if you want to do great things you need
to be surrounded by greatness so put
this on in the background while you work
and absorb some great ideas or some
great people we think we ain’t about how
hard you hit how do you succeed if you
don’t try the time is now to be great
gotta love it you got a passion you
really can make what you want you can’t
give away what you don’t have now it
sounds ridiculous okay but it’s more
than what meets the ear as you hear this
you can’t give away what you don’t have
people who are not good at giving away
love can’t give away love because they
don’t have it to give away if I want to
give you a dozen oranges I can’t give
you those dozen oranges unless I go out
and pick up 12 oranges someplace
otherwise all it is is just empty
rhetoric and the same thing is true of
virtually everything in your life you
can’t give away love for others if you
don’t have love in here to give away if
what you have in here is contempt if
what you have in here is anger if to
heaven here is fear then these are the
things you’re going to be giving away in
your life the secret to my longevity i
think is the fact that I’m a
perfectionist you know and I listen to
everybody you know I mean
even R&B I listen to classical music
sometime I listen to heavy metal just
listen to everything you know and really
I listen to the wax more you know
because I want to know what not to do
you know the stuff that’s not selling
you know it’s easy to pick up a hit
record and know when people are buying
and so I thought about you know what I
wanted to say what would I pass on if
you are trying to be an entrepreneur if
you’re trying to be a leader and I think
if you’re trying to be those things what
you’re really trying to do at a
fundamental level is have impact you’re
trying to have impact you’re trying to
have the things you do the things that
you spend your time doing have impact
meaning change something around the
world and for me I think the lesson is
really simple and it’s particularly
important in the era in which we live
and for me the industry in which I work
which is that this is all about scale
it’s all about scale having impact is
all about how you do something that
scales and by scale I mean things that
can have broad impact potentially things
that have decreasing marginal cost
things that can scale beyond the
one-to-one interaction you have as a
person well out to be a good leader you
have to be a very good listener you have
to listen to people you have to also
listen to quite oh
a lot of advice you how to make sure
that is not what you tell people to do
you have to you know crack your brains
and have quite a lot of what you call
advice from your own team you know it
has to be a team work because there’s no
way you can make it as a person without
a good team I think when it when it
comes to understanding tackling fear and
relentless problem solving and it’s a
reality of learning tricks you have to
try it over over and over and over and
keep adjusting every little aspect of
your body to ultimately get it to work
and then when you get it to work it’s
like it’s incredible like oh my god I
can’t believe I learned this and that
progression drives you even further you
know the second thing that the ego
teaches us is that Who I am is not only
what I have but who i am is what I do
what I accomplished and so we spend a
big hunk of our lives believing that the
way that we become quote successful
happy fulfilled self-actualized whatever
it might be is on the basis of what I
accomplished what my resume looks like
how many promotions I get and so we send
our children off to school and we ask
them to learn to identify themselves on
how much they get and what they
accomplished your grades become more
important than what it is that you are
studying what you own what clothes you
wear what labels you have and so on and
we become obsessed with this kind of
absurdity and we this is the false self
at work first of all you have to make
sure that this thing is for you and it’s
who you are and you’re built for this
you know and then you have to give it
the passion that’s necessary you know
like I said I don’t do it for the money
the money is gonna come I do it because
of the love that I have for it you know
I’m saying if I was a plumber or
something like that I still would make
hip hop records that’s how much love I
have for it you know I feel like right
now I’ve been in the game close to 27
years and I’ve actually thought about
this just recently out of the entire 27
my 27-year career there’s only been two
weeks that I’ve been out of the studio
there’s no I’ve never been out of studio
longer than two weeks in my entire
career that’s how much love I have for
this
thing that I do so that’s the thing just
the passion that you have for it and
really really put your all into it and
make sure that your word is the last
word that way you don’t you know you
don’t play the blame game or anything
like that if it comes out hot it’s on
you if it doesn’t come out hot it’s on
you you’re I’m saying that’s all it is
to it I think the most important thing
about growing a business successfully is
thinking ahead about where you’re going
to be so I think about like the three
tips you have for scaling an
organization the first I think the most
important is to think big people think
about how do you manage how do you
motivate an organization and they think
about management you know basically the
science of administering a business or
leadership and my favorite definition of
leadership it’s the art of accomplishing
more than the science of management says
as possible when you have a big vision
when you’re thinking really big
something that can change the world so
my favorite example connecting the world
which was Mark Zuckerberg vision for
facebook that’s the kind of thing that
excites people and motivates them that
gets them to follow you not just because
they work for you and they need to do
what you say well because they believe
in what you’re trying to do and when
you’re trying to really scale an
organization you need to go really
quickly and get people to accomplish
more than they thought was possible and
I think that comes from internal
motivation
which really comes from a vision that’s
big enough now you must be consistent
when you try a business and you start
you might have hiccups here and there
but it does not mean that that business
is not going to work there must be
challenges in fact what I keep saying
that life without challenges is very
very boring so if you have challenges
you just have to know how to walk out or
how to work around these challenges and
you will be successful once you are
consistent what business doesn’t like is
for you to try something and then once
you have one or two problems not going
to change and move into another business
that doesn’t work business something
I’ve always been like X like have an
idea executed to a fault right well it’s
a but what I had to learn over the last
few years is you can’t do it by yourself
right like I really would have said you
know years ago I don’t do it by myself I
got all these great partners you know
but the reality of it is is is I would
have my hands and so much and not you
know delegate properly and put in the
right verticals on on how what you want
to accomplish and go out and accomplish
it I just willed everything into
existence you know and and more than
anything it’s about what do you love to
do the most of what are you best at and
then do that all the time and then put
everybody else in the fill in the rest
you know that’s sort of what I’ve really
been focused on all the exact couple
years because make no mistake even every
person that I want to move forward with
all i care about is your greatest
quality is that you want to get better
tomorrow than you were today there are
many ways to get the things that we want
for ourselves in our lives but basically
it all begins with how we choose to
think as you think so shall you be 7
little words that I think are perhaps
the most important things that we can
learn and master in our lives this old
proverb notion that I become what I
think about all day long and once you
know that what you think about is what
expands
you start getting real careful about
what you think about you don’t allow
your thoughts to be on anything that you
don’t want but you wouldn’t want to have
manifest or show up for you in your life
craziest part about this revolution that
we started is this album straight out of
confidence was only done in six weeks
five days a week studio time you know
man at three hours a day you know so it
was crazy how this happened and it just
let me know how powerful I could be I’m
like him if people are buying this wait
till I really get a chance to get in the
studio on some real equipment with some
real time I think the most common
mistake I see people make and then make
this mistake too but women do do a lot
is there too worried about the upward
trajectory and not worried enough of
that growth so the two corporate jobs
I’ve taken i went from Treasury to
google and i went from google to
Facebook had one thing in common which
is that they were more junior other
people’s words not mine than other jobs
i was offered when i went to Google
Google was like 250 people I was going
to be a business unit general manager
except there were no business unit Susan
were just he’s here she helped recruit
me this was the non job of all time I
mean there was no job there and i was
offered like senior sounding see more
senior roles at more established
companies but i really believed in what
Google is doing an Eric Schmidt gave me
great career advice he said go for
growth growth moves everyone up it was
growing it works and so I went to a
smaller company with a very more junior
less defined job you know when I came
out of google it seems obvious now to
come to Facebook but at the time a lot
of people asked me right you remember
this what are you doing you’re going to
work for a 23 year old you know no one
knows that Facebook’s gonna be the next
you know MySpace or Friendster like and
you’re not CEO you could be CEO
somewhere else in what I saw was
something that mattered Facebook
mattered with authentic identity
and an opportunity for growth and so at
each stage I’ve cared less about my
level I kind of think it’s silly then I
have about the underlying growth and I
do think this is really important for
everyone to know whether the details you
know you need to have the local
information as I fingertips abetted to
allow you to make decisions it would
also take the right you know decisions
what I was doing five years ago if I
tried to do them without the automation
that would have to be it’s just not
going to control and but it was sort of
that that big step for me to have money
to start exploring different
entrepreneurial darts if you will had a
skate shop that lasted about three
months that was kind of where I first
discovered up and I’ll stay out of
retail started a hip-hop label you know
how to have a rap label for a little
while you know that’s when I really
discovered the importance of making sure
you have a partner that’s equally is
motivated and driven as you not lazy and
more than that you know let’s stick in
your lane and I mean like just because
you think it’s cool that you’re a pro
skateboarder and you got a hip-hop label
you don’t know what you’re doing you got
no business in there you know so and
that sort of time period I had kind of
refocused on are just all things skate
