Jayson DeMers Guest Writer Founder & CEO, EmailAnalytics September 15, 2014 6 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
One of the burdens of being an entrepreneur is having to make tough
decisions. But since opportunities often come disguised as decisions,
it’s something business owners have to get used to if they want to
experience growth.
Over the life of your business, you’ll be faced with many
decisions. Many of these will have a relatively small impact on the
success of your business. But some can have an enormous impact.
Here are five big decisions every entrepreneur should be prepared to face head on if they want to keep moving forward.
It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen. — Scott Belsky, Behance co-founder
1. Whether to turn your idea into a reality. Of
course, the decision upon which the rest of your decisions will rest is
whether to start your business in the first place. This may involve
sacrificing a dependable, full-time income, or it may mean scaling back
at work to pursue your dream. Or, if you’re like many entrepreneurs, the
toughest decision may be which idea to turn into a business.
There is far more opportunity than there is ability. — Thomas Edison
2. Whether to expand or keep the status quo. Keeping
your business small may feel more manageable and less risky, as you can
personally oversee most components of the day-to-day operations.
However, the temptation to expand can be strong. Sometimes it’s the
allure of new revenue, or sometimes it’s simply the potential for
something new and exciting.
Whatever the situation, the strategic decision to expand your
operations or maintain the status quo is one of the biggest decisions
most business owners will face.
It’s not a decision to be taken lightly: If you decide to expand —
whether that means hiring new employees, increasing product selection or
partnering with another business — making sure you grow wisely will be paramount.
Do you have the proper systems and processes in place to successfully
manage the growth? Do you have strategies in place that will ensure you
maintain your current quality of service? What market or economic
conditions may influence the success or failure of your expansion?
Don’t worry about failure. You only have to be right once. — Drew Houston, Dropbox founder and CEO
3. Whether to give up. Starting a business is hard work (that’s putting it mildly), and much of the hard work you do now won’t pay off until far into the future. It may be that financial struggles make you want to give up, or simply a lack of motivation due to disappointing business results.
Whatever the reason, thoughts of giving up cross every entrepreneur’s mind, usually more than once.
Legendary Swedish tennis player Bjorn Borg said, “My greatest point
is my persistence. I never give up in a match. However down I am, I
fight until the last ball. My list of matches shows that I have turned a
great many so-called irretrievable defeats into victories.”
It’s true that there are times when giving up is the best, or only,
choice to be made. But if you can summon up the gumption and courage to
keep going, you may just find your big success is right around the
corner.
A truly global company is one that uses intellect and resources of every corner of the world. — Jack Welch, former CEO of GE
4. Outsourcing or hiring in-house. There will come a time for every business, almost without exception, when the need for additional personnel or an influx of new skills becomes non-negotiable. And one of the biggest decisions a business owner must face at this juncture is whether to hire new staff or to outsource.
Unfortunately, no one can tell you what’s right for your business in
this regard. Some of the factors you’ll need to consider include:
Payroll and benefit costs versus contractor costs
Type of job or role. For instance, functions such as online
marketing, accounting and IT are often successfully outsourced, however,
core areas such as PR and sales are often better kept in-house.
Your company culture: If you have a strong culture that must be evident in all tasks and roles, in-house may be preferable.
Your industry and the competitive environment: If you’re in a
highly competitive industry, hiring in-house may reduce the risk of
trade secrets being divulged.
If you need an important task completed, and could source it locally
for $600,000, or outsource it overseas for $37,000, which would you
choose?
This was the decision faced by the owner of investment-tool company Born to Sell CEO Mike Scanlin a few years back. Any guesses what he chose? In a CNN Money article about the decision, Scanlin reported that he opted for overseas outsourcing, and was extremely happy with his decision.
Scanlin isn’t alone: In a recent survey of US-based businesses, 36 percent of CFOs reported that their firm was currently involved in offshore outsourcing, with companies favoring India, Indonesia and China.
