing is cool. Explorers are cool. Conquerors are not cool. Obsessing over competitors is not cool. Empowering others is cool. Capturing all the value only for the company is not cool. Leadership is cool. Conviction is cool. Straightforwardness is cool. Pandering to the crowd is not cool. Hypocrisy is not cool. Authenticity is cool. Thinking big is cool. The unexpected is cool. Missionaries are cool. Mercenaries are not cool.”

The Everything Store also tells about how Jeff makes most of his decisions, why he made it and how it brings about customer satisfaction. There are too many takeaways from this book and can only be tapped into if you get a copy.

THE BIG THREE – KEYPOINTS

Keep Point #1: Reinvent your business model without completely renegotiating it

Keep Point #2: Never allow cynics to change your mind

Keep Point #3: Involve your employees in your decision-making process. Let every voice be heard.

One Last Thing

“There’s so much stuff that has yet to be invented. There’s so much new that’s going to happen…It is still Day 1 in such a big way” – Jeff Bezos

DEVELOPING THE LEADERS AROUND YOU

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Developing the leaders around you is about creating other leaders while leading. It boils down to having a growth environment that encourages others to emerge from their closed selves and become leaders.

The first chapter of this book capitalizes on a leader’s success. A leader’s success is determined by maximizing utilization of the abilities and resources/talents under him/her. The author draws our attention to a biblical story of Moses as an example of the importance of developing leaders who you can trust and delegated duties to. When Moses failed to delegate work, he began to burn out. Jethro advised him to seek for other people’s assistance which he yielded to. He was glad he did. A leader who carries others along tends to be more efficient and successful.

The second chapter further encourages the development of potential leaders. We must create a space around us where leaders can rise and feel safe. In the next chapter, John Maxwell unveils how to identify potential leaders. He made the process easy by giving some interesting principles that help to determine a potential leader. I will talk expressly on one of these principles.

John Maxwell says the next thing to look out for in any leader, after strength of character, is ability to influence. A leader must be heading somewhere and have the ability to persuade others to follow him. There is more needed to be a person of influence. Some potential leaders are like a rough diamond. Some may carry the ability to influence but not yet possess other needed attributes. They should not be discarded, instead, consult the Holy Spirit. He alone can rightly judge a man. When you influence the right set of people, you will not be left with regret when raising up the future leaders.

The fourth chapter discusses the nurturing of the identified leaders. Once potential leaders have been recognized, you must start building them into the leader they can become. To achieve this, John Maxwell describes a strategy using an acronym, BEST, which means; Believe in them, Encourage them, Share with them and Trust them. Those closest to a leader will determine the success of that leader. Energy, drive and vision is not enough to be a leader. A leader must possess the ability to develop the leaders around him. You can only estimate the strength of a leader by looking at the those around him. You attract who you are. In developing a leader, there is a need to work on yourself and be personally secure. According to John, organizations either rise or fall depending on the trend of the leaders. A team must develop the habit of building a generation of new leaders, a strategy that requires a great deal of careful selection, planning, preparing, nurturing and follow through.

THE BIG THREE: KEY POINTS

Keypoint #1: Leaders must build an environment that encourages growth.

Keypoint #2: Leaders should not just lead but invest in others by seeing the possibilities in them and developing their potential.

Keypoint #3: The success of a leader is not only measured by the number of followers but the number of potential leaders he has been able to build.

Insanely Simple. The Obsession That Drives Apple’s Success

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Insanely simple is a book that values simplicity. It tells how simplicity drives success and how it has molded apple into what it has grown to become. How it happened, the techniques skills, actions, and decisions are all described in this book.

The author, Ken Segall worked for Apple for years on Apple ad campaigns such as Think different and Mac vs. PC. He also is responsible for the “I” in front of Apple products. He references Steve as “simple stick.” Steve will stop at nothing to knock complexity out in everything and make things as simple as possible. Complexity has its way of walking into an organization, a system or its product. Ken Segall knowing the effect of complexity on an organization shared the decisions that were made at Apple with the advantage of knowing how things worked out. Apple keeps everything insanely simple.

Steve said “simple can be harder than complex, you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s always worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

Sometimes the easy path is not always the simple path. The easy path can cause more complexity and complications than the simple route. Simplicity is not just a goal for an organization or oneself; it is a skill that must be learned. Like leadership, we all have the ability to surge ahead through simplicity; we only need the right tools and frame of mind to do so. To be simple, you must think simple.