have a mind that is open to everything
and attached to nothing one of the
central principles of my life is that no
one knows enough to be a pessimist about
anything and that each and every one of
us when we close our mind to what is
possible for us or what is possible for
Humanity closes off the genius that
resides and lives in each and every one
of us
having an open mind doesn’t necessarily
mean finding fault with all of the
things that you’ve been taught by other
it means opening yourself up to the
potentiality and the possibility that
anything and everything is possible so
having a mind that is open to everything
and attached to nothing really means
finding within ourselves the ability to
get rid of a trait that I find so common
in contemporary in the contemporary
world do you know that most people that
I meet spend their lives looking for
occasions to be offended they actually
are out there hoping that they can find
some reason to be offended and there’s
no shortage of reasons they’re out there
everywhere the way this person dressed
the what the worst person said they turn
on the TV they hear the news are
offended by this someone didn’t someone
use language that they didn’t like
someone doesn’t share the same customs
at you and people all day long in fact
if you keep track tomorrow you will find
probably a hundred reasons that you can
go around being offended but a mind that
is open to everything and attached to
nothing is a mind that says I’m never
looking for anything to be offended by
and that whatever anybody else out there
has to say my response to that is that’s
an interesting point of view I’ve never
considered that before what I think has
to change for people as far as on
longevity is
let’s looking at people that have made
it in the business you know Quincy Jones
people like that that’s that’s my mentor
right there because he’s been he started
at a young age the same as I did and
he’s still doing this thing and having
fun with it you know it ain’t about who
has the Flies car who has the most
jewelry you know it ain’t about that
it’s about saving and preparing yourself
for when your day happening no more you
know because it’s going to happen sooner
or later you know you just you never
know when you know when dr. Dre falls
off if if and when that happens I’m cool
I’ll never have to touch another button
as long as I live straight up I’m cool
you know and that’s what that’s what you
have to think you have to say okay I
normal off some money so let me put
this money over here to golf right let
me save this let me save this take care
of your taxes take care of it you gotta
make sure you’re prepared when this dick
how do you communicate authentically how
do you figure out what to say and what
not to say in a way that’s authentic and
what Fred says and I really believe this
is true is it starts from the
fundamental understanding that there is
no truth there’s my truth is your truth
that everything is subjective and so if
you always start from the position of
this is what I believe I don’t expect
you to believe it I don’t think you have
to believe it i’m not saying it’s true
you can actually always communicate
authentically because if you walk in the
room and this gets worse as you get more
senior here’s the answer you’re not
giving anyone else any room to say
anything and if you walk in the room and
say i believe this for this reason what
do you believe if you share your truth
in that language you give people room to
authenticate to communicate
authentically and that is hugely
important to these relationships at
anything
one of the problem with the some of our
younger generation today we just want to
jump and see themselves up there you
know overnight it doesn’t really happen
what you need to do is to be very very
focused as a person and be dedicated to
whatever that you are doing it is not
really good for you to not wanna try
something then after a month you just
know it doesn’t work you jump into
something else I think you need to be
very very focused in what you are doing
what you believe in what you are doing
is it should not take your either
business or job as something that you
must do okay you must take it as is part
of your hobby if it’s hard to be a hobby
then you do it better there is this
layer of transparency right it’s like
the doctor preneur that I love the most
is like there’s not there’s not a bill
be honest about everything and they’ll
tell you exactly how it is good or bad
and we’ll just put a stake in the ground
on an opinion but not drive it home and
it’s it’s like that’s the stuff i
respect the most when you change the way
you look at things the things you look
at change Albert Einstein once observed
that you have the most fundamental and
major decision that you have to make in
your life is this do I live in a
friendly or a hostile universe which is
it is it a universe that is filled with
hostility and anger and people wanting
to hate each other and people wanting to
kill each other is that what you see
because when you see the world that way
that’s exactly what you will create for
yourself in your life this is from great
scientific mind and the interesting
thing is that this is not just a clever
play on words that when you change the
way you look at things the things you
look at change it’s actually a very
scientific thing and i’m going to show
you that in just a moment I’d like you
to imagine the following scene
you’re in your house you got your car
keys in your hand the lights go out
power failure you can’t see a thing you
stumble around in your living room and
you drop your keys and you look around
for a moment and you realize that you’re
never going to find them in the dark but
you look outside and you notice that the
street lights are on so in your mind a
light bulb goes off hmm I’m not going to
sit around here in the dark and grope
around looking for my keys when there’s
a light on outside I’m going to go out
here under the streetlight I’m going to
look for my keys
why are you laughing this is this makes
a lot of sense so you’re out here and
you’re groping around and you’re looking
for your keys and you’re looking and
looking in your neighbor comes along and
says what happened way well I dropped my
keys oh I’ll help you look for him and
the two of us are now down here looking
for our keys and looking finally he says
to me excuse me but where did you drop
your keys well I dropped him in the
house he said you mean to tell me that
you dropped your keys in the house and
you’re looking for them out here and the
streetlight doesn’t make any sense and I
said well doesn’t make any sense to
grope around in the dark when there’s
light out here now you laugh and you
think how silly that is but isn’t that
exactly what we do when we have a
problem a difficulty of struggle that is
located inside and we’re looking for the
solution outside someplace outside of
ourselves it would be like going to the
doctor and telling him all of your
symptoms and the doctor says hub or
you’ve got a lot of symptoms and he
starts writing out prescriptions you
need a prescription for this symptom you
need a prescription for that symptom and
finally he gets this four or five and
you go to walk out and you say well I’d
like my prescriptions he said no no I’ll
give this one to your mother-in-law and
I’ll give this one to your neighbor and
I’ll give this one to your daughter and
I’ll give this one to your father I mean
you’re the one with the struggles and
with the difficulties and giving
expecting somebody else to change or
something outside of you to get better
in order for you to make your life work
at this level that I’m calling intention
is something you have to really take a
hard look at it’s in here what did you
hear an M&M that made dr. Dre who we
know from nwa dr. Dre we know from
Compton you know saying dr. Dre did we
know from the chronic what made you hear
something in Eminem where you say man is
this Caucasian rapper out of Detroit
well first of all I didn’t know he was
Caucasian one of the wii games and when
i heard it the first time um i just love
the delivery i love his concepts and
what he was talking about cuz it was
just crazy you know the man
um I found out a couple of days later
that he was white cat you know me so and
I’m like wow I gotta meet him I gotta
meet you know this is amazing and
everybody around me at that time we’re
trying to talk was trying to talk me out
of working with him you know me every
single person around was like yes sir
man this is a white boy you get ready to
ruin your career right when we get that
right when we get the label started
because that was at the beginning of
aftermath you know right right right so
um I just had to go with my gut I’m like
he’s that hot people look people are
gonna get into it because it’s that good
I think the second thing is just a
higher bag and big I don’t mean famous I
need ahead of where you are so when
you’re growing an organization really
quickly what happens is that what
normally takes an organization years
happens in a period of just months so
when I was at Google you know my team
went from four to four thousand in about
five years that means that if you look
at those first four people I hired in
order for them to be part of the people
who are you running that organization
they need to do about you know 10 or 15
years worth of growing and you know
getting experience in a much shorter
period of time so if you think you’re
going to grow quickly higher for what
you think you’re going to need / hire
hire people who are more qualified have
more experience or hire people who are
right out of school but can over achieve
in your current roles I don’t think it’s
that number of years in the workforce
that matters
I think it’s hiring the people that
you’re going to need them now because
then happen so quickly you know you
always have to think I hit you know in
business sometimes what’s good is fun of
people tomorrow so you need to you know
look at if you have the means that’s not
only need like diversification you know
sometimes you do quite a lot of
diversification I mean versification and
then you consolidate before you move
forward you cannot just keep its
findings but it costs sometimes what
you’ve always man it’s gonna post a lot
of prices so you need at least once in a
welcome pastor the data and there are
you know over the greatest energy that
you can live in is that sort of
excitement of something coming around
the corner whether it’s a you know a new
job or a new moment or something big
happening like there’s that energy and
I’ve figured out how to live in that a
lot and I think that becomes incredibly
motivating and then when you see the
results of making yourself better how
much better you get and how it affects
the world around you like it just gives
you that much more motivation like haha
man if I just get better and better like
it just everything gets bigger and
stronger and better so it’s like that
motivation and drive comes from that
desire to grow and create where I
ultimately see myself I just haven’t
quite got it I used to say that before I
had children I had eight theories about
how to raise children and now I have
eight children and no theories
but one of the things i know about
children is that no one likes being told
what to do and this isn’t just children
this is all of us one of my favorite
songs it’s a song from when I was back
in high school I’ll give milla and lots
of land and the starry skies above or
you know it don’t fence me in don’t
restrict me don’t put don’t put
