people are always talk about visions and
missions and all of this stuff and when
people ask me like what example should I
look – like what company should I’m like
here’s an organization with a vision a
cause it was founded with a cause it’s
an entrepreneurial venture it’s America
is an experiment it’s an entrepreneurial
venture where a bunch of people got
together and decided we needed to start
our own country because there were
certain obstacles that were getting in
the way of a vision that we had of a
better kind of country but a kind of
company right and they stated it right
out of the beginning all men are created
equal endowed with these unalienable
rights among amongst which include life
liberty and the pursuit of happiness and
it’s not a it’s not just a competitive
statement like to be the best to be the
most respected that’s not what it was
and I’m amazed how many companies start
their visions or missions with those
that terribly egocentric language it was
an ideal and the amazing thing is is
we’ve been good at it and bad at it in
our history but it’s endured for 240
plus years because we fundamentally
believe that we are at our best when
we’re pursuing that but it is an ideal
we will never actually achieve all
people are equal but we will die trying
and that’s the point and it’s the same
for a company which is true vision
inside a company is something that has
nothing to do with your product it is an
ideal to which you will attempt to build
an advance that ideal through your
company with your product you’ll never
achieve the ideal but you’ll die trying
and this is what gives our work meaning
this is what it gives our lives purpose
right the difference between vision and
a goal is the finish line a goal is 26.2
miles
you can simply count the metrics and
know when you’ve completed your goal a
vision is having a crystal-clear sense
of what the finish line looks like but
no idea of how far away it is and it’s
and the reality is you will spend your
entire life never actually crossing the
finish line but the joy that every
marathon you complete you feel like
you’re getting closer every milestone
that you accomplish makes you feel like
you’re getting closer and closer to the
ideal and this is what gives our life in
our work meaning
so I had the chance to meet with some of
the kids in the program today where are
you scream out there you go I love those
kids and so I thought I would do cuz
they gave me a little bit of time to say
whatever I want is offer you a little
bit of some observations for your future
I have five little rules that you can
follow as you find your spark and bring
your spark to life the first is to go
after the things that you want let me
tell you a story so a friend of mine and
I we went for a run in Central Park the
Roadrunners organization on the weekends
they host races and it’s very common at
the end of the race they’ll have a
sponsor who will give away something
apples or bagels or something and on
this particular day when we got to the
end of the run there were some free
bagels and they had picnic tables set up
and on one side was a group of
volunteers on the table were boxes of
bagels and on the other side was a long
line of runners waiting to get their
free bagel so I said to my friend let’s
let’s get a bagel and he looked at me
and said that lines too long and I said
free bagel and he said I don’t want to
wait in line and I was like free bagel
and he says not that’s it’s too long and
that’s when I realized that there’s two
ways to see the world some people see
the thing that they want and some people
see the thing that prevents them from
getting the thing that they want I could
only see the bagels he could only see
the line and so I walked up to the line
I leaned in between two people put my
hand in the box and pulled out two
bagels and no one get mad at me because
the rule is you can go after whatever
you want
you just cannot deny anyone else to go
after whatever they want
now I had to sacrifice choice I didn’t
get to choose which bagel I got I got
what
ever I pulled out but I didn’t have to
wait in line so the point is is you
don’t have to wait in line you don’t
have to do it the way everybody else has
done it you can do it your way you can
break the rules you just can’t get in
the way of somebody else getting what
they want
that’s rule number one rule number two I
like this one in the 18th century there
was something that spread across Europe
and eventually made its way to America
where pole fever also known as the Black
Death of childbed basically what was
happening is women were giving birth and
they would die within 48 hours after
giving birth this Black Death of
childbirth was the ravage of Europe and
it got worse and worse and worse over
the course of over a century in some
hospitals it was as high as 70% of women
who gave birth who would die as a result
of giving birth but this was the
Renaissance this was the time of
empirical data and science and we had
thrown away things like tradition and
mysticism these were men of science
these were doctors and these doctors and
men of science wanted to study and try
and find the reason for this black death
of childbed and so they got to work
studying and they would study the
corpses of the of the women who had died
and in the morning they would conduct
autopsies and then in the afternoon they
would go and deliver babies and finish
their rounds and it wasn’t until
somewhere in the mid 1800s that dr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes father of Supreme
Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
realized that all of these doctors who
conducting autopsies in the morning
weren’t washing their hands before they
delivered babies in the afternoon and he
pointed it out and said guys you’re the
problem
and they ignored him and called him
crazy for 30 years
until finally somebody realized that if
