On the topic of originals, copies and collages

While discussing authenticity, I came to think of a quote, which we Danes like to attribute to Søren Kierkegaard - symptomatically enough, I think it actually originates from the English poet Edward Young, who died about half a century before Kierkegaard's birth:

We are all born originals - why is it so many of us die copies?

For that question, I think I know a good answer: we die copies, because we have gathered inspiration from people, we have met over time, from whom we have let inspiration rub off. And the fascinating part is that hardly anyone - maybe not even in totalitarian regimes, eventhough, fortunately, my knowledge of said regimes is limited - die as exact copies of a certain other person. Rather, we die as collages of numerous other people, who then again themselves were collages of those people who inspired them.
Which is quite fortunate, I think. Otherwise, none of us could reach higher by standing on the shoulders of giants of the past.
(Translated from Noget om originaler, kopier og collager, originally published October 17, 2015)

On the topic of superbosses

From time to time, I am fortunate enough to get hold of a book, which pages almost turn by themselves because the author handles an interesting topic and is able to illuminate in an appealing and relevant way.
Recently, I experienced it when I stumbled upon Sydney Finkelstein's book "Superbosses". Based on numerous examples of superbosses in a variety of fields - ranging from music, american football and the restaurant business to marketing and other professions where business leadership is a more conventional topic - Finkelstein details what makes these leaders so excellent, causing the success of their own business, and members of their staff to later successfully spread like wildfire as leaders in the same industry.
Finkelstein does it so enthusiastically that it can make anyone want to, if not develop superboss personality traits, then certainly work for a superboss - or wish that one's boss developed that kind of personality.
I at least could easily find someone for whom to place this book under their Christmas tree.
(Translated from Noget om fremragende ledere)

Do not copy the achievements of great people

It is my pleasure to pick up a quotation, which I originally thought was by the American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, but actually seems to originate from the poet Muriel Strode:

I will not follow where the path may lead, but I will go where there is no path, and I will leave a trail.

I am especially happy to use the quotation here because it fits so well with a headline, I collected at a lecture on creativity and innovation a number of years ago: "Do not copy the achievements of great people - become great in your own right".
It is so obviously right, when you look at it: if one has the desire to become great, it will actually not happen by following the path of others, copying their great achievements, but rather by following one's own path and discover new ground - and as a matter of fact it is quite possible that even if one has no ambitions to become great, one will becomes one's best self in the happiest way if not following a great role model's beaten path.
It may well happen that it will not be quite as easy - but it has a certain probability to become a more interesting, funnier and more exciting process.
(Translated from Kopier ikke de store, originally published July 23, 2013)