Price is what you pay. Value is what you get. –Warren Buffett
5. Product or service pricing. Determining your
“sweet spot” in terms of pricing is an enormous decision that all
entrepreneurs will be faced with throughout the life of their business.
How you price your products or services will communicate the perceived
value of your offering, and will position you against certain
competitors in the marketplace.
Some of the factors you are likely to consider when determining the price of a product or service include:
Having a solid understanding of what your target market is willing to pay
Understanding what you can afford to charge, taking into
consideration all of the hard and soft costs associated with producing
the product
Knowing how your product compares to other, similar products, and
whether you can legitimately charge a premium for additional features,
higher quality, etc.
How you want to situation yourself in the marketplace: Do you want
to be known as the company that provides the highest-quality product?
The cheapest? The dependable, middle-of-the line product or service?
Being an entrepreneur will always mean having to make hard decisions,
and these are just a handful of the ones you’ll inevitably face as your
business grows. Each of these decisions comes with a certain amount of
risk, but fortunately, risk-aversion is a trait many entrepreneurs lack
(or at least they don’t allow it to impede their growth).
What decisions would you add to this list? What’s the biggest business decision you currently face? Share below!
Jayson DeMers Guest Writer Founder & CEO, EmailAnalytics May 22, 2017 5 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Leadership is mentally and emotionally demanding. Not only will you
need to temper your emotions to keep your team inspired, you’ll also be
the point person for almost every hard decision your business makes.
You’re the one who has to make the call, and the one who has to deal with the consequences. It’s no wonder that depression affects entrepreneurs more than the average population.
Sooner
or later, you’ll be forced to make a tough call; it might mean firing
an employee you’re personally close with, or making a risky strategic
change for the business or ending a long-term partnership.
Fortunately,
there are some strategies you can use to make these decisions easier,
both in terms of finding a better option and resisting the stress and
burdens that come along with it.
Try using these tactics the next time you’re forced to make a hard decision.
1. Reduce decision fatigue.
Decision fatigue is a documented phenomenon that sets in when you make too many successive decisions. Even small decisions, like picking what to wear or ordering a meal, can accumulate the stress of decision-making and make approaching bigger decisions more stressful.
You can reduce decision fatigue by spending less time
on small-scale decisions. Build habits that are repeatable, and let
other people (like your assistants or coworkers) decide things that
don’t have much impact on you or your business.
2. Take yourself out of the equation.
According to the New York Times, one of the best ways to make decisions is to remove yourself from the picture altogether. Imagine that this isn’t your company: Instead, pretend that it belongs to a friend, and you’re advising him or her on what to do.
Describe the situation, out loud, as if the people and
organizations involved were total strangers. If your friend came to you
with this story, what would you advise? Oftentimes, it’s easier to see
the answer when we’re removed from the situation, because the stakes are
lower — but the answer is just as good.
3. Create a firm deadline.
A big problem many entrepreneurs have with decision-making is being decisive in a timely manner; in other words, they procrastinate. This calls to mind Parkinson’s Law: Essentially, the amount of time it takes to do a task swells to fill the amount of time allotted for it.
If
you give yourself a month to make a decision, you’re going to take a
month. If you give yourself a day, you’re going to take a day.
Obviously, you don’t want to rush decisions with major consequences, but
you’ll also want to set a strict timetable so you don’t procrastinate
too long, wasting time and mental resources in the process.
4. Limit the factors you use to make your decision.
The
paradox of choice is a perplexing case of human psychology. The more
options you have to consider, the harder it is to make a choice- — and
the less satisfied you are with that choice once you make it.
You
can compensate for this by limiting the number of options you have to
choose from, and the number of variables you consider when choosing
between them. For example, you could narrow your choice down to two
vendors, and decide to make your decision based on cost only, or only on
the quality of the working relationship.