they simply washed their hands it would
go away and that’s exactly what happened
when they started sterilizing their
instruments and washing their hands the
black death of childbed disappeared my
point is the lesson here is sometimes
you’re the problem
we’ve seen this happen all too recently
with our new men of science and
empirical studies and these men of
finance who are smarter than the rest of
us until the thing collapsed and they
blamed everything else except themselves
and my point is is take accountability
for your actions you can take all the
credit in the world for the things that
you do right as long as you also take
responsibility for the things you do
wrong it must be a balanced equation you
don’t get it one way and not the other
you get to take credit when you also
take accountability that’s lesson 2
lesson 3 take care of each other the
United States Navy SEALs are perhaps the
most elite warriors in the world and one
of the seals was asked who makes it
through the selection process who is
able to become a seal and his answer was
I can’t tell you the kind of person that
becomes a seal I can’t tell you the kind
of person that makes it through buds but
I can tell you the kind of people who
don’t become seals
he says the guys that show up with huge
bulging muscles covered in tattoos who
want to prove to the world how tough
they are none of them make it through
he said the preening leaders who like to
delegate all their responsibilities and
never do anything themselves none of
them make it through he said the star
college athletes who’ve never really
been tested to the core of their being
none of them make it through he says
some of the guys that make it through
and scrawny he said some of the guys
that make it through you will see them
shivering out of fear he says however
all the guys that make it through when
they find themselves physically spent
emotionally spent when they have nothing
left to give physically or emotionally
somehow someway they are able to find
the energy to dig down deep inside
themselves to find the energy to help
the guy next to them they become seals
he said you want to be an elite warrior
it’s not about how tough you are it’s
not about how smart you are it’s not
about how fast you are if you want to be
an elite warrior
you better get really really good at
helping the person to the left of you
and helping the person to the right of
you because that’s how people advance in
the world the world is too dangerous in
the world is too difficult for you to
think that you can do these things alone
if you find your spark I commend you now
who you gonna ask for help and when are
you gonna accept help when it’s offered
learn that skill learn by practicing
helping each other it’ll be the single
most valuable thing you ever learn in
your entire life to accept help when
it’s offered and to ask for it when you
know that you can’t do it the amazing
thing is when you learn to ask for help
you’ll discover that there are people
all around you who’ve always wanted to
help you
they just didn’t think you needed it
because you kept pretending that you had
everything under control and the minute
you say I don’t know what I’m doing I’m
stuck I’m scared I don’t think I can do
this you will find that lots of people
who love you will rush in and take care
of you but that’ll only happen if you
[Applause]
lesson four Nelson Mandela is a
particularly special case study in the
leadership world because he is
universally regarded as a great leader
you can take other personalities and
depending on the nation you go to we
have different opinions about other
personalities but Nelson Mandela across
the world is universally regarded as a
great leader he was actually the son of
a tribal chief and he was asked one day
how did you learn to be a great leader
and he responded that he would go with
his father to tribal meetings and he
remembers two things when his father
would meet with other elders one they
would always sit in a circle and to his
father was always the last to speak you
will be told your whole life that you
need to learn to listen I would say that
you need to learn to be the last to
speak I see it in boardrooms every day
of the week even people who consider
themselves good leaders who may actually
be decent leaders will walk into a room
and say here’s the problem here’s what I
think but I’m interested in your opinion
let’s go around the room it’s too late
the skill to hold your opinions to
yourself until everyone has spoken does
two things one it gives everybody else
the feeling that they have been heard it
gives everyone else – the ability to
feel that they have contributed and two
you get the benefit of hearing what
everybody else has to think before you
render your opinion the skill is really
to keep your opinions to yourself if you
agree with somebody don’t nod yes if you
disagree with somebody don’t nod no
simply sit there take it all in and the
only thing you’re allowed to do is ask
questions so that you can understand
what they mean and why they have the
opinion that they have you must
understand from where they are speaking
why they have the opinion they have not
just what they are saying and at the end
you will get your turn it sounds easy
it’s not practice being the last to
speak
that’s what Nelson Mandela did number
three number five this Monty Python one
two five three four all the other nerds
in the audience there’s one number five
my favorite one of all true story
there was a former Undersecretary of
Defense who was invited to give a speech
at a large conference about a thousand
people and he was standing on the stage
with his cup of coffee and a Styrofoam
cup giving his prepared remarks with his
PowerPoint behind him and he took a sip
of his coffee and he smiled and he
looked down at the coffee and then he
went off-script
and he said you know last year I spoke
