Ben Franklin made this observation about a fellow he had know in Philadelphia: “The man died at 25, but wasn’t buried until 75." Mr. Franklin was describing a man who stopped learning early on.

In my field of work the entrepreneurial leader is called “a coach." To excel as a coach and leader, we must be a good teacher; to excel as a teacher, a leader, and coach, we must remain a student who keeps learning. We mustn’t die at 25.

I believe the key to learning is listening with both our ears and our eyes. For me, in happened gradually, but it happened because I was blessed with teachers worth listening to.

I run the business to earn profit, of course, but what happens prior to the money is more important. Whatever I did as an entrepreneurial leader, teacher, and coach started with one man: Alex F. DeNoble, Ph. D. at San Diego State University. He has been my compass in entrepreneurship and life- the person who taught me about the life value and what precedes and supersedes it.

My professor is a remarkable person. He also have a practical kind of wisdom. This is what he wrote on the board on the last day of entrepreneurship class, he reminded me the old-fashioned advices:

1. Get out of comfort zone.（跳出自己的舒適圈）
2. Put yourself in situations to develop new skills.（把自己放在困境，好讓自己發揮新的技能）
3. Model others, find mentors（效仿別人，找到生命中的導師）
4. Continuous learning through targeted education.（用任何管道持續學習）
5. Test new idea.（嘗試不一樣的事）

These advices are evident in his actions. He is consistent in word and deed, a model of the strength and self-confidence that comes with character. Those five suggestions deeply influenced my behavior as the years went by after I graduated from SDSU. In fact, soon enough I was not calling them “suggestions." I have referred to them as “Alex’s Five Point Creed."

Although I fall short in living up to his teachings, I have found “Alex’s Five Point Creed" to be meaningful in every phase of my life– especially when it comes to entrepreneurial leadership.