Thinking simple does not stop you from thinking brutally, and there is a difference between brutally honest and simply being brutal. Steve job was known for his brutal honesty. If he thought your work was terrible, he would not shy away from telling you. “Blunt is simplicity; Meandering is complexity” Job does not compromise his standard for Apple because of someone else’s feelings.

Another level of thinking Steve adopted was iconic thinking. To think simple, you have to think iconic. The first significant campaign Apple did after the return of Steve Jobs was the Think Different campaign. This campaign was designed around images of people who have made a tremendous difference in the world. Images speak more than the words. It gives Apple brand an edge to associate with iconic figures. By thinking iconic, it allows a ton of core value information to be communicated by an organization in just a few images.

Steve did not stop at that. To think simple, you have to think human. To think human, you allow your heart into the decision-making process and remember why you do what you do. Ultimately, it’s not about the gaining influence or making money; it’s about the people your organization helps.

Also, you have to think war. The concept behind “think war” is those worthy ideas are worth fighting for. You have to use everything you’ve got, take risks and overwhelm with force. Remember, simplicity is what can separate you from victory. Always keep it simple.

In a world of ever-growing complexity, if your organization can have the mind of thinking simple, people will flock your banner. Insanely Simple has all you need to know to think simple. A copy is more than worth it.

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

Key point #1: Simplicity is a skill that can be learned and developed. To be simple, you have to think simple.

Key point #2: Compromising your vision in order to spare someone else’s feeling is not simplicity.

Key point #3: Focus on one thing so as not to miss out on the most important thing.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ~Steve Jobs

Start With Why

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Start With Why is about an effective way of thinking, communicating, innovating and influencing people as a leader. Simon Sinek displays the notion that capable leaders inspire other people by emphasizing on the intention (‘the WHY’) before the procedure (the “HOW”) and the product or service (the “WHAT”). The more organizations and people who learn to start with WHY, the more those around will live a fulfilled life.

The first part of the book talks about a world that doesn’t start with WHY. Simon discusses two ways to influence behavior which is inspiration or manipulation.  Salespeople believe they attract customers with their features or price. In other words, we have no idea, so we manipulate sales, promotion the whole time. And yes, manipulation works. Prices, promotion, fears, aspirations, and novelty are all used to manipulate and motivate a purchase. All of these techniques work but Simon made it known that they are not sustainable and are short-lived. Regarding leadership, they can push you to the top, but they won’t make people follow you. Leadership is the ability to rally people, not for a single event but for years. However, there are few leaders who choose to inspire rather than motivate people. Whether individuals or organizations, every inspiring leader thinks, acts and communicates the same way. Consciously or not, how they do it is by following a naturally occurring pattern called the Golden Circle.

Part two of this book shows how leaders can inspire actions instead of manipulating people to act. The golden circle revolves around the WHAT (product or service), the HOW ( the procedure) and the WHY (the intention). Inspiring companies start with WHY. There is no trickery or manipulation. They just reverse the order of information. As humans, we crave a sense of belonging and we do this to survive. Starting with why helps to eliminate fear, share your beliefs and create a sense of belonging.

Part three of this book introduces us to the leaders’ needs. Leaders need a following. As members of the human race, we are attracted to those whose values, cultures and beliefs align with ours. When we recruit employees, we recruit people who believe what we believe so that we can trust one another instead of hiring purely based on skills and experience. In order words, leaders must build trust before building followers. The emergence of trust shows that trust is not a checklist. Instead, it is a feeling. We trust people and companies even when things go wrong, and we don’t believe others even when things might have gone the way it should. The idea is as a leader; you must earn trust by communicating and demonstrating that you share the same value and belief. That is why recruiters don’t hire for skills but attitude. Skills can be taught, but attitude must align with the organization’s culture. When you have a belief, i.e., a ‘WHY’ your what is just one of the ways of bringing that WHY to life.

Other parts of this great book discuss building trust, marketing and branding, the big Why and many other cogent topics that add value to organizations and individual.

The WHY does not come from looking ahead at what you want to achieve and figuring out an appropriate strategy to get there. Finding WHY is a process of discovery and not invention.

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

Key point #1:   To influence people’s behavior, you either manipulate or inspire.

Key point #2:   A clearly stated WHY helps separate you from others and build trust.

Key point #3:   Clients identify with organizations that have their WHY clearly stated.

