What man can envision, man can create.
Thomas Edison. Henry Ford. Alexander Graham
Bell. Andrew Carnegie. Kobe Bryant.
These are just a few of the legendary titans
whose imaginations and innovations changed and shaped the world forever. Their
vision, leadership, and work ethic ultimately took us places most could not
even imagine at the time, and their influence is still felt, even now.
It's clear from history that every generation
has its leaders. But what makes today's leaders stand out? What is it we can
learn from unique visionaries like Ted Turner, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon
Musk and others, that we can apply to our own lives to exceed beyond our
expectations? Studying the leaders and innovators we admire opens our minds to
new possibilities of what we can accomplish. By incorporating the lessons we
learn, we increase the opportunity to distinguish ourselves in our own fields,
and have a lasting impact on humanity and the future.
As someone who is passionate about leadership,
I too am always observing and studying the leaders of today to see what I can
learn. Among the most fascinating to me currently, is Elon Musk. His
approach has challenged me to think bigger and more expansively about what I
can do and how I do it.
Best known as the CEO of Tesla, founder of
Space X and PayPal, his current net worth is approximately $35 billion dollars.
But what is most impressive is not how much he is worth, but how he thinks.
Musk is a dreamer who thinks about humanity and our future. He is a true
success story of our century. More than just a leader and entrepreneur, he is
an influencer and a disruptor, who goes "all in" when he has an idea,
no matter what. His passion and futuristic vision of electric cars, SpaceX, and
the Cyber truck, is permanently impacting our culture and lifestyle right
before our eyes. He is changing the world as we know it.
Here's a quick recap of his career:
·
Drops out of Stanford
graduate program. Starts an internet business in 1995 together with his brother
Kimbal.
·
Four years later, in
1999, the brothers sell their company, Zip2, for $307 million to Compaq. The
sale nets Elon $22M.
·
He subsequently
launches X.com, an online bank in 1999, Renamed it "PayPal" and
launched an IPO. Sold the business to eBay for $1.5 billion. Musk walks away
with $165M.
·
Launches SpaceX in
2002. Invests over $100M of his own capital.
·
In 2004, Musk gets
involved in Tesla. Puts $70M into the company over the course of several years.
The rest is history.
·
Both SpaceX and Tesla
hit the brink of bankruptcy. Musk is down to his last dollars during this
period. He resuscitates both companies. SpaceX is the first private company to
successfully launch a rocket that docks the ISS, and use reusable rockets to
make it back to earth
·
Musk also involved in
other companies, including SolarCity, Hyperloop, OpenAI, The Boring Company,
and NeuraLink
·
Currently, Musk's net
worth is estimated at $35B. It continues to grow every day.
After studying Musk's leadership for some
time, here are my key takeaways. If you truly want to make a big shift in your
life, please pay close attention to the following nine points:
1. Think bigger. Enough of playing small.
2. Think about how you can impact humanity.
3. Invest in your dreams. If you don't, no one else will.
4. Creativity is king. Cash is not.
5. Pay attention to negative feedback.
6. Fear not the failures, success is right
around the corner
7. Work with confidence and decide with faith.
8. Turn your competitors into your customers.
9. Innovation is the new way to stay in business.
I take these suggestions very seriously and
practice them daily in my business. They have helped me see bigger, see more,
accomplish more, and have the foresight. By incorporating lessons from the
leaders you admire, you too can surpass your expectations of success and leave
your own lasting impact on humanity.
Farshad Asl www.farshadasl.com
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