Eddie would go.

Eddie Aikau was the first lifeguard at Waimea Bay, he was a big wave surfer, a winner of the Duke Kahanamoku Surfing Championship and an all round waterman who saved countless lives. Eddie Aikau died in 1978. On a 4000 kilometre voyage, tracing the ancient Polynesian migration between Hawaii and the Tahitian Islands, the double hulled ocean going canoe, with Eddie on board, developed a leak after capsizing. Eddie volunteered to paddle the 20 kilometres to the nearest island for help, as the crew clung to the upturned craft. Eddie was never seen again, even after the largest air and sea search in Hawaiian history. He is remembered via the Eddie Aikau Classic, held each year, as long as the waves are large enough to hold a 10 to 12 metre face. It has only been held eight times since its inception in 1984.

How often have you heard the sporting analogy used in the corporate world, from playing hard, good team work, through to go hard or go home and how often have you winced as the boss strode out of the boardroom expecting the staff to win the game of business. The analogies have been around a long time and are slowly being replaced by corporate buzz speak, put together by marketing and media people who have never kicked a footy, run around the paddock or tackled anyone. Yet some analogies hang around long enough to find their true synergy in business and there is a certain type of business person who engenders all that Eddie and his attitude stood for, the entrepreneur.

The last decade has seen the emergence of a new kind of entrepreneur, one who isn't afraid of putting it all on the line, one who is more courages in making decisions and one who is prepared to have a go for all the right reasons. People who have the ultimate self belief, who don't want to die wondering and who's audaciousness and tenacious faith in their decision making process is infallible, as far as they are concerned. Jobs, Bezos, Zuckerburg, Brin, Page, Hsieh, Gates, and a long list of others have redefined the notion of corporate courage by laying everything they have, including their most precious assets, reputation and credibility, on the line, because they believe in their products and their decisions. Decisions made without a lot of knowledge gained from past experience, no bench marks because there were none, there was only the future and somebody had to invent it, make the decision and take off first and risk it all.

Gut instinct, sixth sense, conviction, intuition, adventurous, self belief, bold, enterprising, resolute, the thesaurus keeps on with descriptions of people who have that something extra we all look to for guidance, safety, the hard decisions and leadership. At the inaugural Eddie Aikau classic, the waves were enormous and the top wave riders in the world, stood on the sand waiting for a lull that didn't seem to be coming, when Mark Foo uttered the words they all knew were true, "Eddie would go". The contest had begun.

Think about your work, your life, are there moments when you should just take off on that 10 metre wave? Have the courage to make those decisions, Eddie would.