boundaries on me don’t tell me what I
can do and what I can’t do don’t tell me
how to be there don’t tell me what to
wear what to think don’t tell me how to
even how to do yoga don’t tell me I
don’t want to be told this is the sole
speaking always the soul is constantly
having a desired to expand and grow and
anything or anyone that comes into your
life that attempts to do that you will
find yourself fighting it reaching back
I don’t ever feel the responsibility to
impress people with with my music I do
feel like I got to get in and do do my
music to the best of my ability you know
and I feel like I’m my worst critic you
know if if I’m not digging it it ain’t
this you know so the critics out there
and basically like kiss my ass straight
up because they know nothing about what
goes into this they’re just people with
a nine-to-five behind a typewriter and
the CD player listening to it and
critiquing it you know you can’t
criticize something that somebody is
working real hard on because that can
like shattered a whole you know it might
be a hit record in them
you know that’s why I like spit i’ll be
sending the source magazine them
critiquing records and you know nobody
can critique my unless you done half of
the stuff that I’ve accomplished you
know I’m saying nobody can critiqued it
you know there’s nothing saying I’m
gonna make a smash every time I go in
the studio that’s what I set out to do
but like I said before you don’t know
what the public is going to dig so all
the critics just need to shut the
up until they do or try to do that
they’re criticizing it I really believe
we lead best when we walk side by side
with our colleagues and to achieve this
you’re gonna have to do the opposite of
what I’m doing right now you’re gonna
have to not just talk but really listen
and you have to go one step further
which is not just listen but find a way
to get people to actually tell you the
truth when you look at you know it is
really not common for somebody to leave
banking i’m going to start something
totally new you know especially in an
area of events management because at the
time that she left the bank which was
ten years ago nobody thought that
something like advanced management will
actually succeed by mean it is good that
is what really what you hold in two
foreigners ship and also a vision you
know she had a vision and she is able to
actualize our vision it’s just like
myself I remember one time I went to
address a retreat of first bank of
nigeria and i was selling fastball for
nigeria this is where the what is going
to be in the next five years I mean
though I’m not really that big at the
chant that I went there to address them
and I’m sure you know they couldn’t
really believe what i was saying then
but i remember at a point the md said
that well you know they are really
shocked at how we
chilly been able to make it and also
actualize our vision so i think was this
sale that she has done I passionately
believe it is just beginning of the
journey because she has a vision and I’m
sure if she continues with this can turn
into another mega business you know
because like what I always say look fun
interpreter there are no boundaries not
only other no boundaries you can
actually excel much more than your own
expectation and that’s really what I
expect of an intern or to be not to just
say okay fine I have a vision and only
achieve that your vision you need to
have a vision and a mission so that you
can actually actualize it and also excel
I mean I had somebody who came to
interview me one time and he told them
that yes no three four five years ago I
never ever expected myself to be on the
Forbes list but right now the vision
that I have and also my own machine is
actually to be on top of the light not
even where I am today and that’s really
how you know a visionary person should
be for the most part I don’t take
meetings before 11 sorry I sort of build
my whole schedule around my morning and
the working outside of it just so it’s
not compromised you know you only the
only way it really becomes compromised
if you begin to schedule into into your
time you know so for me it’s it’s really
important that I really don’t take a
meeting of that student TV doing what
we’re so we’re doing whatever you know
going skating or whatever it is it never
happens before I left that there are no
justified resentments and this is a very
difficult principle for many people to
get but one that I believe very strongly
I was in a group one time of drug
addicts and alcoholics and I was one of
the people that was a sponsor and
leading this group and the sign on the
wall said there are no justified
resentments in this group and what I
said to that group that that night was
no matter what anybody says to you here
no matter what kind of anger comes
directed towards you no matter how much
hate you may encounter showing up in
your life there are no justified
resentments meaning that if you carry
around resentment inside of you about
anything or about anyone and I’m talking
about the person that you lent money to
and hasn’t paid you back I’m talking
about the person in your life that you
feel was abusive in your life I’m
talking about the person who walked out
on you and left you for somebody else
I’m talking about all of the things that
you have justified in your heart and in
your life that you have the right to be
resentful about and I’m suggesting to
you that those resentments will always
end up harming you and creating in you a
sense of despair I’ve often said that
you no one ever dies from a snake bite
the snake bite will never kill you you
cannot be unbidden once you’re bitten
your bit but it’s the venom that
continues to pour through your system
after the bite that will end up
destroying you what’s your process
before we get to hear a track you know
it’s um it’s not the same thing every
time it really depends on who I’m
working with I try to get inside of the
head of the artists on working within
the record has to be down I don’t go
approach the artist and say okay this is
what this is the way I think your record
should be I just tried to make what
they’re bringing better and just add
whatever they’re bringing add my thing
to whatever they’re bringing so I just
try to get into and get in touch with
the artist try to get into their
personality and what they’re trying to
do and try to just take that to you know
two levels unheard of you know ha that’s
that’s just my thing I just is no set
foundation or no set way of doing it
there is no such thing as complete
control nothing no one has complete
control in any situation people that
leading organizations in some ways have
less because not only do they have to
control what they do they have to help
persuade everyone else what they do but
you know if you are able to take
responsibility I’m not late because
there was traffic I’m late because I
didn’t leave early enough to account for
the fact that there was traffic the
project didn’t get finished not because
my friend my partner didn’t do it my
colleague didn’t do his part the fault
the project didn’t get finished because
i didn’t set up a team where my
colleague wanted to do his part when you
take responsibility and you take full
responsibility that is the most
empowering thing and you can do it at
any stage you have to do it if you’re
raising money is an entrepreneur you
have to do it if you are if you’re
trying to persuade people to work with
you you have to do it at all stages hard
work I believe that you know very
focused while very focused company we
don’t really go into
that we don’t understand you know any
business that I don’t understand it well
I don’t do it actual and that’s really
well you know why we’re successful I
have had so many failures at so many
levels and and I think even I only
really started to get it and grow up a
year and a half ago when I finally
brought on a CEO for my company right
where he really began to to help me
learn to continue to grow and then start
put surrounding yourself with with
mentors and really smart people that
have done what you’re trying to do or
what you may want to do so you can learn
from them and that really revolutionized
sort of my entire process because before
I was making millions losing millions
make your millions behind they’re doing
this you know I wrote produce finance
films lose a couple million like like I
was just I was so driven that it didn’t
matter to me I just wanted to get things
done you know in my mind as I think
about this idea of getting what you
really want and being able to attract it
into your life what would what we have
to look at is basically the obstacles
that we have conditioned ourselves and
you notice I say that we have
conditioned ourselves because I have
never believed that we need to be
putting the responsibility on someone
else if your condition it’s because you
have allowed yourself to become that and
if we are conditioned if we’ve
conditioned ourselves to believe certain
kinds of things and one of the things
that we kind of believe and hang on to
and live with is this whole idea that
all of the things that happened to me in
my past our what are keeping me from
doing what I’d like to do today so we
hang on to these things and we fill
ourselves with blames I’m the middle
child I’m the youngest child I’m the
oldest time
I’m an only child any one of those is a
great excuse you know if you’re the
youngest child you can say well you know
I never how could I be making decisions
for myself and be a full it fully
functioning person today when I always
had somebody else telling me what to do
my whole life how could I think for
myself if you’re the oldest child you
can simply say to yourself how could I
be expected to think for myself I always
had to think for somebody else I was
always doing it for somebody else and
that leaves the middle child you know
the classic identity crisis oh poor me
my mother didn’t even know my name she’s
always calling me by this one’s name by
that one today so I don’t know where I
fit in so that take care of everybody
except the only child and of course the
only child well your parents looked at
you and said we won’t be doing that
again you have to live with that I don’t
so everybody with their birth order or
with their mother liked her sister
better or that we had enough but we
didn’t have enough but we had too much
or we lived in the north we lived in the
south I’m too tall and too short I’ve
got too much hair I don’t have enough
hair it’s falling out it’s not falling
out whatever it is we all have these
excuses and I call all of these things
that we hang on to and use to keep
ourselves from reaching these higher
places in our lives the wake I call it
the weight and the wake is comes from a
story that I heard Alan Watts tell one
time it was a very powerful story he
said your life is like a boat and it’s
heading up the river that’s a 40 knots
and as it’s going you are somehow able
to metaphorically stand on the stern the
back of the boat and look down into the
water now there goes your life in this
direction and you’re standing here and
you’re looking down into the water and
you ask yourself these three questions
the first question what is the way what
is it what is this thing that you see
and the answer the wake is the trail
that is left behind that’s what it is
nothing more nothing less it’s the trail
that is left being second question to
ask yourself in this little metaphor
what’s driving the boat what’s making
this thing though in this direction the
