“That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity.  Simple can be harder than complex.  You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.  But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” – Steve Jobs

Talk about a model for top performance – Steve Jobs exhibited the platinum standard for Top Performer principles and strategies.  What product developer wouldn’t want to emulate his clarity of purpose, his confident vision, his constant pursuit of elegant design excellence?

We recently synthesized research into how to recognize top performers and how they work differently.  While Steve Jobs wasn’t on our interview list, he certainly confirms our findings of what it takes to be at the top.

Three Principles Every Top Performer Lives By

Principle 1:  Integrity, or honesty and consistency of character.  Steve Jobs was known for his sometimes brutal honesty.  His clear purpose to deliver on his vision freed him to say what needed to be said, and skip with the niceties that didn’t help get the job done right.  He remained true to himself and his own character even in the face of having to leave the company he birthed.

Principle 2:  Focus. Steve was the epitome of this principle.  Why he and other Top Performers stand out is because they have done the hard work to develop and maintain a laser focus.  How easy is it to say, “I’m not working on my top priority right now because the CEO asked me to do this special assignment instead.”  Or, “I know from all of my knowledge and instincts of our target customers that our design needs to look like this with red accents.  However, our management team told us to change it and also make it blue, so that’s what we are doing.” Would Steve compromise his focus and his vision just because someone told him he had to?  He would rather leave his own company first.

Principle 3:  Work without Fear. Steve’s epiphany at age 17 that guided him every day made this principle easy for him to live by.  He once heard a speaker say, “Live every day as if it were your last, because one day you will be right.”  Steve was empowered by this thought and used it to eclipse the typical human fears of ‘what if this doesn’t work’ or ‘what if they don’t like me’.  At the end of the day, just in case it was his last, he wanted to know that he maintained his integrity and focus on his vision.

Even Steve’s critics can’t help but admire this top performer who lived every day by these principles.  The gifts he has given the world as a result are immeasurable.  56 is way too young to live your last day.  But since Steve made every day count, his legacy will last many, many lifetimes.  RIP

About iCanPilot’s Top Performer research:  after interviewing a network of top performers and synthesizing their findings, iCanPilot published a manifesto of the 5 Strategies Every Top Performer lives by.  It can be downloaded by clicking here.