Aaron Levie, Box’s founder and CEO was just crowned “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Inc. magazine. Reading the article made me wonder how many young entrepreneurs will start copying Aaron in an effort to “become like him”. Same happened with Steve Jobs (I still puke when I hear people comparing themselves to Steve) and any number of other successful entrepreneurs.
What happens when you start copying someone else is that you become a faint mirror image of that person. You are you — not someone else! Figure out what is unique about you, where your strength and weaknesses are and create your very own flavor of leadership.
That is not to say that you shouldn’t learn (and sometimes steal) from others. Be inspired but never forget that to be successful you need to be authentically you. Not Mini-Aaron. Not Mini-Steve.