 

One Last Thing

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe”
― Simon Sinek, Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

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We give too many fucks about trivial things while we tend not to give a fuck about the important thing. And because we give a fuck about things that do not matter, it makes us feel bad about ourselves. You need to give a fuck about something but what is the right thing to give a fuck about. ​

The subtle art of not giving a fuck by Mark Manson was written to help prioritize and focus on what is essential in life. It is about reorganizing your life and letting you discover what to give a fuck about. The key to life is not about giving a fuck about more but giving a fuck about less, giving a fuck about what is important, good and expedient.

What does not giving a fuck means? ​

SUBTLETY 1:  Mark Manson made it known that giving a fuck does not make you loved by everyone and not giving a fuck does not make you indifferent. Not giving a fuck means being comfortable with being different. He said “There’s absolutely nothing admirable or confident about indifference. People who are indifferent are lame and scared. They’re couch potatoes and Internet trolls. They hide in a gray, emotionless pit of their making, self-absorbed and self-pitying, perpetually distracting themselves from this unfortunate thing demanding their time and energy called life.”

People who are different are those who are real, who enjoy been themselves no matter what. They care less about what others think because they strongly believe in their capabilities and abilities. ​

SUBTLETY 2: Not giving a fuck means not to give a fuck about adversity. To avoid giving a fuck about adversity, you must find something important and productive that is worth investing both your time, effort and energy on. Unless you see that important thing, your fucks will be given to meaningless and frivolous things. Dedicate your fucks to something that is worth it. Fuck has to be used wisely; it doesn’t grow on trees. A man minds his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off it and starts minding other people’s business. 

SUBTLETY 3: You have the right to choose what you give your fuck about. As we grow older, you grow out of giving a fuck about everything but only things that matter. This makes us happy on a constant basis. At a point in our life, we become aware of who we are, our strength and the right place to focus our strength on. The more you grow older, the more mature you become, the lesser the things you give a fuck about. We are not going to give a fuck about everything because we have come to understand that some things cannot be changed and because they cannot be changed, we need to fucking accept it that way and move on with life. Your happiness cannot be traded with frivolities and meaningless fucking things.

​Finally, choose what to give a fuck about. Dedicate your fucks only to what’s truly fuck-worthy. Choose what’s important to you and give a fuck about that.  

The Big Three – Key Points

​Key Point #1: Priority, reorganizing your life and deciding what to give a fuck about.

Key Point #2: It advises not to give a fuck about trivial matters but focus on important things and give a fuck about them

Key Point #3: A man minds his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off it and starts minding other people’s business.

One Last Thing

“Who you are is defined by what you’re willing to struggle for.”
― Mark Manson

Respect

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Sara Lawrence reaches deep into the human experience from the drama of birth to the solemn vigil before death to find the essence of respect. This book reveals the most powerful ingredient in any relationship both personal, professional or public life and also tries to dismantle hierarchies and other forms of denomination and replaces them with a sense of humanity, compassion, and equality.

 

Sara Lawrence was motivated by her interest in exploring the underlying nature of respect and some personal memories. She is also drawn to the concept because she understands the undying importance respect holds in both public and private life cycle. The traditional view of respect, though rarely expressed in its pure form, tends to be relatively static and impersonal. The remnants of this view survive today and shape our expectations, apprehensions, and disappointment. She discovered that respect is not the passive deference offered to a superior but the active force that creates symmetry even in unequal relationships.

Lawrence rejects what she terms the “traditional” notion of respect that accords esteem with rank and social status, often of an inherited sort. She desires to create a new view of respect that is egalitarian, that generates equality between people, mutual empathy and connections of solidarity. The author believes that respect has six qualities: 1) empowerment 2) healing 3) dialogue 4) curiosity 5) self-respect and 6) attention. Each chapter of the book focuses on a quality, interpreting it through concrete narratives.

She illumines empowerment by talking about Jennifer Dohrn, a nurse midwife; healing through the actions of pediatrician Johnye Ballenger; Dialogue through the work of Kay Cottle, curiosity in light of Dawoud Bey, artist, and photographer. Self-respect as expressed in the dignity of law professor David Wilkins who believes there is a proof that self-respect must come not from external measures but from within; only then can individual relate respectfully. And attention as exhibited in the pastoral care of Episcopal priest Bill Wallace. Bill Wallace move insight into the value of attention and silent presence as they relate to respect and the dying.  

