We are all visionaries – just like Steve
The outpouring of grief and rememberance for Steve Jobs highlights the importance of inspiration. For many of us, Steve was an inspiration through the products he created and his uncompromising vision of what the world could be. While we may not all have the trademark black turtle-neck and jeans, we can and are inspiration for people in our lives. We should learn from Steve’s life the power of inspiring and the importance of pursuing our passion.
Kindergarten hacker 
When I made the bold step into kindergarten at Central Elementary and sat on the S in the circle of letters, I also enjoyed my first interaction with Steve: a new Apple II GS computer. With only two 3 1/2″ floppies I could start-up the computer and quickly began exploring new worlds through Carmen Sandiago, Myst, California Gold Rush and Oregon Trail. The adventure combined with Math Blaster and Reading Rabbitt was enough to pique my interest in technology and soon I was trying to code my own baseball card database program.
While I never made it as a coder, I did became an Apple fan. I saw the potential of technology in learning and enjoyed solving problems with help from technology. The beautiful products made it easy to create and express myself with a few clicks on the mouse.
Had Apple just been about the technology however, it would not have inspired the fanatical following it has today. The fandom was a combination of great products with vision.
Vision of the world
Like many of us, I grew up wanting to change the world, to make the world a better place. Traveling around the world confirmed one thing in my mind: the best place to start was in my own backyard.
Steve started in his garage and had a vision of the world. A world where technology could make life easier, more enjoyable and more beautiful. When he started, it’s doubtful he had visions of changing the entire globe. Instead, he and Woz were more concerned about impressing their local computer group and making a splash at a conference in California.
Deciding to change the world is an expectation too great to be fulfilled. A deman so grandiose and undefined that it gives us an excuse never to start. However, if we decide to change OUR world, it becomes more actionable. We can help one person in our community or solve one problem for people in our lives. If we focus on creating a useful product or service for the people we know and understand, we are half-way to being like Steve.
To fully become visionaries however, we have to combine our work with our goal for our world. What does our community look like when we help others? How does life change after we fulfill our vision? Laying out this blueprint and pulling others along for the ride creates leaders, and each of us can be a leader in our world, performing quality work that gets us closer to our vision for our world.
You are a visionary
People in your community already look up to you for your work and vision. Steve did not start as a tech prophet, but instead a simple kid with an idea and a vision. Slowly others gathered around those ideas and wanted to help make the vision a reality. You may never inspire a world-wide following but just like Steve you can be the rally point that others gather around, the vision that others want to pursue. You are a visionary and should act and think as such. There’s no reason to wait for someone else to step up. As Steve said, you should “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”
Steve Jobs inspired through his work and vision and reminded us that we can ALL act as visionaries, able to change our worlds. In making our worlds better we together make the world better as a whole. For helping me recognize that power, I say thank you Steve. You will be missed.
