Although I have never met or even came close to Steve Jobs and therefore should not have felt any emotions about his death other than feeling sorry for his family, in a weird way, I felt some type of a loss. It maybe because in some ways, he did have an influence on my life, if not personal, definitely professionally. I learned about his death via twitter on my iphone. It seems only fitting that I learned of his death with one of the devices he created. I am writing this post just as a personal reminder of this day and what I think about Steve Jobs.
For the last few months, as part of my job, I have been doing some research on how social media, cloud and mobile can be integrated into our business processes. Yesterday, I attended a webinar on “Social Media and the Enterprise” and today, I will be attending a webinar on “iPad: IT Support Considerations”. I think Steve Jobs played a significant part in shaping the culture of consumer technologies we enjoy today. Mark Zuckerberg of facebook considers Steve Jobs as his mentor and Zuckerberg’s seemingly cavalier attitude towards shaping social media and how focused they are in shaping and implementing their visions is consistent with that of Steve Jobs. Imagine social media without mobile devices? While Apple does not have the monopoly on mobile devices,Steve Jobs, through iPhone and iPad provided the path for other mobile companies by making this market cool and desirable for consumers.
Just a few weeks ago, I came across Steve Jobs’ 2005 commencement address at Stanford University and I had read this book on “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs” and what came across was that just like other great leaders I admire like UCSB Vice Chancellor or Student Affairs Michael Young, Steve Jobs is a story teller. He is able to tell stories that connect with his audience. In my mind, this is one of the many things that make Steve Jobs very unique.
In some ways, as I watched tv programs last night and as I read the comments on various social media sites, I was inspired by his view on life and his work. What he shared at his commencement address really resonates with me:
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”