Through striving for a type of simplicity of theory, the author never shows philosophically what respect itself means nor how its various qualities are coherently related to one another. She means to say that respect gives rise to attention which of course is true but so do a lot of other motivations that runs a spectrum from the desire to manipulate to the simple permission to contemplative awe.

 

The author works with the premise that respect is the primary virtue of moral life in our society such that it finds everything good- from curiosity to healing from dialogue to attention. There are essential components needed for a respectful relationship.

Usually, respect is seen as involving some debt owed because of their attained or original position, their age, gender, class, race, professional status or because of an accomplishment. This book focus on the way respect creates symmetry, empathy, and connection in all kinds of relationship.

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

 

Key point #1: Respect generates respect, a modest loaf becomes many.

 

Key point #2: Respectful relationships have a way of sustaining and replicating themselves

 

Key point #3: Respect creates symmetry, empathy, and connection in all kinds of relationship.

One Last Thing

“I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.”

― Albert Einstein

THE 21 IRREFUTABLE LAWS OF LEADERSHIP

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The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership was written out of many studies and observations John Maxwell has carried out on leaders in various sectors like business, politics, military, sport and most of all his personal leadership experience. He poured out his heart into this book by giving us 21 laws that can help you become the most powerful and effective leader. The principles of leadership do not change over time, only the application does. These principles or law brings consequences; people will either follow you or they will not. It will depend on your mode of application. These laws when applied in real life form the foundation of leadership.

  1. LAW OF THE LID:  The law of the lid states that leadership ability is a determinant of a person’s level of effectiveness. This means that your effectiveness is determined by your level of leadership. When your level of leadership increases, you become more effective. An increase in effectiveness directly affects the level of success.
  2. LAW OF INFLUENCE:  Leadership is different from every other subject matter such as management or entrepreneurship. The true definition of a leader is determined by the level of people he has influenced. Your followers are the proof that you are a leader, nothing more or less.
  3. LAW OF PROCESS: Maxwell explains five different phases of leadership growth. He also explains that what sets a leader apart from their followers is their ability to learn, develop and improve their skill.
  4. LAW OF NAVIGATION:  A true leader is a leader with foresight. Leaders chart the course for their team because they have full vision of where they are going, understand the challenges and risk and also understand the right set of people needed to achieve the vision.
  5. LAW OF ADDITION: This law defines the ability of a leader to add value by serving others and making things better for them.
  6. LAW OF SOLID GROUND: The foundation of leadership is trust. Trust is built when a leader is consistently competent and displays remarkable character. Character conveys potential and builds respect.
  7. LAW OF RESPECT: In this book, Maxwell explains six ways leaders gain respect and how to access and improve your level of leadership. Leaders tend to stand out while others follow because they are perceived to be stronger.
  8. LAW OF INTUITION: We relate and see people based on who we are so leaders also see things with leadership bias. Maxwell explains in detail various ways a leader can apply their leadership bias and how to improve their leadership intuition.
  9. LAW OF MAGNETISM: You attract who you are. It’s as simple as that. People are drawn to others with similar characteristics like attitude, ability, leadership ability, energy level, etc.
  10. LAW OF CONNECTION: The key to connecting with people is by relating to them as an individual even if they are in a group. There is a need to connect with people emotionally as a leader before you can move them to action. Maxwell shares a bigger picture of how you can connect with yourself and others.
  11. LAW OF THE INNER CIRCLE: Your inner circle is the group of people you turn to for advice, support and assistance. These people must be chosen intentionally. They must be people who display excellence, maturity and good character in everything they do.
  12. LAW OF EMPOWERMENT:  The important thing in empowerment is believing in people. Most leaders refuse to empower others due to three key reasons: resistance to change, desire for job security and lack of self-worth. In this book, John Maxwell sheds more light on how to improve your self-worth and empower others.
  13. THE LAW OF THE PICTURE: Exceptional leaders understand the irreplaceable role of vision. A vision shows the picture of what is to be achieved. Therefore, for a leader to communicate it effectively, he/she has to model the vision by setting the right example and showing the way. This act of modeling gives the followers credibility, passion and motivation to carry on with the vision.
  14. THE LAW OF BUY IN: The secret is people buy into the leader first before buying into the vision. They listen to people who they trust, believe in and feel they are credible and worth going along with.  When followers buy into the leader and the vision, then they are ready and willing to follow such leader through any challenge and success.
  15.  THE LAW OF VICTORY:  A Good leader must take responsibility for all actions, be creative and transfer his success and passion to his followers. Failure or quitting is not an option on a leader’s list.  Maxwell wrote ”one thing victorious leaders have in common is that they share an unwillingness to accept defeat.” As a result, they take responsibility for the success of the team and do what it takes to lead the team to victory.
  16. THE LAW OF BIG MO: Momentum is a leader’s best friend. An organization or team with momentum can successfully pass through any obstacle, and momentum is a determining factor between winning and losing. It makes you unstoppable. In this book, Maxwell shares several characteristics of the Big MO and how to access where we are.
  17. THE LAW OF PRIORITIES:  Don’t just get busy, get productive. The heart of the law of priority states that leaders understand that activity is not about accomplishment. This means prioritizing requires leaders always to think ahead, to know what is more important and how it all relates to the vision. Maxwell discusses the Pareto principle and other key factors that help in setting a priority list which are Requirement, Reward, and Returns.
  18. THE LAW OF SACRIFICE: This law gives a glimpse of what leadership life is.  A leader might be looking glamorous on the outside, but the secret behind his true leadership is that he has sacrificed and still sacrificing. The hidden secret behind success is the sacrifice. And a true leader does not only sacrifice but also put others ahead of him.
  19.   THE LAW OF TIMING: Leadership is not only about how to lead but discerning the right time to take action. Maxwell summarizes his statement by saying “taking the wrong action at the wrong time leads to disaster and the right action at the wrong time leads to resistance while the wrong action at the right time leads to a mistake”. This shows that leadership ability goes beyond leading.