5. Quantify your options.
As a business owner, quantifiable decisions are easy to make. For example, if your marketing strategy makes more money than it costs, it’s worth keeping. So, if you want to make your net hard decision a little easier, try reducing everything to quantifiable variables.
This
may take some extra effort up-front, but the best answer will be
obvious when you’re done. For example, if you’re stuck between hiring
two candidates, start rating them on different factors, like experience,
value and culture fit. Ultimately, the candidate who racks up the most
points is your winner.
6. Focus on long-term thinking.
It’s
tempting to think about the short-term repercussions of your decisions
as a worst-case scenario, but try thinking about the long term instead.
If the current decision you’re making is the wrong one, how will this
affect your life in three years? What about five years? Most bad
decisions can be recovered from in the span of a year or two — even the
big ones — so don’t beat yourself up over the worst-case
possibilities. This is also a way to distance yourself from the
equation.
Procrastinating isn’t a good idea. Delegating is
possible in some situations, but generally not advisable. If you want to
be a successful leader, you need to learn how to handle tough decisions
rather than avoid them.
In short, learning to make effective decisions may take some practice, but decisiveness is like any other skill: the more time you invest in it, the better you’ll become.
The 3 Questions Entrepreneurs Should Ask Before Making Tough Decisions
AmyK Hutchens Guest Writer Leadership & Communications expert, author of The Secrets Leaders Keep February 5, 2020 6 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Business owners make myriad decisions every day. However, when it
comes to the toughest choices, like whether to hire more talent, invest
in technology or seek another round of funding,it’s imperative to get clarity. When you increase your certainty before
you go down a specific road, you’ll avoid second guessing your decision
and unintentionally sabotaging your commitment and results.
When
faced with a big decision, it’s normal to feel paralyzed, question your
own gut and stress about the wisdom of your choice. But give yourself
some slack. Even the most successful entrepreneurs have experienced
moments of panic, shouting to the skies above, “What do I do?!” ADVERTISING
Second,
there are three questions you can ask yourself before making a
difficult decision to discern what’s driving you in a specific
direction, and to see if you’ll end up where you really want to go.
1. Where am I running to?
We
can set a lot of goals, we can think a lot of thoughts, we can behave
in all sorts of ways, but ultimately, to what end? Where will this
decision lead you? Too often, entrepreneurs set goals or outcomes and
never ask themselves why. Unpacking your decision and taking a hard look
at how it will fuel or complete you is important to your long-term
peace. Discerning how this choice might make you feel along the way will
influence whether your journey is more pleasurable or painful. So ask
yourself: Where am I going? Why am I going? Who or what is driving me in
this direction? How do I want to travel down this path?
Running from is different than running to.
The first is backward-focused, negative and avoidant. The latter is
forward-focused, positive and upward-facing. Knowing what you are
building and creating helps you step forward with confidence, even when
you are feeling your most vulnerable. Knowing where you truly wish to be
(your to) can also help you create more of it in the present
moment. If you’re running toward hitting the seven-figure product launch
because you think it will prove your success and show your family
members you aren’t crazy, then ask yourself: How can I feel more worthy
right here, right now? How can I respect and honor my prior
decisions before I make this next big decision?
2. Am I making this decision from a place of fear or faith?
Most
entrepreneurs spend some time scared out of their wits. It comes with
the title and the inevitable roller coaster ride of going out on your
own. But when you make decisions from a place of fear, it can constrict
opportunities, limit possibility and truncate your results. When you
operate from fear, you’ll try to over control and force outcomes.
Ironically, forcing solutions creates more tension and resistance,
whereas going with the flow creates space for even more
possibilities. In order to put your fears aside, ask yourself: If I
replaced my fear with faith and my worry with calm and certainty, what
might I say and do now? What might shift before I make a commitment to a
path? If I replaced my fear with faith and my worry with calm and
certainty, what decision would I lean toward?
