After graduation, this enabled him to get a job as a software engineer at a start-up in Chicago. We welcome your comments at ideas qz. Want to get ideas about careers that make a difference? By providing your email, you agree to the Quartz Privacy Policy.
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A few weeks ago I adopted two cats who had run out of time at a shelter. According to their records, they had spent nearly a year waiting for someone to adopt them, locked up, and unwanted. You may think, what does adopting a cat have to do with stopping a pandemic?
Nothing really, except to me. In my tiny corner of the world, it means I made a huge difference in improving or likely saving the lives of two creatures. To me, it is one small act in a big, seemingly hopeless mess of a world where I can do little to change it. The cats received new names to go along with their new lives. Meet Tristan and Isolde. They are both shy, but affectionate and willing to give me a chance.
Providing two homeless cats with a new life is almost meaningless stacked up against the greater troubles we face today but seeing these two forgotten and unwanted cats playing together, carefree and liberated, made that tiny gesture seem much larger. Do kindness where you can.
It's probably the single most common characteristic among successful leaders. They truly believe they can make a difference. Now, there are lots of ways to, as Steve Jobs said to the original Apple Macintosh design team, "make a dent in the universe.
And don't think for a second that it's a rare thing. It happens all the time. Here are a few examples so you can see what I'm talking about. The guy spawned an entire generation of software entrepreneurs and companies, from Marc Benioff of Salesforce. According to Houston Neal of Software Advice - developers of the infographic - "Much of what we recognize in the software market today - hard-nosed determination, aggressive sales and marketing, personal rivalries - can be tied back to Larry Ellison's personality and the experience many executives got at Oracle.
On the hardware side, Intel's Andy Grove and his unique management style had a profound influence on dozens of disciples who went on to hold top executive positions beyond the chip giant, including Dave House of Bay Networks , Dell's Carl Everett , and most recently, Pat Gelsinger at storage giant EMC.
Now, I know what you're going to say, these are extreme, once-in-a-lifetime examples. Au contraire. The truth is that, to make a dent in the universe, you don't have to be a Larry Ellison or an Andy Grove.
You don't even have to directly influence thousands of people.
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