 

  1.   THE LAW OF EXPLOSIVE GROWTH: You can attain explosive growth when you choose to lead leaders and not followers. To lead leaders, you have to focus on the strength and not weaknesses, treat everyone differently and invest quality time into others rather than spending time together. Maxwell summarizes this law by saying leaders who develop other leaders experience incredible multiplication effect in their organization that can be achieved in no other way.

​

  1. LAW OF LEGACY:  This is the final law in this book. The law of legacy states that a leader’s lasting value is measured by succession. What do you want to be remembered for? Maxwell summarizes the life of a leader by saying that “achievement comes when they do big things by themselves. Success comes when they empower followers to do big things for them. Significance comes when they develop leaders to do great things with them. Legacy comes when they put leaders in the position to do great things without them.” He ends the chapter with the thought, “our abilities as leaders will not be measured by the buildings we built, the institutions we established, or what our team accomplished during our tenure. You and I will be judged by how well the people we invested in carried on after we are gone.” This is the greatest challenge of  a lifelong pursuit of leadership, but it is also the only thing that will matter in the end.

Undoubtedly, you are eager to know other laws of leadership. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership not only explains the laws but include several tips on how to apply the laws. Do not hesitate to feed on the richness of this innovation.

KEY POINTS

Key point #1: Leadership is built on trust and compounds over time

Key point #2: Leaders attract who they are.

Key point #3: Leaders must learn, grow and develop.

One Last Thing

“Leaders Who Attract Followers . . . Need to Be Needed

Leaders Who Develop Leaders . . . Want to Be Succeeded”

― John C. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You

The One Thing

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The one thing by Gary W Keller and Jay Papasan is focused on understanding that one thing you need to focus on to make you successful. Not all tasks on your to-do list matter equally. There are some that are of high importance and consistently give a successful result, that is the ONE THING we are referring to. Sometimes it is the only thing you do, sometimes; it is the first thing you do. Whatever ways you handle it, there is always a key phrase that says doing the most important is the most important thing to do. You have to make the hard things easy to do by disciplining yourself.