Faith requires
surrendering, letting go and loosening your grasp on your belief that
you must control everything. Paradoxically, faith in yourself means that
if you do make a decision that leads to unintended consequences, you
can give yourself the grace to know that you made the best decision at
the time you made it and you still believe in yourself to
course-correct.
Entrepreneurs often get stuck making tough
decisions because they are scared of what will happen if they make a
choice. Some entrepreneurs are afraid of losing security and comfort,
while others are scared of what the next level of success might require
of them. Ask yourself whether fear or faith in yourself is going to
motivate this next decision.
3. Who must I become to lead into this decision?
Focusing
on who you need to evolve into in order to reach and exceed your goals
is one of the very best questions you will ever ask yourself. For more
than 20 years, I’ve used this question to change the conversation and to
change the mindset of leaders around the globe. “Who must I become to
make this decision and create the life I desire?” is at the heart of it
all. Looking at yourself — your strengths and core values, your drivers
and motivators, your skill gaps, personality quirks and your
shortcomings (come on, you know you’re perfectly imperfect) — is the
best thing you can do to make a well-informed and confident decision.
Asking yourself how you might need to evolve, should you choose a certain path, before
you make the actual choice is brilliant — full stop. It sets you up for
decision-making success. Before you commit, ask yourself: Who might I
need to become in order to make this decision manifest into the most
profitable outcomes possible? Your answer will help you craft a plan for
your own evolution as you support the manifestation of your choices.
Big
entrepreneurial decisions are less about options A and B and more about
figuring out who you are and the life you want to create for yourself.
Life is messy. You’ll make mistakes. You might even make a decision that
has you eyeing somebody else’s lane or feeling like your road took a
detour, but the more time you take to ask and answer these three
questions, the more time you’ll confidently spend behind the
wheel, confidently steering in the direction of your desires.
Big entrepreneurial decisions are less about options A and B and more about figuring out who you are and the life you want to create for yourself. Life is messy. You’ll make mistakes. You might even make a decision that has you eyeing somebody else’s lane or feeling like your road took a detour, but the more time you take to ask and answer these three questions, the more time you’ll confidently spend behind the wheel, confidently steering in the direction of your desires.
Ready to Quit Your Current Venture? Consider These 3 Questions First
Aytekin Tank VIP Contributor Entrepreneur; Founder and CEO, JotForm February 4, 2020 5 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You did it. You finally launched a business, or started writing that
book, or took that job with the company you were thrilled to work for.
But once the initial thrill wears off, you realize it’s not all it’s
cracked up to be. Or maybe things just haven’t gone as expected. Part of
you wants to throw in the towel, but another voice urges you to stay
the course. After all, quitters never win and winners never quit. Or do
they?
According to best-selling author and entrepreneur Seth Godin, they do. In The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick), Godin argues that winners quit fast, quit often and quit without guilt. Rather than continuing to invest in a sunk cost, winners cut their losses and reinvest their time and energy in another activity that will (hopefully) propel them forward. Just think: Every moment you dedicate to your current venture is a moment you’re not dedicating to another one that might be more profitable, fulfilling or both.ADVERTISING
Our
rational brain (and Economics 101) tells us to ignore sunk costs, but
in reality, that’s easier said than done. Here, a few things to consider
when you’re deciding whether it’s time to deploy your parachute.
1. Is it profitable?
The
act of quitting is emotionally charged, particularly when you worked so
hard to attain a project or position in the first place. Our first
instinct is often to blame ourselves — if only we hustled harder or
longer, things would be better. This can quickly lead to spirals of
self-doubt and shame. These subjective experiences can influence our
decision-making, leading us to forge on, against our better judgment, in
a fruitless endeavor.
A better approach is to remove the emotions
from the equation and crunch the numbers. Put simply, determine whether
your current business is profitable.
2. What’s the cost of staying?
Once
you figure out whether your current occupation is profitable, also
consider what it’s stopping you from doing and the earnings that you’re
foregoing there. Let’s say you’re a freelance designer and thinking
about starting your own agency. Those gigs might earn you money now, but
they also take time away from a potentially more rewarding opportunity.