at this exact same conference last year
I was still the undersecretary and when
I spoke here last year they flew me here
business class and when I arrived at the
airport there was somebody waiting for
me to take me to my hotel and they took
me to my hotel and they had already
checked me in and they just took me up
to my room and the next morning I came
downstairs and there was someone waiting
in the lobby to greet me and they drove
me to this here same venue they took me
through the back entrance and took me
into the green room and handed me a copy
cup of coffee
in a beautiful ceramic cup he says I’m
no longer the undersecretary I flew here
coach I took a taxi to my hotel and I
checked myself in when I came down the
lobby this morning I took another taxi
to this venue I came in the front door
and found my way backstage and when I
asked someone do you have any coffee he
pointed to the coffee machine in the
corner and I poured myself a cup of
coffee into this here Styrofoam cup
he says the lesson is the ceramic cup
was never meant for me it was meant for
the position I held I deserved a
a foam Cup remember this as you gain
fame as you gain fortune as you gain
position and seniority people will treat
you better they will hold doors open for
you they will get you a cup of tea and
coffee without you even asking they will
call you sir and ma’am and they will
give you stuff none of that stuff is
meant for you that stuff is meant for
the position you hold it is meant for
the level that you have achieved of
leader or success or whatever you want
to call it but you will always deserve a
Styrofoam cup remember that remember
that lesson of humility and gratitude
you can accept all the free stuff you
can accept all the perks absolutely you
can enjoy them but just be grateful for
them and know that they’re not for you I
remember getting off the Acela I took
the Acela from New York to Washington DC
and I got off the train like everybody
else and I was walking down the platform
like everyone else and I walked past
general norty Schwartz who used to be
the chief of staff of the United States
Air Force the head of the Air Force and
here I did you see a guy in a suit
slapping his own suitcase down the
platform just like me and just a couple
months ago he was flying on private jets
and a tan entourage and other people
carried his light luggage but he no
longer held the position and so now he
got to drag his own suitcase and never
did it sort of remind me more that none
of us deserve the perks that we get we
all deserve a Styrofoam cup it was a
pleasure meeting you guys this afternoon
I was blown away by your honesty
and your curiosity and your poise and I
am confident that the future is bright
despite the fact that America looks like
an absolute mess right now I am
confident that the future is bright for
one reason and one reason only because
you will grow up and you will be our
future thank you very very much guys you’re wonderful
missions and all of this stuff and when
people ask me like what example should I
look – like what company should I’m like
here’s an organization with a vision a
cause it was founded with a cause it’s
an entrepreneurial venture it’s America
is an experiment it’s an entrepreneurial
venture where a bunch of people got
together and decided we needed to start
our own country because there were
certain obstacles that were getting in
the way of a vision that we had of a
better kind of country but a kind of
company right and they stated it right
out of the beginning all men are created
equal endowed with these unalienable
rights among amongst which include life
liberty and the pursuit of happiness and
it’s not a it’s not just a competitive
statement like to be the best to be the
most respected that’s not what it was
and I’m amazed how many companies start
their visions or missions with those
that terribly egocentric language it was
an ideal and the amazing thing is is
we’ve been good at it and bad at it in
our history but it’s endured for 240
plus years because we fundamentally
believe that we are at our best when
we’re pursuing that but it is an ideal
we will never actually achieve all
people are equal but we will die trying
and that’s the point and it’s the same
for a company which is true vision
inside a company is something that has
nothing to do with your product it is an
ideal to which you will attempt to build
an advance that ideal through your
company with your product you’ll never
achieve the ideal but you’ll die trying
and this is what gives our work meaning
this is what it gives our lives purpose
right the difference between vision and
a goal is the finish line a goal is 26.2
miles
you can simply count the metrics and
know when you’ve completed your goal a
vision is having a crystal-clear sense
of what the finish line looks like but
no idea of how far away it is and it’s
and the reality is you will spend your
entire life never actually crossing the
finish line but the joy that every
marathon you complete you feel like
you’re getting closer every milestone
that you accomplish makes you feel like
you’re getting closer and closer to the
ideal and this is what gives our life in
our work meaning
so I had the chance to meet with some of
the kids in the program today where are
you scream out there you go I love those
kids and so I thought I would do cuz
they gave me a little bit of time to say
whatever I want is offer you a little
bit of some observations for your future
I have five little rules that you can
follow as you find your spark and bring
your spark to life the first is to go
after the things that you want let me
tell you a story so a friend of mine and
I we went for a run in Central Park the
Roadrunners organization on the weekends
they host races and it’s very common at
the end of the race they’ll have a
sponsor who will give away something
apples or bagels or something and on
this particular day when we got to the