Things become easier after you have discipline yourself and establish that habit not only the thing you trained yourself for. The key point is, aim for bigger achievement, dream big, follow peoples trail and don’t be scared o fail. Sometimes we blindly believe in some lies that sound like truth and this has a great impact on your productivity. Some of these lies are multitasking, everything matters equally, a balance etc. Gary and Jay made us understand that there is nothing like multitasking, equality, willpower. They are all lies. It is much advisable to do fewer things for more effect than doing many things with side effects. Successful people work with a clear sense of priority and not from junks of priorities. Gary Keller and Jay Papasan reminded us again of the 80/20 principle. He shared in his book that we don’t need a To Do list; instead we need a success list. A success list is a list designed purposefully around your highest leverage activities. Your leverage activities can be determined using the 80/20 principle. The principle states that the MINORITY of your effort is what leads to the MAJORITY of your result. Your little investment today will yield a bigger result of what you will experience. So most importantly, you have to understand those minute tasks, those little tasks you should divert your 20% attention to that will yield 80% impact on your results. With this, you have been able to turn your to-do list into success list. Gary continues, “You can do two things at a time but you can’t focus effectively on two things at once. The truth is when you focus on two things you feel you are multitasking without paying cognizance to the fact that your attention is being divided and something is serving as a distraction at that particular time. I admire a quote that says take up two things, and your attention gets divided, take on three things, and somethings get dropped. The buzz, flash, pings on your phones can wait or be avoided by shutting down your phone just for the limited period you need to concentrate. People who seem like they are highly disciplined has conditioned a handful habits into their lives. Developing a habit takes an average of 66 days, with your willpower and persistence you can turn your discipline into a habit and things become easier to execute. In summary, your willpower each day is limited so use it wisely and do the most important things first so that you will not miss it.

The Big Three – Key points

Key Point #1: Do fewer things and get more effect rather than doing many things with side effects

Key Point #2: Discipline can be groomed into a habit

Key Point #3: Work with your success list and not your To Do list

One Last Thing 

“Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls– family, health, friends, integrity– are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.”
― Gary Keller

Zero to One

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This book is composed of Peter Thiel’s advice on startups with different take away such as the DO’s and DON’TS of startups, what to focus on when building a startup, insight of building a billion-dollar startup that stands the test of time and many more. He gave an illustration of the first team he built which is known as the “PayPal Mafia” who have gone out to help each other start and invest in successful tech companies. They sold PayPal to eBay in 2002 for $1.5billion. Ever since then:

  •    Elon Musk has founded SpaceX and co-founded Tesla Motors
  •    Reid Hoffman co-founded LinkedIn
  •    Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim together founded YouTube
  •    Jeremy Stoppelman and Russel Simmons founded Yelp
  •    David Sacks co-founded Yammer
  •    and Thiel himself co-founded Palantir
  • And today, all these seven companies are worth over $1billion.  

This book begins with Peter’s favorite interview question which is, “What important truth do very few people agree with you on?”  He justifies this question by saying that “brilliant thinking is rare, but courage is even shorter than genius”. He further says that globalization without new technology in a world of scarce resources is unsustainable. Because the truth is that technology matters more in globalization. The best way to create wealth is not by spreading old ways but by innovation. And to introduce innovation, we have startups. He points out that competitive market destroys profit. He said, “if you can recognize competition as a destructive force instead of a sign of value, you are saner than most.” To get more capital, you need to be a monopolist and escape competition. You may think monopolies are bad but thinking of it in a world where it’s possible to invent new things, it brings about more creativity and innovations. Creative monopolists add new categories to the categories of products available, thereby giving customers more varieties to choose from.

What makes a monopoly durable? What does a company with large cash flows far into the future look like? There are four key characteristics to describe:

  1. Proprietary technology
  2. Network effects (aka virility)
  3. Simple scalability
  4. Branding

Peter’s next favorite question is “What valuable company is nobody building?” You get a valuable company when you create value and capture value. If you want to create and capture value as an entrepreneur, don’t build an undifferentiated commodity business. The author makes the difference between a perfectly competitive market and a monopoly and explains how both companies are trying to disguise themselves. The author takes us through various schools of thought of startups in each chapter of his book. Some of which are: the ideology of competition which explains why people compete, secrets which reveal why people are not looking for secrets and why companies need to stop believing in secrets, the mechanics of mafia and so on.

He concluded by asking the question: Stagnation or Singularity? It all depends on us. Our task today is to find singular ways to create new things that will make the future transpire from Zero to One. The critical step is to think for yourself, see the world anew, afresh and as strange as it was to the ancients who saw it first. Then we can recreate it and preserve it for the future. Whatever decision you make today, determines the success we experience tomorrow. So think critically and take action not by acting upon a created solution but by searching out a unique problem and proffering a solution to it.

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

Key point #1:  The author encourages monopolization other than perfect competition

Key point #2:   Leverage on the power of exponential growth

Key point #3: Don’t just invent a product; invent an efficient way of selling it.

One Last Thing

“The best entrepreneurs know this: every great business is built around a secret that’s hidden from the outside. A great company is a conspiracy to change the world; when you share your secret, the recipient becomes a fellow conspirator.”
― Peter Thiel, Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future