According to Godin, the choices we make to pursue one activity rather than another can be expensive, like watching Netflix instead of doing something more enriching: “These hours you could have spent reading a book, coaching the local handball team, or giving back to the community, you chose to be watching television,” he writes.
Don’t
get me wrong: Not all Netflix sessions are bad. I’d be hardpressed to
give up my habit of watching documentaries before bed. But when it
begins encroaching on time that might be better spent on something more
purposeful, it’s time to get our habits in check. The point is, even if
you can’t crunch the numbers precisely, try to have a forward-looking
perspective, focusing not just what you’re giving up, but on what you
stand to gain.
3. Am I still passionate?
This
might be the hardest question. It means going beyond the surface — past
how something looks on paper or what people will think — and deciding
whether the day-to-day experience still makes you happy. Of course,
there will be moments of stress and even pain, like if we’re on a tight
deadline or receive a bad review. But at the end of the day, you should
feel your heart is still in it.
Tech founder Mark Asquith shared how he quit his first real business just a year after launching. Writing for Entrepreneur, Asquith explained: “The problem was that I’d become disenchanted,after such a short amount of time with what I had been sold on by the books and the success stories of the people I knew who had started their own businesses.”
He
had to “really dig deep” to discover what the issue was, but
ultimately, it led him to quit and enabled him to launch another, more
successful business that very same year.
Research from Northwestern University shows that quitting unattainable goals and refocusing our energy on alternate goals can make us happier, physically healthier and less stressed. It also suggests that an ability to effectively quit an unrealistic goal was beneficial to participants’s physical health because it relieved psychological stress. In other words, both your physical and mental health stand will benefit from being able to identify and detach from unrealistic goals (e.g. rescuing a floundering business or being happy in an unfulfilling job).
Hopefully, you’ll find these tips helpful for making the decision of whether to quit if and when that time comes.
Clay Mathile and Joni Fedders Guest Writer Founder/Chairman of the Board and President of Aileron February 6, 2020 4 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Strategic planning is a polarizing term. For some people, it’s
cringeworthy, conjuring up images of long meetings that are driven more
by outdated process than by purpose. I’ve been there myself; I remember
one particularly painful strategic-planning session that consisted of
two days of irrelevant data analysis and concluded in a few documents
that were never referenced again.
With experiences like
this, it’s easy to see why strategic planning gets a bad name — and why
business leaders avoid it like a tax audit. But now is the worst time it
to dodge it. How people travel, work, live, shop and communicate
changes more frequently and significantly now than at any other point in
modern history, and that means you don’t have five years to respond and
adapt. You might not even have one year.ADVERTISING
The
constant evolution of today’s consumer and marketplace means it’s
critical you pay attention to what’s going on outside of your
organization, industry and geography. If you want to build a business
that lasts forever, strategic planning — specifically, external analysis
— must become an ongoing, agile process.
Here’s
the good news: Analyzing your external environment doesn’t have to be
miserable. Let’s reframe the process. At its core, reviewing your
external environment is a practice in relevancy testing during times of
change. It gives you an opportunity to assess if you’ll be consumable
by, connected with and valuable to cultures and consumers in the future.
Rather than using the outdated strategic planning models that aren’t
serving you, and put your leadership team to sleep, practice relevancy
testing instead. Here’s how you do it in four steps.
1. Look at competitive business models
And
not just the ones in your industry. DoorDash and Shipt applied Uber’s
model to transform how people eat, even though the transportation,
grocery and restaurant industries are all very different. Other major
market shifts — virtualizing healthcare, digitizing financial
transactions, emphasizing sustainability and the environment — may soon
impact your business. While it’s impossible to know what the world will
look like five years from now, it’s important to recognize and analyze
trends to prepare for what’s coming your way.