end of the run there were some free
bagels and they had picnic tables set up
and on one side was a group of
volunteers on the table were boxes of
bagels and on the other side was a long
line of runners waiting to get their
free bagel so I said to my friend let’s
let’s get a bagel and he looked at me
and said that lines too long and I said
free bagel and he said I don’t want to
wait in line and I was like free bagel
and he says not that’s it’s too long and
that’s when I realized that there’s two
ways to see the world some people see
the thing that they want and some people
see the thing that prevents them from
getting the thing that they want I could
only see the bagels he could only see
the line and so I walked up to the line
I leaned in between two people put my
hand in the box and pulled out two
bagels and no one get mad at me because
the rule is you can go after whatever
you want
you just cannot deny anyone else to go
after whatever they want
now I had to sacrifice choice I didn’t
get to choose which bagel I got I got
what
ever I pulled out but I didn’t have to
wait in line so the point is is you
don’t have to wait in line you don’t
have to do it the way everybody else has
done it you can do it your way you can
break the rules you just can’t get in
the way of somebody else getting what
they want
that’s rule number one rule number two I
like this one in the 18th century there
was something that spread across Europe
and eventually made its way to America
where pole fever also known as the Black
Death of childbed basically what was
happening is women were giving birth and
they would die within 48 hours after
giving birth this Black Death of
childbirth was the ravage of Europe and
it got worse and worse and worse over
the course of over a century in some
hospitals it was as high as 70% of women
who gave birth who would die as a result
of giving birth but this was the
Renaissance this was the time of
empirical data and science and we had
thrown away things like tradition and
mysticism these were men of science
these were doctors and these doctors and
men of science wanted to study and try
and find the reason for this black death
of childbed and so they got to work
studying and they would study the
corpses of the of the women who had died
and in the morning they would conduct
autopsies and then in the afternoon they
would go and deliver babies and finish
their rounds and it wasn’t until
somewhere in the mid 1800s that dr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes father of Supreme
Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
realized that all of these doctors who
conducting autopsies in the morning
weren’t washing their hands before they
delivered babies in the afternoon and he
pointed it out and said guys you’re the
problem
and they ignored him and called him
crazy for 30 years
until finally somebody realized that if
they simply washed their hands it would
go away and that’s exactly what happened
when they started sterilizing their
instruments and washing their hands the
black death of childbed disappeared my
point is the lesson here is sometimes
you’re the problem
we’ve seen this happen all too recently
with our new men of science and
empirical studies and these men of
finance who are smarter than the rest of
us until the thing collapsed and they
blamed everything else except themselves
and my point is is take accountability
for your actions you can take all the
credit in the world for the things that
you do right as long as you also take
responsibility for the things you do
wrong it must be a balanced equation you
don’t get it one way and not the other
you get to take credit when you also
take accountability that’s lesson 2
lesson 3 take care of each other the
United States Navy SEALs are perhaps the
most elite warriors in the world and one
of the seals was asked who makes it
through the selection process who is
able to become a seal and his answer was
I can’t tell you the kind of person that
becomes a seal I can’t tell you the kind
of person that makes it through buds but
I can tell you the kind of people who
don’t become seals
he says the guys that show up with huge
bulging muscles covered in tattoos who
want to prove to the world how tough
they are none of them make it through
he said the preening leaders who like to
delegate all their responsibilities and
never do anything themselves none of
them make it through he said the star
college athletes who’ve never really
been tested to the core of their being
none of them make it through he says
some of the guys that make it through
and scrawny he said some of the guys
that make it through you will see them
shivering out of fear he says however
all the guys that make it through when
they find themselves physically spent
emotionally spent when they have nothing
left to give physically or emotionally
somehow someway they are able to find
the energy to dig down deep inside
themselves to find the energy to help
the guy next to them they become seals
he said you want to be an elite warrior
it’s not about how tough you are it’s
not about how smart you are it’s not
about how fast you are if you want to be
an elite warrior
you better get really really good at
helping the person to the left of you
and helping the person to the right of
you because that’s how people advance in
the world the world is too dangerous in
the world is too difficult for you to
think that you can do these things alone
if you find your spark I commend you now
who you gonna ask for help and when are
you gonna accept help when it’s offered
learn that skill learn by practicing
helping each other it’ll be the single
most valuable thing you ever learn in
your entire life to accept help when
it’s offered and to ask for it when you
know that you can’t do it the amazing
thing is when you learn to ask for help
you’ll discover that there are people
