3 lessons from Steve Jobs about sales & life

I read Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs over the Christmas break and it reinvigorated me to create and dream big.

Steve lived at the intersection of creativity & technology, and I have a keen interest in the intersection of technology & spirituality - learning how to master tools to aim for our highest ideals.

Like anyone that transforms the world Steve was polarising, but his beliefs and sheer will echo into many of our lives today.

Here are 3 of my biggest takeaways from the book:

1. Own the end-to-end experience

Apple was an early believer of an integrated ecosystem of products and customer experience.

This turned out to be a correct big bet, as we now live in digitally integrated ecosystems and the giants of tech have all built one.

Apple's iCloud ecosystem is the king of consumer tech and Microsoft's ecosystem is impossible to get out of in B2B.

As an AE caring about the customers' end-to-end experience is what got me ahead of the pack, with average AE's disappearing when the signature dries on the contract.

The details matter to the holistic experience, every touchpoint is a representation of what you stand for.

How you do anything is how you do everything.

2. Laser focus is a must

Apple got its big break in the 80s with just 1 product in the Apple II, and Steve restored the company in the 90s by simplifying the product mix into a 2x2 matrix of:

- Consumer vs Professional

- Desktop vs Portable

In 1997 Steve focused a $3 billion dollar company into just 4 major products, and that product matrix focus has compounded into a $3 trillion dollar business in 2023.

When I was Cisco's #1 Mid-Market AE in 2023 I specialised in Data Centre, and of the ~10 products in my portfolio I knew only 3 were viable in the Mid-Market.

By focussing on what those 3 core solutions did better for my customers than the competition and focussing on the highest value opps,

I would resonate value with my customers deeper and sell more efficiently than anyone else.

As a new Founder I'm relearning this lesson the hard way, spending too much time scattered between tasks and unable to focus on what truly matters.

Today I'm determined to shut out the noise and only focus on what matters:

- creating great solutions to solve my community's problems

- creating great content to resonate with the right people and bring my tribe in

- creating great connections with my community and win together

3. The people who make the most impact are a little broken inside

Steve was given up for adoption as a young child and the resulting abandonment trauma lead to hyper-attunement & hyper-vigilance.

Steve could read people extremely well (hyper-attunement) and was famous for his obsession over the finest details of his products to the ire of his engineers (hyper-vigilance).

Elon Musk also had a traumatic childhood and also has traits of hyper-vigilance.

Over the last few years I've become a lot more aware of my own childhood trauma and recognised my own hyper-attunement & hyper-vigilance, both of which I initially considered my 'superpowers' as an AE.

I developed a 'sales gut' - being able to qualify and forecast deals based on my attunement to customers' emotional energy and sub-conscious body language during engagements.

Sadly most people who consider themselves 'empaths' actually have a highly-attuned nervous system from physical & emotional traumas in their youngest years.

Mastering your emotional intelligence and attunement to others is one of my secret sauces in Tech Sales Academy, leveraging my own experience & research into trauma and EQ in ways you won't get in any other sales curriculum.

I have lots more coming about how to turn your traumas into superpowers, keeping the best of your tragic past and healing the rest.

As a leader Steve wielded these traits as one of the most powerful double-edged swords in history.

At Tech Sales Academy my biggest dream is to nurture a generation of Conscious Technologists,

visionaries building a better future for all from an overflowing cup of internal wholeness and an abundant mindset.

To heal the world we must heal ourselves first, as the shadows of our leaders cast long.

I've been doing my own healing & trauma work for 5 years now and the results have been transformative.

If you'd like help with your healing journey to be a better leader please reach out, I'd love to support your journey!

Thank you Steve Jobs for leading the way ????

If you're a tech seller that's also into spirituality and self-development, you will love what I'm building at Tech Sales Academy.

A conscious tech sales community filled with tools to not just make you a better seller, but a more integrated human being.

Check out the free Tech Sales Academy community here!