Christian fundamentalism, cancer, loss of religious faith, a double lung transplant, the birth of social activism on the web and a growing faith in the power of people connected – Jim Gilliam's story (founder of NationBuilder), featured in this a16z podcast, is a truly remarkable one.
I really liked his thoughts on leadership. It is, he says, about having the belief that there is something out there that is our calling ('the thing you have to do because no-one else could'), having the tenacity to go find it, the audacity to go and do it, and the humility to recognise that more often than not you can't achieve it by yourself:
'It's only when you care about that thing so much that you have to make it happen, and you're willing to put up with all of the hardship that's involved in bringing other people to make it happen that you're willing to do what it takes to be a leader.'
Well worth the listen.
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