What do Steve Jobs and Lee Kuan Yew have in common? They are both successful people who possess certain values which make them unique and important to be remembered by years of generations. Both of them also contribute to society; Steve Jobs redefine the innovative IT world while Lee Kuan Yew leads Singapore to an unprecedented growth. Gladwell (2008) argued that achievement is a combination between talent and preparation. However, Maxwell (2007) said that talent might be given, but success must be earned. Hence, the preparation must be dealt seriously by applying certain important values such as determination, integrity, and leadership. These values must be applied so people can contribute to individual and societal growth.
What differentiates between an average person and the master class is the amount of work he commits. Thousands of hours of practice will generally result in improvement of one’s skills. However, one should have a high level of determination to be able to pursue his goals. For instance, Steve Jobs never diminished his spirit whenever he encounterd failure in work. When he was fired from Apple in 1985, he maintained to keep his burning spirit alive and continued his career in a company named NeXT, a computer development company, which was later acquired by Apple and became an integral part for its future business. Consequently, Steve Jobs maintained his determination and shock the world with brilliant innovation such as iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Steve Jobs’ determination is quite similar to Lee Kuan Yew’s. As the first Prime Minister of Singapore, he successfully built Singapore to evolve from a third world country to one of the most important countries in the region. This success won’t be likely achieved without the sheer amount of determination that Lee Kuan Yew’s put into.
Another important value that should be considered is integrity. As the world is getting more competitive, one should keep his level of