answer the present moment energy that’s
being generated by the engine and
nothing more that’s the only thing
that’s making the boat go in this
direction and in this little scene this
means it’s the present moment thoughts
that I have and how i am using them that
is making my life go in this direction
and nothing more because the third
question is the most important and
powerful question and I’ve everything
ever since I heard it I’ve always
thought about this whenever I have a
tendency to look back here and blame
something is it possible for the way to
drive the boat that is hannah trail that
is left behind make a boat go in this
direction and of course the answer to
that is no it can’t it’s just a trail
that is left behind and in that trail
there are an enormous number of things
that every one of us has awake and we
have a whole lot of stuff in it and one
of the problems that we have is that we
have a tendency to look at the wake and
all of the stuff that’s in it to explain
why it is my life isn’t working the way
i would like it to work i think people
are limited because they’re very well
influenced by people that surrounding or
people that’s in the media you know you
see some money criticizing something
you’re not going to do that you know I’m
saying I don’t think like that i’m only
going to do what I like straight up and
a lot of people have tunnel vision like
you may see people talking about how I’m
if they get a lot of money or something
like that they’re gonna stay in the
ghetto want to stay in the projects that
means if you’re staying there you’re
gonna allow your mother and your family
to stay there also and I suppose
straight up you know that the change has
to happen somewhere and somewhere in
your generation you know I’m
for my family I’m saving money and I
want my kids to start on another level I
don’t want to start in the projects no
that means they have to build for their
families if they started at a higher
level you know their families are going
to get better that means your generation
down the line they’re going to have a
foundation you know and I’m going to set
the foundation straight up one of the
things I talk about in my book is the
importance of measuring results not face
time if you as a company measure face
time you will be rewarded with facetime
if you talk about the people who are
working really hard rather than the
people who are getting great results
people will work really hard but not
focus on results in my job at facebook
mark and i try to run the company very
focused on results we had one employee
actually for a while who famously was
one of our absolutely highest performers
but Justin like to be in the office very
much at all and we would publicly
applaud him you know no one’s seen
shimoff in a week but look what’s
happening and we were publicly saying
his results were amazing if he feels
like doing it you know sitting in his
basement go ahead now not every company
can do that different companies have
different constraints but many more
companies can do this to be an
intrapreneur and also to be a visionary
person you have to actually be very very
bold you have to be ready to take
calculated risk not just any risk you
have to take a calculated risk and you
have to think big if you think small you
always have been smelling like somebody
then you try to do business with because
it will stay friendship
marketing people in there you know in
their lane and have them excited what
they’re best at you know you don’t have
you don’t want to have you know some of
yours your particular crew take over the
accounting if they’re bad numbers mean
the same way you don’t want to do design
if they design yourself people that you
enjoy be so this was something that
Porsche Nelson who I knew who passed
away a few years back ten years back now
lift up in Seattle and she had she was
at a seminar and they were asked to
write the autobiography of their life in
five five versus five chapters so and
they gave them only like cards this size
actually they were smaller than this
they were three-by-five cards so right
out chapter one of your life and just go
to where you are today and I remember
doing this very same thing but what she
wrote was so brilliant that I asked her
daughter if we could put it on public
television which I did and the most
recent show and we made a contribution
to Porsha’s work so this is what she
wrote down in the chapter five of her
life chapter one she said I walk down
the street there’s a deep hole in the
sidewalk I fall in I’m lost I’m helpless
it isn’t my fault
and it takes forever to find a way out
chapter two of my life I walk down the
same street there’s a deep hole in the
sidewalk I pretend I don’t see it I fall
in again I can’t believe I’m in the same
place it isn’t my fault it still takes a
long time for me to get out chapter
three of my life I walk down the same
street there’s a deep hole in the
sidewalk I see it there I still fall in
it’s a habit but my eyes are open I know
where I am and it is my own fault and I
get out immediately chapter 4 of my life
I walk down the same street there was a
deep hole in the sidewalk I walk around
it chapter 5 of my life finally I walked
down another Street neck red
got eyes on the prize you know I’m
saying take so many men on this planet I
can’t do well that’s how I feel and
that’s why I’m going to stay at the
level i am you know Sam on top of
everybody not the one of the best
producers and the little period the best
kind of leadership starts by finding
something you really believe in facebook
exists because Mark Zuckerberg believed
that the world would be a better place
if we all use technology to share and
connect he believed in that enough to
drop out of school at 19 and he believed
in it enough to hang on to that vision
and hold on to it even when people tried
to take it away from him over the years
I joined facebook along with so many
others because I to believe in that
vision and now it’s the most important
part of my job to keep myself and
everyone else at Facebook maniacally
focused on what we are trying to do day
in and day out so start start by finding
a company you believe in a product you
love something a cause you really really
care about because not just not only
will you inspire yourself will you be
inspired but you in turn will inspire
others and that’s the most critical part
of great leadership all organizations
have some form of hierarchy people in
organizations if you’re their manager
will do what you tell them to do even at
facebook at least some of the time but
great leaders don’t want compliance they
don’t want people to follow orders great
leaders want real excitement genuine
enthusiasm real commitment great leaders
don’t just win the minds of their team
they win their hearts great leaders
don’t just issue commands to heed the
voices of those around them the way that
we operate as a company you know
especially in don’t go t is like what I
said we have we have a vision that
vision will have a strategy of how we’re
going to achieve the vision which we do
normally over a period of five years you
know I’m
like today we know why were going even
this investment that i announce of 100
billion dollars here I didn’t just sit
down on my own I just said it is part of
our strategic plan to invest in Kenya
you have to focus on always learning you
know it’s even you’re here it’s cliche
but the reality of it is is if you take
action and try and fail you’re gonna
learn a lot by the time you you try it
again and you will build a foundation of
experience that’s going to be ultimately
the rock that allows you to find success
or follow your dreams the next principle
I call don’t die with your music still
in you and who better to quote than
thorough right here in Concord when he
talked about some of us here a different
drummer and we must march to the music
that we here but all of you everybody
watching everybody here in this
beautiful parish all of you have some
music playing and all of you have a
heroic mission there’s no accidents in
this universe we all show up here with a
purpose there’s an intelligence that is
a part of everything and everyone and
all of us are connected to it and too
many of us are afraid to listen to that
music and march to it
you out there I know you have a book you
wanted to ride I know there’s a
composition you wanted to compose I know
there’s a song you want to sing
someplace maybe you want to raise horses
out in Montana well maybe you want to
open up an ice cream shop on Cape Cod
who knows what it may be maybe you just
want to travel and see the world maybe
you want to go into a relationship with
someone but you’ve been afraid to but
your heart says it’s the right thing to
do all of us feel something and in leo
tolstoy famous novel the death of ivan
illich he asks this question that would
be terrifying to me he says as he has
his accountant from Moscow lying on his
deathbed contemplating the horror of
this question what if my whole life has
been wrong I’ve known what my music is
it’s playing right now
as I stand here in front of you with
these cameras and in this place and as I
sit down and write my books and tell the
world what I know are my truth I feel
always completely on purpose and
fulfilled and no time will I ever come
to the end of my life and say what if my
whole life whoever you are whatever that
music is however distant it may sound
however strange however weird others may
interpret it to be don’t get to the end
of your life and know that you’re going
to leave and not have a place yet don’t
die with your musics doing just know
your business and know what you’re
getting into before you get into it
straight up because this is a doggy-dog
world straight up I reckon business
careers are not ladders those days are
long gone with jungle jims don’t just
move up and down don’t just look up look
backwards sideways around corners your
career and your life will have starts
and stops and zigs and DAGs don’t stress
out about the white space the path you
can’t draw because there in lies both
the surprises and the opportunities I
mean to be serious if you want to be the
next thing which is that you have to
have a very big heart you have to take
quite a lot of risk calculated risk
first of all you have to make sure that
you’re honest you must make sure that
you don’t destroy the name you know
because your name is very important that
the most valuable asset that you have
going for the way if you don’t have a
good name even the bank’s doesn’t matter
how big you
then I won’t touch actual so you must
make sure they have a very very good
name and number three you have to make
sure that you see that look nothing is
impossible once you say that yes nothing
is impossible it means that you can
actually achieve that target I don’t
have always thought global but I’ve
always thought big right and I think the
difference is now I have it so clear on
what I want to do for the next 10 years
that I’ve slowed down because I know I’m
building this great machine and it’s
going to take me a couple years to get
it perfectly in order before I finally
turn it on because when I turn it on
then it will it will be bigger than
anything I’ve ever done or ever will do
it will open that we represent my legacy
and I realize that’s cryptic but that’s
how that’s how far out I’m already
prepared for what I’m doing next thank
you so much for watching I’d love to
know what you think if you want to leave
a comment below won’t and do something
great today things to believe and I’ll
see you soon
