Anyone who achieves great things in any domain has the courage to be wrong. This means you’re willing to go against convention and look like an idiot. This is one characteristic that separates game-changers from everyone else; and it’s very uncommon.
A few weeks ago I treated myself to a deep tissue and hot stone massage. The place I went to was recommended by a friend, so I was looking forward to it. As someone who likes massages and spends some time watching YouTube videos on it, I’m “somewhat demanding” for what I’m paying for. Still, I arrived with no expectation and simply accepted a recommendation.
What makes a great coach?
This question is at the heart of a new book. Trillion Dollar Coach tells the story of Bill Campbell, ex-football coach and CEO of Intuit, known for coaching many modern day entrepreneurs: Steve Jobs, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Jeff Bezos.
How many times have you heard someone say something like “it’s not my fault, this or that happened”? I hear it everyday, and you do too. I have a very close friend who I nicknamed “The King of Excuses”, because he always has an excuse for anything.
We’ve all, of course, read about the spectacular success of startups. It’s impossible to escape the amazing tales of people starting with an idea in a garage (think Apple) and growing it into a billion-dollar global business. But a startup isn’t as easy as those well-known stories might have you think. There’s a little bit of luck and a whole lot of other influences at play.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. This is for all of you who feel miserable, are doubting yourself and feel like giving up. Please don’t. Entrepreneurship, doing anything that changes the games, is hard!
Four or five years ago a few collaborators and I conducted an online hackathon where we set out to rethink education.
A few projects were born from that hackathon, of which one still exists. That whole experience taught us that it’s very hard for people to let go of the idea that one should educate oneself with the help of online tools like this law tutors online, and that people are just habituated to be educated from the top down.
