Steve jobs

Jobs recruited both John Scully and Tim Cook to Apple. Jobs did not logically explain the position, the salary, the stock options, and corporate perks, but instead worked in the realm of how the job could occur to them. From Scully's initial perspective, when Jobs came calling, he was at the pinnacle of corporate power, having served as the President of global giant Pepsi. But Jobs completely overturned this perspective, saying famously, "Would you rather sell sugar water to kids for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?" With Jobs' words, Scully went from the commanding heights of business to a junk food peddler. It occurred to Scully that there was far more he could achieve in his life at Apple.

Similarly, for Tim Cook, logic wasn't paramount. In 1998 Cook was a VP of the world's leading PC maker Compaq. Apple was on the brink of failure. "Any purely rational consideration of cost and benefits lined up in Compaq's favor, and the people who knew me best advised me to stay at Compaq." Yet, Cook met with Jobs remembering, " all of a sudden he's talking about his strategy and his vision. The way he talked, and the way the chemistry was in the room, it was just he and I, and so, all of a sudden, I thought, I'm doing it. I'm going for it" Jobs had altered the way the opportunity occurred for Cook. Apple "didn't make sense," Cook said, "And yet, my gut said, go for it. And I listened to my gut." Jobs' linguistic conjuring of Apple's future and Cook's role in it occurred holistically differently than the logical arguments mustered against his mentors' move.

What About You?

Over time, as your effectiveness grows, you may find yourself channeling Steve Jobs and conjuring your organizational realities. You'll do so by experimenting with your speaking about the occurrence of situations, saying things like, "This is how the situation occurs to me…" instead of saying this "is" how the situation is. You will know you are having an effect when people join in. When they co-create the occurrence with you, you may find yourselves operating in a whole new world.