Star Trek and Future Leadership: Yuval Hertzog

Yuval Hertzog is a Techno-Philosopher, Cyber-Futurist, Strategist, Passionate entrepreneur and Extreme sports addict, Possibly a cyborg!

Starting at a tender primary school age, Yuval was one of those wiz-kids who got along with technology really well. He launched his first software venture in high-school, and was recruited later by the authorities thanks to some previous unspecified “mischiefs”: was part of the team that invented VoIP, built and sold several businesses around the world and is now part of a like-minded geeks’ collective at Nubis, working to terraform humanity through innovative technology. Read more about Yuval.

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Yuval commenced his study of leadership while still in primary school. As a very geeky youngster he was “hell bent on breaking down the formula of being a popular kid”. He learned and applied some valuable lessons and by the tenth grade had cracked the code.

Military Leadership Training

Then he had the privilege of attending one of the most demanding leadership trainings in the world, the Israeli military officers’ course, where as “one of the most nonconformist military soldiers ever” he questioned everything he was taught and every military standard.

In that way he learned more lessons about leadership, above all “the absolute necessity of self-conviction, making a decision based on only 5% of information, knowing that the chances you are wrong are exactly 50% but still convincing everybody around you that this decision is absolute and the only correct way to go forward”.

His most valuable lesson about leadership

“The only kind of wrong decision you make is the one you make knowing it’s wrong from the start.”

Are Leaders Born or Made?

An acquired skill but some are born with a talent for that skill. Leadership can be taught and learnt, even self-taught.

But there is a more important question, about whether leadership is unequivocally a good thing and whether it it is always needed. A good tool but not necessarily the right tool for every situation. And “is the hierarchical structure the best one to get the best outcome still?”

And an interesting challenging statement that raised broader issues touching on religious belief, that Yuval and I agreed we would need to have a longer conversation about at another time.

Leaders He Admires

One leader he admires is a fictional creation, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, a character designed by a team to be the epitome of leadership.

Two individuals he learnt most from about leadership are his parents and their respective examples of outstanding leadership in highly responsible, highly demanding situations.

Then there are “the true leaders of this world”, kindergarten teachers. Learning from them, he was helped considerably in the corporate world and its board rooms.

“Surprisingly enough, most of the forces at play in those two places, kindergarten and board room, are frightfully similar.”

Australia and Innovation

Australia has no shortage of talent, but:

• there is complacency
• there are other countries more focused and effective in nurturing innovation

It is necessary to change Australia’s built-in hesitation about risk.

Risk is a necessity Australia has to adopt to drive innovation.

What Keeps Business Leaders Awake at Night?

What keeps Yuval awake at night is exciting new ideas, new technology, things he and his team can do, so he wants it to be tomorrow already.

Anxiety, which no doubt keeps many leaders awake at night, is “a terrible thing to foster”. Most people think it is ok if it’s for the greater good but don’t consider the long-term harm to the individual and others, including family and colleagues.

“You have to enjoy the ride.”

Leadership and the Future

“The fundamental problem that I find with the concept of leadership is that if everyone had it, it would be useless. And the future of humanity is all about sharing – or bust.”

About Nubis

A collective of field-talented individuals who are:

• enthusiastic about technology
• engaged in developing the future of disruptive technology in many aspects
• bringing technologies of the future into today
• Consulting, plus developing their own innovative, disruptive technology

Contact them through their website Contact page

More about Yuval

Yuval is also an avid extreme sports enthusiast, with various catamaran sailing titles under his belt. He also loves skydiving, snowboarding, scubadiving, martial arts and lately been focusing on big air and big waves kitesurfing on Australia’s Gold Coast. In his remaining non-existent part time, he also loves to dabble in science-philosophy, cognitive psychology and cosmology.

In the past few years, Yuval has also volunteered in helping young entrepreneurs build their business and promoting innovative cultural change in the Australian market.

Image credits:

Yuval Hertzog kite surfing – supplied by owner
Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek, (Patrick Stewart) via Wikimedia Commons Derek Springer from Los Angeles, CA, USA

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