Today I  have received an email from one of our new clients that made me think hard about my own purpose at WholeRen.  I can't read Chinese, but I certainly can understand what 信任, means.  No matter if it is written in my native language, Persian (اعتماد), or English (trust) or Chinese (信任), because the meaning of it is truly universal.  Our clients and colleagues  CHOOSE to work with us because they  CHOOSE to Trust us.  

信任 is built and maintained by many small actions over time at our company.  信任 is not a matter of having fancy products, use of technology, flawless marketing materials or the latest tools for measurement of productivity and etc., but it is a matter of our Company character.  We are all responsible for building and maintaining our Company Character.

I believe, wholeheartedly, the glue that holds us together at our Company - including the relationship between us, our management,  our clients, and our community is 信任, and trust, is based on integrity.   

It takes two to do the trust tango--the one who risks (the trustor) and the one who is trustworthy (the trustee); each must play their role. 

We are all Trustees in our professional work environment. Do not take this responsibility lightly.   

​This morning I woke up to the news of John McCain's death at 81.  Unless you follow US politics, you won't probably know him.  

John McCain was a navy pilot, prisoner of war, conservative political personage, senator, the twice-defeated presidential candidate with a twinkle in his eye and of course very funny.  

I just don't know how he did it all.  John McCain survived plane crashes, many rounds of skin cancer and often appeared to be enduringly waging a race against time and his morality while attempting to ensure that his long five years as a Vietnam prisoner of war didn't stand as the defining struggle of his life.  

I have yet to read his memoir that was published earlier in the summer.  He spent his last few months out of the public eye in Arizona, reflecting on the purpose of his life and receiving visits from a wave of friends and associates, and even old political opponents.  McCain wrote in his memoir that he 'hated to leave the world, but he had no complaints.'  

His late Senate colleague from Massachusetts - Tedd Kennedy - died from the same form of brain cancer that eventually killed McCain.  Both men died on August 25th.  

John McCain will be remembered in many ways.  He was a man of honor and integrity.  I didn't agree with his position on many issues but how he lived his life taught me that the highest quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity.  Without it, no real progress is possible, no matter where we are and what we do.  Honesty and integrity are by far the most important quality that cannot be measured by money, title or position, without it nothing else really matters.

I normally don't write about the stock market. But just today Apple reaches $1,000,000,000,000.00 value. That's A LOT of ZEROS. Let me make a bit clearer for you, it's twelve zeros, which makes it one trillion dollars.

To put it in another way:

Apple vs. the world (relative valuations)
Apple: $1 trillion
Florida GDP: $1trillion
Small cap (S&P 600) $892 billion
Turkey (GDP): $851 billion
Netherlands (GDP) $826 billion

Apple is the first American public company to pass the $1 trillion thresholds. Just a few hours ago Apple stock surpassed $207 / share, which indicates it is now up more than 20% this year. Many Wall Street analysts believe Apple could even go higher to a range above $230.

Most of this increase is due to the increase in sales and profit for the strong demand of iPhone 8 and X, which most of us have, in China and Japan not to mention rising revenue from the App Store.

Other titans like Amazon, Google's parent company Alphabet and Microsoft all have surged to near record highs this year as well. For example, Amazon is now reaching $900 billion while Alphabet and Microsoft are each far more than $800 billion in valuation.

By the way, Apple is not the first publicly traded company in the world to exceeding the 1 trillion dollars. PetroChina very briefly reached a trillion dollar in valuation nearly a decade ago, when its stock was trading in Shanghai, but shares quickly plunged. Now is listed in NYSE or New York Stock Exchange.

Apple takes the title as the first $1 trillion US company. Apple is worth more than all the world's major automakers combined.

I'm not a stock picker, and I'm not advocating buying Apple Stock. I just started reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. I can't stop thinking about how Apple began in the garage Steve Jobs in 1976; now it has pushed its revenue beyond the economic outputs of Portugal, New Zealand, and many other countries. And much richer in valuation that 141 countries around the world

Steve Jobs is not here to see the market value of the company he co-founded, but he sure left us with excellent advice that reveals in all these zeros. "Great things in business are never done by one person. A team of people does them."

And you are probably reading this email on your iPhone:)