Sterling Hawkins is out to break the status quo to create what’s actually possible for humanity in our time. He has spent his career igniting new views and inspiring people to act on them. He went on to be involved with the launch, growth or investment in over 50 companies.
Today, Sterling reviews over 1,000 new technology companies every year further refining the keys to realizing breakthrough innovation and giving back that experience as a mentor to leading entrepreneurs working through exponential growth. He is the co-founder of CART, a platform to drive adoption of emerging technologies at fortune 500 companies.
What drives Sterling Hawkins? | I’m constantly driven to realize the full potential in myself and others. There’s this funny thing about potential — we treat it like it’s real even though it’s not yet. We might even say to each other: “you have so much more potential!” or “your business has the potential to…”. I’m about not just seeing that potential, but taking the steps to make it real.
What do you think is often the difference between people who are good at what they do and people who are great at what they do? | What makes people great is a commitment to excellence over time. Most people can do an 80% job; it’s the attention to small details adding up over time that brings it to that 100%. We’re all capable of it, it just takes a tremendous willpower to continually stand for that greatness.
What has been your biggest failure / learning experience? | I have two actually. The first came when the group that acquired my first company raised over $550 million USD before going bankrupt. The company was great at spending more — first class tickets, parties at the Four Seasons, bringing in high-profile business people . I was ready to retire and buy an island with my holdings. I left before the bankruptcy, but I learned how not to operate a business and what not to do. Maybe more importantly, I learned that satisfaction, fulfillment and real innovation come from within, not the external world.
The second was about five years ago when another business I had fell apart. At the time is coincided with some family issues, a romantic relationship ending, and I had very little cash. It was like my life had become a bad country song. But my mom, quoting Robert Frost, told me, “The way out is through.” I realized the path to success and to fulfilling potential was by owning and doing the hard things in the future.
What are the principles and values that you believe are important to live by? | The highest principle I live by is integrity and honoring my word. I am always going to try my best to do what I say I’m doing to do and if I can’t, I tell people straightaway. It takes integrity to build not just businesses, but personal relationships.
On a psychological or mind-set level, how do you use your mind and how do you think in a specific way to help you achieve your goals and realize your ambitions? | Plato said, “Necessity is mother of invention.” Whenever something has me stuck, I come back to that quote. Whatever that thing is, it’s by embracing it fully that I’m able to see it clearly and see it as something to use to my own advantage. Things either can happen to you or for you. I chose to see obstacles as they’re happening for me to extract the potential from the chaos.
How do you deal with self-doubt, fear or negativity? Can you share a time in which you either doubted yourself the most or had great fears, yet faced up to them and conquered them? | I continually push the boundaries of what’s possible for myself, not only psychologically but physically. I do all sorts of adventure activities like skydiving, 100 mile bike rides, shark diving, etc. I push my feelings of nervousness to edge of discomfort and breakthrough that boundary. Physical resilience develops mental resilience since it’s the same biological response. Doing demanding physical challenges helps keep my brain and my body in the physical world so I don’t get caught up in my own head.
How do you ensure you are always feeling energised and performing at your peak? | To be truthful, I don’t always perform at my peak. But to get closer to that peak, I use two things. First, I exercise. I practice yoga almost everyday. It’s great physically and mentally because it resets my body and mind from day before.
Second, I rely on the support of the people around me. They can hold me to a higher standard than I see for myself and keep me accountable for the things they know I want to do.
What resources (people, books, environments, movies, music etc) do you use to keep yourself inspired, informed and growing? | It takes a lot of resources :). First, there’s the support of people around me in various capacities, especially my friends and family. They help pick me up when I’m down.
I listen to a couple books on tape every week to develop my knowledge and be inspired.
I put myself in ecologies of people that have similar aims to my own. For example, I like to spend time with people who have a stronger yoga practice than me so I can deepen my own practice. Or I have lunch with business mentors who can lend new perspectives and advise around what I’m up to.
I actually try to stay away from the news because it’s pretty alarmist nowadays, but when I do read the news, I look for things I can learn from people in all situations.
Good live music or movie every now and then doesn’t hurt either.
Swaady Martin, is an Ivorian entrepreneur, prides herself as a custodian of Africa’s rich culture and history. And she preserves it with style. After an eventful, high-flying 11-year career at GE, where she held leadership positions in several divisions across the world (including acting as the Director for Sub-Saharan Africa of GE Transportation and acting-CEO […]
Arogyaswami J. Paulraj was born in Pollachi near Coimbatore, India. He joined the Indian Navy at age 15 through the National Defence Academy, Kharakvalsa and served the Navy for 30 years. Paulraj received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Naval College of Engineering, Lonavala, India, and his doctorate in electrical engineering from the […]
Alastair Humphreys is an English cyclist, adventurer, author, motivational speaker, blogger, film maker, photographer and a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year. Whilst at University, he cycled from Pakistan to China, Land’s End to John O’Groats, Turkey to Italy, Mexico to Panama and across South America. Since graduating, Alistair has cycled round the world for […]
Prof Saurabh Sinha cannot but leave an impression on those who encounter him. As one of South Africa’s great electronic engineers he has obtained his B. Eng, M. Eng and Ph.D. degrees in Electronic Engineering from the University of Pretoria (UP) having achieved both his B. Eng and M. Eng with distinction. As a published […]
Dee Poon is the creative force behind the bespoke men’s shirt brand PYE, creating the men’s equivalent to the little black dress: the perfectly tailored crisp white dress shirt. A frequent presence on best-dressed lists in Asia and around the world, Poon is Hong Kong fashion royalty, the daughter of Dickson Poon, the owner of […]
Tessa Plen is a highly accomplished global change-agent for growth and development of individuals, companies and products. She has worked in senior positions at blue-chip multinationals like Colgate Palmolive (associate Director of Innovation) and Unilever in South Africa, Paris, London, Sydney and New York before recently returning to South Africa. She has implemented growth and […]
Mr. P. Leon Campher, also known as Philip, BEcon is the Founder of Syfrets Managed Assets as well as Coronation and African Harvest. Mr. Campher has an extensive experience in investment and asset management with Old Mutual, Syfrets Managed Assets, Coronation and African Harvest, retired from the executive positions in February 2002. He served as […]
David Grier – TLP is a speaker, chef and dedicated athlete and adventurist. He´s was born on the 16th of January 1960 into a Cape wine farming family in South Africa, here his love of the outdoors, food, wine and adventure began. He set out to take all his passions to the extreme and explore […]
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