to be surrounded by greatness so put
this on in the background while you work
and absorb some great ideas or some
great people we think we ain’t about how
hard you hit how do you succeed if you
don’t try the time is now to be great
gotta love it you got a passion you
really can make what you want you can’t
give away what you don’t have now it
sounds ridiculous okay but it’s more
than what meets the ear as you hear this
you can’t give away what you don’t have
people who are not good at giving away
love can’t give away love because they
don’t have it to give away if I want to
give you a dozen oranges I can’t give
you those dozen oranges unless I go out
and pick up 12 oranges someplace
otherwise all it is is just empty
rhetoric and the same thing is true of
virtually everything in your life you
can’t give away love for others if you
don’t have love in here to give away if
what you have in here is contempt if
what you have in here is anger if to
heaven here is fear then these are the
things you’re going to be giving away in
your life the secret to my longevity i
think is the fact that I’m a
perfectionist you know and I listen to
everybody you know I mean
even R&B I listen to classical music
sometime I listen to heavy metal just
listen to everything you know and really
I listen to the wax more you know
because I want to know what not to do
you know the stuff that’s not selling
you know it’s easy to pick up a hit
record and know when people are buying
and so I thought about you know what I
wanted to say what would I pass on if
you are trying to be an entrepreneur if
you’re trying to be a leader and I think
if you’re trying to be those things what
you’re really trying to do at a
fundamental level is have impact you’re
trying to have impact you’re trying to
have the things you do the things that
you spend your time doing have impact
meaning change something around the
world and for me I think the lesson is
really simple and it’s particularly
important in the era in which we live
and for me the industry in which I work
which is that this is all about scale
it’s all about scale having impact is
all about how you do something that
scales and by scale I mean things that
can have broad impact potentially things
that have decreasing marginal cost
things that can scale beyond the
one-to-one interaction you have as a
person well out to be a good leader you
have to be a very good listener you have
to listen to people you have to also
listen to quite oh
a lot of advice you how to make sure
that is not what you tell people to do
you have to you know crack your brains
and have quite a lot of what you call
advice from your own team you know it
has to be a team work because there’s no
way you can make it as a person without
a good team I think when it when it
comes to understanding tackling fear and
relentless problem solving and it’s a
reality of learning tricks you have to
try it over over and over and over and
keep adjusting every little aspect of
your body to ultimately get it to work
and then when you get it to work it’s
like it’s incredible like oh my god I
can’t believe I learned this and that
progression drives you even further you
know the second thing that the ego
teaches us is that Who I am is not only
what I have but who i am is what I do
what I accomplished and so we spend a
big hunk of our lives believing that the
way that we become quote successful
happy fulfilled self-actualized whatever
it might be is on the basis of what I
accomplished what my resume looks like
how many promotions I get and so we send
our children off to school and we ask
them to learn to identify themselves on
how much they get and what they
accomplished your grades become more
important than what it is that you are
studying what you own what clothes you
wear what labels you have and so on and
we become obsessed with this kind of
absurdity and we this is the false self
at work first of all you have to make
sure that this thing is for you and it’s
who you are and you’re built for this
you know and then you have to give it
the passion that’s necessary you know
like I said I don’t do it for the money
the money is gonna come I do it because
of the love that I have for it you know
I’m saying if I was a plumber or
something like that I still would make
hip hop records that’s how much love I
have for it you know I feel like right
now I’ve been in the game close to 27
years and I’ve actually thought about
this just recently out of the entire 27
my 27-year career there’s only been two
weeks that I’ve been out of the studio
there’s no I’ve never been out of studio
longer than two weeks in my entire
career that’s how much love I have for
this
thing that I do so that’s the thing just
the passion that you have for it and
really really put your all into it and
make sure that your word is the last
word that way you don’t you know you
don’t play the blame game or anything
like that if it comes out hot it’s on
you if it doesn’t come out hot it’s on
you you’re I’m saying that’s all it is
to it I think the most important thing
about growing a business successfully is
thinking ahead about where you’re going
to be so I think about like the three
tips you have for scaling an
organization the first I think the most
important is to think big people think
about how do you manage how do you
motivate an organization and they think
about management you know basically the
science of administering a business or
leadership and my favorite definition of
leadership it’s the art of accomplishing
more than the science of management says
as possible when you have a big vision
when you’re thinking really big
something that can change the world so
my favorite example connecting the world
which was Mark Zuckerberg vision for
facebook that’s the kind of thing that
excites people and motivates them that
gets them to follow you not just because
they work for you and they need to do
what you say well because they believe
in what you’re trying to do and when
you’re trying to really scale an
organization you need to go really
quickly and get people to accomplish
more than they thought was possible and
I think that comes from internal
motivation
which really comes from a vision that’s
big enough now you must be consistent
when you try a business and you start
you might have hiccups here and there
but it does not mean that that business
is not going to work there must be
challenges in fact what I keep saying
that life without challenges is very
very boring so if you have challenges
you just have to know how to walk out or
how to work around these challenges and
you will be successful once you are
consistent what business doesn’t like is
for you to try something and then once
you have one or two problems not going
to change and move into another business
that doesn’t work business something
I’ve always been like X like have an
idea executed to a fault right well it’s
a but what I had to learn over the last
few years is you can’t do it by yourself
right like I really would have said you
know years ago I don’t do it by myself I
got all these great partners you know
but the reality of it is is is I would
have my hands and so much and not you
know delegate properly and put in the
right verticals on on how what you want
to accomplish and go out and accomplish
it I just willed everything into
existence you know and and more than
anything it’s about what do you love to
do the most of what are you best at and
then do that all the time and then put
everybody else in the fill in the rest
you know that’s sort of what I’ve really
been focused on all the exact couple
years because make no mistake even every
person that I want to move forward with
all i care about is your greatest
quality is that you want to get better
tomorrow than you were today there are
many ways to get the things that we want
for ourselves in our lives but basically
it all begins with how we choose to
think as you think so shall you be 7
little words that I think are perhaps
the most important things that we can
learn and master in our lives this old
proverb notion that I become what I
think about all day long and once you
know that what you think about is what
expands
you start getting real careful about
what you think about you don’t allow
your thoughts to be on anything that you
don’t want but you wouldn’t want to have
manifest or show up for you in your life
craziest part about this revolution that
we started is this album straight out of
confidence was only done in six weeks
five days a week studio time you know
man at three hours a day you know so it
was crazy how this happened and it just
let me know how powerful I could be I’m
like him if people are buying this wait
till I really get a chance to get in the
studio on some real equipment with some
real time I think the most common
mistake I see people make and then make
this mistake too but women do do a lot
is there too worried about the upward
trajectory and not worried enough of
that growth so the two corporate jobs
I’ve taken i went from Treasury to
google and i went from google to
Facebook had one thing in common which
is that they were more junior other
people’s words not mine than other jobs
i was offered when i went to Google
Google was like 250 people I was going
to be a business unit general manager
except there were no business unit Susan
were just he’s here she helped recruit
me this was the non job of all time I
mean there was no job there and i was
offered like senior sounding see more
senior roles at more established
companies but i really believed in what
Google is doing an Eric Schmidt gave me
great career advice he said go for
growth growth moves everyone up it was
growing it works and so I went to a
smaller company with a very more junior
less defined job you know when I came
out of google it seems obvious now to
come to Facebook but at the time a lot
of people asked me right you remember
this what are you doing you’re going to
work for a 23 year old you know no one
knows that Facebook’s gonna be the next
you know MySpace or Friendster like and
you’re not CEO you could be CEO
somewhere else in what I saw was
something that mattered Facebook
mattered with authentic identity
and an opportunity for growth and so at
each stage I’ve cared less about my
level I kind of think it’s silly then I
have about the underlying growth and I
do think this is really important for
everyone to know whether the details you
know you need to have the local
information as I fingertips abetted to
allow you to make decisions it would
also take the right you know decisions
what I was doing five years ago if I
tried to do them without the automation
that would have to be it’s just not
going to control and but it was sort of
that that big step for me to have money
to start exploring different
entrepreneurial darts if you will had a
skate shop that lasted about three
months that was kind of where I first
discovered up and I’ll stay out of
retail started a hip-hop label you know
how to have a rap label for a little
while you know that’s when I really
discovered the importance of making sure
you have a partner that’s equally is
motivated and driven as you not lazy and
more than that you know let’s stick in
your lane and I mean like just because
you think it’s cool that you’re a pro
skateboarder and you got a hip-hop label
you don’t know what you’re doing you got
no business in there you know so and
that sort of time period I had kind of
refocused on are just all things skate
have a mind that is open to everything
and attached to nothing one of the