all around you who’ve always wanted to
help you
they just didn’t think you needed it
because you kept pretending that you had
everything under control and the minute
you say I don’t know what I’m doing I’m
stuck I’m scared I don’t think I can do
this you will find that lots of people
who love you will rush in and take care
of you but that’ll only happen if you
[Applause]
lesson four Nelson Mandela is a
particularly special case study in the
leadership world because he is
universally regarded as a great leader
you can take other personalities and
depending on the nation you go to we
have different opinions about other
personalities but Nelson Mandela across
the world is universally regarded as a
great leader he was actually the son of
a tribal chief and he was asked one day
how did you learn to be a great leader
and he responded that he would go with
his father to tribal meetings and he
remembers two things when his father
would meet with other elders one they
would always sit in a circle and to his
father was always the last to speak you
will be told your whole life that you
need to learn to listen I would say that
you need to learn to be the last to
speak I see it in boardrooms every day
of the week even people who consider
themselves good leaders who may actually
be decent leaders will walk into a room
and say here’s the problem here’s what I
think but I’m interested in your opinion
let’s go around the room it’s too late
the skill to hold your opinions to
yourself until everyone has spoken does
two things one it gives everybody else
the feeling that they have been heard it
gives everyone else – the ability to
feel that they have contributed and two
you get the benefit of hearing what
everybody else has to think before you
render your opinion the skill is really
to keep your opinions to yourself if you
agree with somebody don’t nod yes if you
disagree with somebody don’t nod no
simply sit there take it all in and the
only thing you’re allowed to do is ask
questions so that you can understand
what they mean and why they have the
opinion that they have you must
understand from where they are speaking
why they have the opinion they have not
just what they are saying and at the end
you will get your turn it sounds easy
it’s not practice being the last to
speak
that’s what Nelson Mandela did number
three number five this Monty Python one
two five three four all the other nerds
in the audience there’s one number five
my favorite one of all true story
there was a former Undersecretary of
Defense who was invited to give a speech
at a large conference about a thousand
people and he was standing on the stage
with his cup of coffee and a Styrofoam
cup giving his prepared remarks with his
PowerPoint behind him and he took a sip
of his coffee and he smiled and he
looked down at the coffee and then he
went off-script
and he said you know last year I spoke
at this exact same conference last year
I was still the undersecretary and when
I spoke here last year they flew me here
business class and when I arrived at the
airport there was somebody waiting for
me to take me to my hotel and they took
me to my hotel and they had already
checked me in and they just took me up
to my room and the next morning I came
downstairs and there was someone waiting
in the lobby to greet me and they drove
me to this here same venue they took me
through the back entrance and took me
into the green room and handed me a copy
cup of coffee
in a beautiful ceramic cup he says I’m
no longer the undersecretary I flew here
coach I took a taxi to my hotel and I
checked myself in when I came down the
lobby this morning I took another taxi
to this venue I came in the front door
and found my way backstage and when I
asked someone do you have any coffee he
pointed to the coffee machine in the
corner and I poured myself a cup of
coffee into this here Styrofoam cup
he says the lesson is the ceramic cup
was never meant for me it was meant for
the position I held I deserved a
a foam Cup remember this as you gain
fame as you gain fortune as you gain
position and seniority people will treat
you better they will hold doors open for
you they will get you a cup of tea and
coffee without you even asking they will
call you sir and ma’am and they will
give you stuff none of that stuff is
meant for you that stuff is meant for
the position you hold it is meant for
the level that you have achieved of
leader or success or whatever you want
to call it but you will always deserve a
Styrofoam cup remember that remember
that lesson of humility and gratitude
you can accept all the free stuff you
can accept all the perks absolutely you
can enjoy them but just be grateful for
them and know that they’re not for you I
remember getting off the Acela I took
the Acela from New York to Washington DC
and I got off the train like everybody
else and I was walking down the platform
like everyone else and I walked past
general norty Schwartz who used to be
the chief of staff of the United States
Air Force the head of the Air Force and
here I did you see a guy in a suit
slapping his own suitcase down the
platform just like me and just a couple
months ago he was flying on private jets
and a tan entourage and other people
carried his light luggage but he no
longer held the position and so now he
got to drag his own suitcase and never
did it sort of remind me more that none
of us deserve the perks that we get we
all deserve a Styrofoam cup it was a
pleasure meeting you guys this afternoon
I was blown away by your honesty
and your curiosity and your poise and I
am confident that the future is bright
despite the fact that America looks like
an absolute mess right now I am
confident that the future is bright for
one reason and one reason only because
you will grow up and you will be our
future thank you very very much guys you’re wonderful
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