What Steve Jobs & Bruce Springsteen Can Teach you

Here are 5 entrepreneurial qualities that Steve Jobs shares with Bruce Springsteen—principles that any leader must have to achieve breakthrough success.

Do What You Love. Bruce Springsteen is passionate about writing meaningful lyrics. Really passionate. “More than rich, more than famous, I wanted to be great,” he said. This philosophy sounds very similar to Steve Jobs who once said, “Being the richest man in the cemetery didn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying, ‘I’ve done something wonderful,’ that’s what mattered.” Being an entrepreneur requires long hours, sacrifice and an unflagging commitment to making your vision a reality.

Put a Dent in the Universe. According to Springsteen, he and his band mates were almost “messianic” in their zeal to change the world. Steve Jobs, too, wanted to “put a dent in the universe.” Innovation doesn’t take place in a vacuum. Dreamers inspire evangelists. Steve Jobs inspired the original Macintosh team to put in grueling hours because they really thought they were out to change the world—and the Mac most certainly did. Never underestimate the power of vision to propel a brand forward.

Obsess over the customer experience. Springsteen’s band-mates said that he would obsess over the smallest details, like the exact sound of a drumstick. They would spend hours and hours until the track sounded just right. Steve Jobs is equally as obsessive. He said to have a “pixel level” obsession with every aspect of the user experience. Of course there is a point at which obsession becomes detrimental but in today’s business climate where customer satisfaction continues to erode, perhaps a little obsession over the customer experience is a good thing.

Eliminate the clutter. Remarkably, Springsteen actually left songs off the album, Darkness on the Edge of Town because he didn’t believe they fit with the theme of the album. Steve Jobs is also obsessive about eliminating anything that detracts from the focus of a product. If a button doesn’t have to be there, it’s not. Jobs once said, “We’re as proud of what we don’t do as are about what we do.”

Article By CARMINE GALLO

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