central principles of my life is that no
one knows enough to be a pessimist about
anything and that each and every one of
us when we close our mind to what is
possible for us or what is possible for
Humanity closes off the genius that
resides and lives in each and every one
of us
having an open mind doesn’t necessarily
mean finding fault with all of the
things that you’ve been taught by other
it means opening yourself up to the
potentiality and the possibility that
anything and everything is possible so
having a mind that is open to everything
and attached to nothing really means
finding within ourselves the ability to
get rid of a trait that I find so common
in contemporary in the contemporary
world do you know that most people that
I meet spend their lives looking for
occasions to be offended they actually
are out there hoping that they can find
some reason to be offended and there’s
no shortage of reasons they’re out there
everywhere the way this person dressed
the what the worst person said they turn
on the TV they hear the news are
offended by this someone didn’t someone
use language that they didn’t like
someone doesn’t share the same customs
at you and people all day long in fact
if you keep track tomorrow you will find
probably a hundred reasons that you can
go around being offended but a mind that
is open to everything and attached to
nothing is a mind that says I’m never
looking for anything to be offended by
and that whatever anybody else out there
has to say my response to that is that’s
an interesting point of view I’ve never
considered that before what I think has
to change for people as far as on
longevity is
let’s looking at people that have made
it in the business you know Quincy Jones
people like that that’s that’s my mentor
right there because he’s been he started
at a young age the same as I did and
he’s still doing this thing and having
fun with it you know it ain’t about who
has the Flies car who has the most
jewelry you know it ain’t about that
it’s about saving and preparing yourself
for when your day happening no more you
know because it’s going to happen sooner
or later you know you just you never
know when you know when dr. Dre falls
off if if and when that happens I’m cool
I’ll never have to touch another button
as long as I live straight up I’m cool
you know and that’s what that’s what you
have to think you have to say okay I
normal off some money so let me put
this money over here to golf right let
me save this let me save this take care
of your taxes take care of it you gotta
make sure you’re prepared when this dick
how do you communicate authentically how
do you figure out what to say and what
not to say in a way that’s authentic and
what Fred says and I really believe this
is true is it starts from the
fundamental understanding that there is
no truth there’s my truth is your truth
that everything is subjective and so if
you always start from the position of
this is what I believe I don’t expect
you to believe it I don’t think you have
to believe it i’m not saying it’s true
you can actually always communicate
authentically because if you walk in the
room and this gets worse as you get more
senior here’s the answer you’re not
giving anyone else any room to say
anything and if you walk in the room and
say i believe this for this reason what
do you believe if you share your truth
in that language you give people room to
authenticate to communicate
authentically and that is hugely
important to these relationships at
anything
one of the problem with the some of our
younger generation today we just want to
jump and see themselves up there you
know overnight it doesn’t really happen
what you need to do is to be very very
focused as a person and be dedicated to
whatever that you are doing it is not
really good for you to not wanna try
something then after a month you just
know it doesn’t work you jump into
something else I think you need to be
very very focused in what you are doing
what you believe in what you are doing
is it should not take your either
business or job as something that you
must do okay you must take it as is part
of your hobby if it’s hard to be a hobby
then you do it better there is this
layer of transparency right it’s like
the doctor preneur that I love the most
is like there’s not there’s not a bill
be honest about everything and they’ll
tell you exactly how it is good or bad
and we’ll just put a stake in the ground
on an opinion but not drive it home and
it’s it’s like that’s the stuff i
respect the most when you change the way
you look at things the things you look
at change Albert Einstein once observed
that you have the most fundamental and
major decision that you have to make in
your life is this do I live in a
friendly or a hostile universe which is
it is it a universe that is filled with
hostility and anger and people wanting
to hate each other and people wanting to
kill each other is that what you see
because when you see the world that way
that’s exactly what you will create for
yourself in your life this is from great
scientific mind and the interesting
thing is that this is not just a clever
play on words that when you change the
way you look at things the things you
look at change it’s actually a very
scientific thing and i’m going to show
you that in just a moment I’d like you
to imagine the following scene
you’re in your house you got your car
keys in your hand the lights go out
power failure you can’t see a thing you
stumble around in your living room and
you drop your keys and you look around
for a moment and you realize that you’re
never going to find them in the dark but
you look outside and you notice that the
street lights are on so in your mind a
light bulb goes off hmm I’m not going to
sit around here in the dark and grope
around looking for my keys when there’s
a light on outside I’m going to go out
here under the streetlight I’m going to
look for my keys
why are you laughing this is this makes
a lot of sense so you’re out here and
you’re groping around and you’re looking
for your keys and you’re looking and
looking in your neighbor comes along and
says what happened way well I dropped my
keys oh I’ll help you look for him and
the two of us are now down here looking
for our keys and looking finally he says
to me excuse me but where did you drop
your keys well I dropped him in the
house he said you mean to tell me that
you dropped your keys in the house and
you’re looking for them out here and the
streetlight doesn’t make any sense and I
said well doesn’t make any sense to
grope around in the dark when there’s
light out here now you laugh and you
think how silly that is but isn’t that
exactly what we do when we have a
problem a difficulty of struggle that is
located inside and we’re looking for the
solution outside someplace outside of
ourselves it would be like going to the
doctor and telling him all of your
symptoms and the doctor says hub or
you’ve got a lot of symptoms and he
starts writing out prescriptions you
need a prescription for this symptom you
need a prescription for that symptom and
finally he gets this four or five and
you go to walk out and you say well I’d
like my prescriptions he said no no I’ll
give this one to your mother-in-law and
I’ll give this one to your neighbor and
I’ll give this one to your daughter and
I’ll give this one to your father I mean
you’re the one with the struggles and
with the difficulties and giving
expecting somebody else to change or
something outside of you to get better
in order for you to make your life work
at this level that I’m calling intention
is something you have to really take a
hard look at it’s in here what did you
hear an M&M that made dr. Dre who we
know from nwa dr. Dre we know from
Compton you know saying dr. Dre did we
know from the chronic what made you hear
something in Eminem where you say man is
this Caucasian rapper out of Detroit
well first of all I didn’t know he was
Caucasian one of the wii games and when
i heard it the first time um i just love
the delivery i love his concepts and
what he was talking about cuz it was
just crazy you know the man
um I found out a couple of days later
that he was white cat you know me so and
I’m like wow I gotta meet him I gotta
meet you know this is amazing and
everybody around me at that time we’re
trying to talk was trying to talk me out
of working with him you know me every
single person around was like yes sir
man this is a white boy you get ready to
ruin your career right when we get that
right when we get the label started
because that was at the beginning of
aftermath you know right right right so
um I just had to go with my gut I’m like
he’s that hot people look people are
gonna get into it because it’s that good
I think the second thing is just a
higher bag and big I don’t mean famous I
need ahead of where you are so when
you’re growing an organization really
quickly what happens is that what
normally takes an organization years
happens in a period of just months so
when I was at Google you know my team
went from four to four thousand in about
five years that means that if you look
at those first four people I hired in
order for them to be part of the people
who are you running that organization
they need to do about you know 10 or 15
years worth of growing and you know
getting experience in a much shorter
period of time so if you think you’re
going to grow quickly higher for what
you think you’re going to need / hire
hire people who are more qualified have
more experience or hire people who are
right out of school but can over achieve
in your current roles I don’t think it’s
that number of years in the workforce
that matters
I think it’s hiring the people that
you’re going to need them now because
then happen so quickly you know you
always have to think I hit you know in
business sometimes what’s good is fun of
people tomorrow so you need to you know
look at if you have the means that’s not
only need like diversification you know
sometimes you do quite a lot of
diversification I mean versification and
then you consolidate before you move
forward you cannot just keep its
findings but it costs sometimes what
you’ve always man it’s gonna post a lot
of prices so you need at least once in a
welcome pastor the data and there are
you know over the greatest energy that
you can live in is that sort of
excitement of something coming around
the corner whether it’s a you know a new
job or a new moment or something big
happening like there’s that energy and
I’ve figured out how to live in that a
lot and I think that becomes incredibly
motivating and then when you see the
results of making yourself better how
much better you get and how it affects
the world around you like it just gives
you that much more motivation like haha
man if I just get better and better like
it just everything gets bigger and
stronger and better so it’s like that
motivation and drive comes from that
desire to grow and create where I
ultimately see myself I just haven’t
quite got it I used to say that before I
had children I had eight theories about
how to raise children and now I have
eight children and no theories
but one of the things i know about
children is that no one likes being told
what to do and this isn’t just children
this is all of us one of my favorite
songs it’s a song from when I was back
in high school I’ll give milla and lots
of land and the starry skies above or
you know it don’t fence me in don’t
restrict me don’t put don’t put
boundaries on me don’t tell me what I
