Steve Jobs: Leaving a Legacy

Yesterday, the world lost one of the greatest entrepreneurs and creative minds to ever live.  I'm certain over the next several days, maybe even weeks we will hear about what a tragic loss this is and all the ways he changed the world and affected society, and all of those things will likely be true.  However, what I want to focus on is not what he did but how he prepared people to continue carrying out his dream in his absense . . . I want to talk about LEGACY!!!

Steve Jobs tried to live every day as if it were his last.  He had what many would call excessively high expectations for himself, and, despite much criticism, he held those same expectations for those around him and those who worked for him.  He created.  He designed.  He INSPIRED.  That last part is arguably the most important.  All great entrepreneurs create and design, but then when they're gone, what happens to their dream and their life's work??  It fizzles away.  Jobs not only created and designed, but he taught and inspired others to do the same.  Apple will not die with him.  Apple will continue to thrive, grow, and change the world just as it has for the last few decades.  Why??  Because he prepared Apple.  He held high expectations for those working with him, and, as they have shown over the last year or so, they are capable of creating and improving upon his life's work on their own.  He instilled in them a love for creating and designing, a love for all he had worked for.  His dream became their dream. 

Even decades from now, as changes happen, I believe that the legacy of Steve Jobs will live on . . . whether Apple still exists or not.  The individuals whose lives he touched will strive a little harder for greatness.  They will push themselves a little further.  They will refuse to settle.  They will live, create, and crash through the expectations of the great, shooting for astounding.  While I am a child of the Apple generation . . . a girl who learned her first computer language (Basic) on an Apple computer in elementary school, who traded in her CDs and radio for iTunes and an iPod, who traded in her cable tv for an Apple TV, who saw the world of animation change with Pixar, and who intends to ditch all the paper contracts for her business and have clients sign contracts electronically via iPad . . . I believe his greatest acheivement was inspiring people!  Not only did he inspire the people he worked with, but he inspired a generation of young entrepreneurs.  He inspired people to take risks, ignore negative people, not be disheartened when their lives seem all scattered about because it is only later that you can look back to connect the dots of how all your life experiences work together to create something unique, and to not fear death because it is inevitable.  You will fail at times, so get over the fear of embarrassment and follow your heart to even greater successes! 

I have been fortunate enough in my life to have been inspired by many great people and even to have been related to a few.  One important thing that they've taught me is that legacy matters.  It isn't specifically the things you accomplish, the money you make, the things you buy, the products you create that make a difference.  It is the lives you touch, and the people you inspire to reach for greatness and never settle.  Those are things that cannot be taught with words; they must be taught by action.  Even if we're not there yet, we have to practice being the person we want to become. 

What kind of legacy are you leaving?  The next generation is young and has big dreams, and it is our job to make sure they know their dreams are worth fighting for!!!  Look at these young people and tell me they're not worth it. 

If you'd like to read the commencement speech Steve Jobs gave at Stanford in 2005, click here.