2015 is a month way. And, if by chance you’re reading this sometime not around the beginning of a new year it still applies.
I recently read an article (see it here) about Google CEO Larry Page and how they call him “the most ambitious CEO in the universe.”
I’m not hip on all the news of the tech world. I have no opinions of who the good, bad and the ugly are in that world. I am a guy who has an outsiders take on this Larry Page guy.
Let’s get a couple things out of the way.
- He’s not normal. He co-founded Google. He’s brilliant.
- He’s incredibly focused and organized.
- He’s an introvert.
Most of us miss the mark on #1 and #2. And, approximately 50% of the population is introverted. I bring this up because many people think you can’t be an introvert and a massively successful leader. So, whether your introverted or not you can be a solid leader.
This post today is not about introverts vs. extroverts, though. It’s about playing big as the leader of your organization. I have one goal for this article: Get you to hear “That’ll Never Happen” more often.
Here’s an excerpt from the article linked above,
Google’s original mission—“to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”—once seemed preposterously audacious. Today that vision “is probably a bit too narrow,” Page says. He wants the company he co-founded as a Stanford grad student to continue altering the world in ways unimaginable to most.
That’ll Never Happen
“Unimaginable to most,” is the key. Here are a two projects Google is working on that once seemed “unimaginable to most.”
- High Tech Ballons that float in the stratosphere that beam down broadband so the internet can be provided to all of humanity.
- Nanoparticles that are ‘painted’ and ingested via a pill. These nanoparticles would bind to cancer cells when they form and give us the ability to detect diseases when they manifest.
That’ll never happen.
So, You’re Not Larry Page
You’re not a brilliant Stanford grad who co-founded Google. You don’t have a secret research facility known as GoogleX where the best and brightest scientists from around the world want to work. You don’t have tens of billions of dollars in a sock to fund your ideas.
You’re not Larry Page.
You are you and that’s all you need.
Write down your vision for 2015. What goals do you have for yourself or your company? Are they foolish to others? Will they elicit the “That’ll never happen” response from others? If not, rethink them.
I’m re-thinking mine and you should too. Instead of having a record setting year for your company, try turning your industry upside down. Shake it up. Do what nobody has done before.
“I think my job as CEO—I feel like it’s always to be pushing people ahead,” says Page.
Larry Page has his critics. There are plenty of people who think he’s crazy. He’s heard numerous times “That’ll never work.” But, I want to hear that more often myself because it will mean I’m aggressively moving forward. It will mean I’m getting better and challenging myself to push past mediocrity. Remember, movement is life.
How will you push your organization ahead? Let’s hear it. Share in the comments and then take action.