can do and what I can’t do don’t tell me
how to be there don’t tell me what to
wear what to think don’t tell me how to
even how to do yoga don’t tell me I
don’t want to be told this is the sole
speaking always the soul is constantly
having a desired to expand and grow and
anything or anyone that comes into your
life that attempts to do that you will
find yourself fighting it reaching back
I don’t ever feel the responsibility to
impress people with with my music I do
feel like I got to get in and do do my
music to the best of my ability you know
and I feel like I’m my worst critic you
know if if I’m not digging it it ain’t
this you know so the critics out there
and basically like kiss my ass straight
up because they know nothing about what
goes into this they’re just people with
a nine-to-five behind a typewriter and
the CD player listening to it and
critiquing it you know you can’t
criticize something that somebody is
working real hard on because that can
like shattered a whole you know it might
be a hit record in them
you know that’s why I like spit i’ll be
sending the source magazine them
critiquing records and you know nobody
can critique my unless you done half of
the stuff that I’ve accomplished you
know I’m saying nobody can critiqued it
you know there’s nothing saying I’m
gonna make a smash every time I go in
the studio that’s what I set out to do
but like I said before you don’t know
what the public is going to dig so all
the critics just need to shut the
up until they do or try to do that
they’re criticizing it I really believe
we lead best when we walk side by side
with our colleagues and to achieve this
you’re gonna have to do the opposite of
what I’m doing right now you’re gonna
have to not just talk but really listen
and you have to go one step further
which is not just listen but find a way
to get people to actually tell you the
truth when you look at you know it is
really not common for somebody to leave
banking i’m going to start something
totally new you know especially in an
area of events management because at the
time that she left the bank which was
ten years ago nobody thought that
something like advanced management will
actually succeed by mean it is good that
is what really what you hold in two
foreigners ship and also a vision you
know she had a vision and she is able to
actualize our vision it’s just like
myself I remember one time I went to
address a retreat of first bank of
nigeria and i was selling fastball for
nigeria this is where the what is going
to be in the next five years I mean
though I’m not really that big at the
chant that I went there to address them
and I’m sure you know they couldn’t
really believe what i was saying then
but i remember at a point the md said
that well you know they are really
shocked at how we
chilly been able to make it and also
actualize our vision so i think was this
sale that she has done I passionately
believe it is just beginning of the
journey because she has a vision and I’m
sure if she continues with this can turn
into another mega business you know
because like what I always say look fun
interpreter there are no boundaries not
only other no boundaries you can
actually excel much more than your own
expectation and that’s really what I
expect of an intern or to be not to just
say okay fine I have a vision and only
achieve that your vision you need to
have a vision and a mission so that you
can actually actualize it and also excel
I mean I had somebody who came to
interview me one time and he told them
that yes no three four five years ago I
never ever expected myself to be on the
Forbes list but right now the vision
that I have and also my own machine is
actually to be on top of the light not
even where I am today and that’s really
how you know a visionary person should
be for the most part I don’t take
meetings before 11 sorry I sort of build
my whole schedule around my morning and
the working outside of it just so it’s
not compromised you know you only the
only way it really becomes compromised
if you begin to schedule into into your
time you know so for me it’s it’s really
important that I really don’t take a
meeting of that student TV doing what
we’re so we’re doing whatever you know
going skating or whatever it is it never
happens before I left that there are no
justified resentments and this is a very
difficult principle for many people to
get but one that I believe very strongly
I was in a group one time of drug
addicts and alcoholics and I was one of
the people that was a sponsor and
leading this group and the sign on the
wall said there are no justified
resentments in this group and what I
said to that group that that night was
no matter what anybody says to you here
no matter what kind of anger comes
directed towards you no matter how much
hate you may encounter showing up in
your life there are no justified
resentments meaning that if you carry
around resentment inside of you about
anything or about anyone and I’m talking
about the person that you lent money to
and hasn’t paid you back I’m talking
about the person in your life that you
feel was abusive in your life I’m
talking about the person who walked out
on you and left you for somebody else
I’m talking about all of the things that
you have justified in your heart and in
your life that you have the right to be
resentful about and I’m suggesting to
you that those resentments will always
end up harming you and creating in you a
sense of despair I’ve often said that
you no one ever dies from a snake bite
the snake bite will never kill you you
cannot be unbidden once you’re bitten
your bit but it’s the venom that
continues to pour through your system
after the bite that will end up
destroying you what’s your process
before we get to hear a track you know
it’s um it’s not the same thing every
time it really depends on who I’m
working with I try to get inside of the
head of the artists on working within
the record has to be down I don’t go
approach the artist and say okay this is
what this is the way I think your record
should be I just tried to make what
they’re bringing better and just add
whatever they’re bringing add my thing
to whatever they’re bringing so I just
try to get into and get in touch with
the artist try to get into their
personality and what they’re trying to
do and try to just take that to you know
two levels unheard of you know ha that’s
that’s just my thing I just is no set
foundation or no set way of doing it
there is no such thing as complete
control nothing no one has complete
control in any situation people that
leading organizations in some ways have
less because not only do they have to
control what they do they have to help
persuade everyone else what they do but
you know if you are able to take
responsibility I’m not late because
there was traffic I’m late because I
didn’t leave early enough to account for
the fact that there was traffic the
project didn’t get finished not because
my friend my partner didn’t do it my
colleague didn’t do his part the fault
the project didn’t get finished because
i didn’t set up a team where my
colleague wanted to do his part when you
take responsibility and you take full
responsibility that is the most
empowering thing and you can do it at
any stage you have to do it if you’re
raising money is an entrepreneur you
have to do it if you are if you’re
trying to persuade people to work with
you you have to do it at all stages hard
work I believe that you know very
focused while very focused company we
don’t really go into
that we don’t understand you know any
business that I don’t understand it well
I don’t do it actual and that’s really
well you know why we’re successful I
have had so many failures at so many
levels and and I think even I only
really started to get it and grow up a
year and a half ago when I finally
brought on a CEO for my company right
where he really began to to help me
learn to continue to grow and then start
put surrounding yourself with with
mentors and really smart people that
have done what you’re trying to do or
what you may want to do so you can learn
from them and that really revolutionized
sort of my entire process because before
I was making millions losing millions
make your millions behind they’re doing
this you know I wrote produce finance
films lose a couple million like like I
was just I was so driven that it didn’t
matter to me I just wanted to get things
done you know in my mind as I think
about this idea of getting what you
really want and being able to attract it
into your life what would what we have
to look at is basically the obstacles
that we have conditioned ourselves and
you notice I say that we have
conditioned ourselves because I have
never believed that we need to be
putting the responsibility on someone
else if your condition it’s because you
have allowed yourself to become that and
if we are conditioned if we’ve
conditioned ourselves to believe certain
kinds of things and one of the things
that we kind of believe and hang on to
and live with is this whole idea that
all of the things that happened to me in
my past our what are keeping me from
doing what I’d like to do today so we
hang on to these things and we fill
ourselves with blames I’m the middle
child I’m the youngest child I’m the
oldest time
I’m an only child any one of those is a
great excuse you know if you’re the
youngest child you can say well you know
I never how could I be making decisions
for myself and be a full it fully
functioning person today when I always
had somebody else telling me what to do
my whole life how could I think for
myself if you’re the oldest child you
can simply say to yourself how could I
be expected to think for myself I always
had to think for somebody else I was
always doing it for somebody else and
that leaves the middle child you know
the classic identity crisis oh poor me
my mother didn’t even know my name she’s
always calling me by this one’s name by
that one today so I don’t know where I
fit in so that take care of everybody
except the only child and of course the
only child well your parents looked at
you and said we won’t be doing that
again you have to live with that I don’t
so everybody with their birth order or
with their mother liked her sister
better or that we had enough but we
didn’t have enough but we had too much
or we lived in the north we lived in the
south I’m too tall and too short I’ve
got too much hair I don’t have enough
hair it’s falling out it’s not falling
out whatever it is we all have these
excuses and I call all of these things
that we hang on to and use to keep
ourselves from reaching these higher
places in our lives the wake I call it
the weight and the wake is comes from a
story that I heard Alan Watts tell one
time it was a very powerful story he
said your life is like a boat and it’s
heading up the river that’s a 40 knots
and as it’s going you are somehow able
to metaphorically stand on the stern the
back of the boat and look down into the
water now there goes your life in this
direction and you’re standing here and
you’re looking down into the water and
you ask yourself these three questions
the first question what is the way what
is it what is this thing that you see
and the answer the wake is the trail
that is left behind that’s what it is
nothing more nothing less it’s the trail
that is left being second question to
ask yourself in this little metaphor
what’s driving the boat what’s making
this thing though in this direction the
answer the present moment energy that’s
being generated by the engine and
nothing more that’s the only thing
that’s making the boat go in this
direction and in this little scene this
means it’s the present moment thoughts
that I have and how i am using them that
is making my life go in this direction
and nothing more because the third
question is the most important and
powerful question and I’ve everything
ever since I heard it I’ve always
thought about this whenever I have a
tendency to look back here and blame
something is it possible for the way to
drive the boat that is hannah trail that
is left behind make a boat go in this
direction and of course the answer to
that is no it can’t it’s just a trail
that is left behind and in that trail
there are an enormous number of things
that every one of us has awake and we
have a whole lot of stuff in it and one
of the problems that we have is that we
have a tendency to look at the wake and
all of the stuff that’s in it to explain
why it is my life isn’t working the way
i would like it to work i think people
are limited because they’re very well
influenced by people that surrounding or
people that’s in the media you know you
see some money criticizing something
you’re not going to do that you know I’m
saying I don’t think like that i’m only
going to do what I like straight up and
a lot of people have tunnel vision like
you may see people talking about how I’m
if they get a lot of money or something
like that they’re gonna stay in the
ghetto want to stay in the projects that
means if you’re staying there you’re
gonna allow your mother and your family
to stay there also and I suppose
straight up you know that the change has
to happen somewhere and somewhere in
your generation you know I’m
for my family I’m saving money and I
want my kids to start on another level I
don’t want to start in the projects no
that means they have to build for their
families if they started at a higher
level you know their families are going
to get better that means your generation
down the line they’re going to have a
foundation you know and I’m going to set
the foundation straight up one of the
things I talk about in my book is the
importance of measuring results not face
time if you as a company measure face
time you will be rewarded with facetime
if you talk about the people who are
working really hard rather than the
people who are getting great results
people will work really hard but not
focus on results in my job at facebook
mark and i try to run the company very
focused on results we had one employee
actually for a while who famously was
one of our absolutely highest performers
but Justin like to be in the office very
much at all and we would publicly
applaud him you know no one’s seen
shimoff in a week but look what’s
happening and we were publicly saying
his results were amazing if he feels
like doing it you know sitting in his
basement go ahead now not every company
can do that different companies have
different constraints but many more
companies can do this to be an
intrapreneur and also to be a visionary
person you have to actually be very very
bold you have to be ready to take
calculated risk not just any risk you
have to take a calculated risk and you
have to think big if you think small you
always have been smelling like somebody
then you try to do business with because
it will stay friendship
marketing people in there you know in
their lane and have them excited what
they’re best at you know you don’t have
you don’t want to have you know some of
yours your particular crew take over the
accounting if they’re bad numbers mean
the same way you don’t want to do design
if they design yourself people that you
enjoy be so this was something that
Porsche Nelson who I knew who passed
away a few years back ten years back now
lift up in Seattle and she had she was
at a seminar and they were asked to
write the autobiography of their life in
five five versus five chapters so and
they gave them only like cards this size
actually they were smaller than this
they were three-by-five cards so right
out chapter one of your life and just go
to where you are today and I remember
doing this very same thing but what she
wrote was so brilliant that I asked her
daughter if we could put it on public
television which I did and the most
recent show and we made a contribution
to Porsha’s work so this is what she
wrote down in the chapter five of her
life chapter one she said I walk down
the street there’s a deep hole in the
sidewalk I fall in I’m lost I’m helpless
it isn’t my fault
and it takes forever to find a way out
chapter two of my life I walk down the
same street there’s a deep hole in the
sidewalk I pretend I don’t see it I fall
in again I can’t believe I’m in the same
place it isn’t my fault it still takes a
long time for me to get out chapter
three of my life I walk down the same
street there’s a deep hole in the
sidewalk I see it there I still fall in
it’s a habit but my eyes are open I know
where I am and it is my own fault and I
get out immediately chapter 4 of my life
I walk down the same street there was a
deep hole in the sidewalk I walk around
it chapter 5 of my life finally I walked
down another Street neck red
got eyes on the prize you know I’m
saying take so many men on this planet I
can’t do well that’s how I feel and
that’s why I’m going to stay at the
level i am you know Sam on top of
everybody not the one of the best
producers and the little period the best
kind of leadership starts by finding
something you really believe in facebook
exists because Mark Zuckerberg believed
that the world would be a better place
if we all use technology to share and
connect he believed in that enough to
drop out of school at 19 and he believed
in it enough to hang on to that vision
and hold on to it even when people tried
to take it away from him over the years
I joined facebook along with so many
others because I to believe in that
vision and now it’s the most important
part of my job to keep myself and
everyone else at Facebook maniacally
focused on what we are trying to do day
in and day out so start start by finding
a company you believe in a product you
love something a cause you really really
care about because not just not only
will you inspire yourself will you be
inspired but you in turn will inspire
others and that’s the most critical part
of great leadership all organizations
have some form of hierarchy people in
organizations if you’re their manager
will do what you tell them to do even at
facebook at least some of the time but
great leaders don’t want compliance they
don’t want people to follow orders great
leaders want real excitement genuine
enthusiasm real commitment great leaders
don’t just win the minds of their team
they win their hearts great leaders
don’t just issue commands to heed the
voices of those around them the way that
we operate as a company you know
especially in don’t go t is like what I
said we have we have a vision that
vision will have a strategy of how we’re
going to achieve the vision which we do
normally over a period of five years you
know I’m
like today we know why were going even
this investment that i announce of 100
billion dollars here I didn’t just sit
down on my own I just said it is part of
our strategic plan to invest in Kenya
you have to focus on always learning you
know it’s even you’re here it’s cliche
but the reality of it is is if you take
action and try and fail you’re gonna
learn a lot by the time you you try it
again and you will build a foundation of
experience that’s going to be ultimately
the rock that allows you to find success
or follow your dreams the next principle
I call don’t die with your music still
in you and who better to quote than
thorough right here in Concord when he
talked about some of us here a different
drummer and we must march to the music
that we here but all of you everybody
watching everybody here in this
beautiful parish all of you have some
music playing and all of you have a
heroic mission there’s no accidents in
this universe we all show up here with a
purpose there’s an intelligence that is
a part of everything and everyone and
all of us are connected to it and too
many of us are afraid to listen to that
music and march to it
you out there I know you have a book you
wanted to ride I know there’s a
composition you wanted to compose I know
there’s a song you want to sing
someplace maybe you want to raise horses
out in Montana well maybe you want to
open up an ice cream shop on Cape Cod
who knows what it may be maybe you just
want to travel and see the world maybe
you want to go into a relationship with
someone but you’ve been afraid to but
your heart says it’s the right thing to
do all of us feel something and in leo
tolstoy famous novel the death of ivan
illich he asks this question that would
be terrifying to me he says as he has
his accountant from Moscow lying on his
deathbed contemplating the horror of
this question what if my whole life has
been wrong I’ve known what my music is
it’s playing right now
as I stand here in front of you with
these cameras and in this place and as I
sit down and write my books and tell the
world what I know are my truth I feel
always completely on purpose and
fulfilled and no time will I ever come
to the end of my life and say what if my
whole life whoever you are whatever that
music is however distant it may sound
however strange however weird others may
interpret it to be don’t get to the end
of your life and know that you’re going
to leave and not have a place yet don’t
die with your musics doing just know
your business and know what you’re
getting into before you get into it
straight up because this is a doggy-dog
world straight up I reckon business
careers are not ladders those days are
long gone with jungle jims don’t just
move up and down don’t just look up look
backwards sideways around corners your
career and your life will have starts
and stops and zigs and DAGs don’t stress
out about the white space the path you
can’t draw because there in lies both
the surprises and the opportunities I
mean to be serious if you want to be the
next thing which is that you have to
have a very big heart you have to take
quite a lot of risk calculated risk
first of all you have to make sure that
you’re honest you must make sure that
you don’t destroy the name you know
because your name is very important that
the most valuable asset that you have
going for the way if you don’t have a
good name even the bank’s doesn’t matter
how big you
then I won’t touch actual so you must
make sure they have a very very good
name and number three you have to make
sure that you see that look nothing is
impossible once you say that yes nothing
is impossible it means that you can
actually achieve that target I don’t
have always thought global but I’ve
always thought big right and I think the
difference is now I have it so clear on
what I want to do for the next 10 years
that I’ve slowed down because I know I’m
building this great machine and it’s
going to take me a couple years to get
it perfectly in order before I finally
turn it on because when I turn it on
then it will it will be bigger than
anything I’ve ever done or ever will do
it will open that we represent my legacy
and I realize that’s cryptic but that’s
how that’s how far out I’m already
prepared for what I’m doing next thank
you so much for watching I’d love to
know what you think if you want to leave
a comment below won’t and do something
great today things to believe and I’ll
see you soon
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