2. Select the ones that are relevant to you
After
you’ve gathered a collection of trends, determine which ones are
relevant to you and your customers, and which aren’t worthy of further
analysis. Organize that list by speed of change; although driverless
cars may make a big impact in the future, they’re not coming as fast as
other shifts. Place emphasis on that’s happening now or soon.
3. Visualize adopting a new model
With
this new perspective, ask yourself and your team: “If we were opening
our doors for the first time tomorrow, what would we look like?” This
question allows you to eliminate creative restrictions and think outside
of what currently exists. One day at Iams, Clay Mathile gathered us
into a conference room and told us our biggest competitor had expanded
into grocery. Our task was to determine how to respond. We didn’t know
at the time that it wasn’t true; the exercise was designed to implore us
to look at our business with a new lens — and it worked.
4. Review competitive materials
When’s
the last time you looked at your competitors’s websites to analyze
their positioning? Create a habit of understanding how your competitors
are changing and what they’re bringing to the table so you can continue
to add value and differentiate your business.
Last year at Summit, Aileron’s annual two-day community gathering, Entrepreneur
Editor-in-Chief Jason Feifer spoke to us about bicycles, specifically
how many people in the media alleged the invention was doomed for
failure and would never be adopted by society at large. Society, as we
know, had other plans. This anecdote sheds light on an eternal truth:
Change is inevitable, no matter how hard we push against it or how
little we plan for it.
As leaders, it’s our responsibility to
recognize the inevitability of change and embrace it rather than
remaining ignorant. Regardless of the path we choose, change will
happen, and we can choose to either be its champion or its prey.
My Employees Helped Me Build a Billion-Dollar Tech Company
Stu Sjouwerman Guest Writer Founder and CEO, KnowBe4 February 6, 2020 6 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
As far as backstory, the title really says it all. I’m extremely proud of the success I’ve had as an entrepreneur and CEO of KnowBe4, but I certainly never could have achieved that success on my own; it’s been a team effort from day one.
So
how do you get the right people to stick around in the challenging
environment of a startup and see the process through? The first thing to
understand is that it’s not necessarily about money. A competitive
salary and benefits package is useful in attracting good candidates, but
less so in terms of retaining them. Who employees work with — and who
they work for — rank much higher on the list of contributors to job
satisfaction. ADVERTISING
The
interactions these people have, their mutual expectations of one
another and the level of accountability between them across all levels
of an organization are some major factors in that somewhat ambiguous
“thing” that we refer to as corporate culture.
While there’s no
single best example of what a healthy corporate culture looks like, I
think it’s worth sharing what has worked for our company, and why I
think it can probably work for yours, too.
Treat Employees as Grownups
This
might seem obvious or, depending on how many HR meetings you’ve sat in
on, even tired. But our practice is to view and treat every employee as
an intrinsically valuable individual, not just a contributor. When you
start from this premise, there are so many opportunities for team
members to help one another grow and find fulfillment in work, which
greatly benefits the company in terms of employee engagement and
productivity.
No job is “just a job,” after all; where you work
and what you do is a significant aspect of your life at any given point
in time, whether it’s a culmination of effort expended over decades, or a
small stepping stone to where you want to be later.
That’s why
it’s so important to take it beyond motivational posters or occasional
pep talks. To that end, we clearly outline paths to promotion and employ
a dedicated career coach to work with employees internally. We also
have Life Coach and an Employee Assistance Program available for all our
employees who’ve been with us for 90 days.
More fundamentally,
we’ve built our culture, and business, on the foundation of respect. Our
policy is that everyone gives it and everyone gets it, which has helped
immensely in keeping the workplace a fun, positive place to spend time
in.
Keep Communication Direct and Relevant
Live
communication, not email, is how we resolve our issues. Through trial
and error, I’ve learned that there’s just too much opportunity for a
thread of text-only messages to foster misunderstanding and devolve into
anger and pettiness. Especially when the original problem could have
been easily solved with a quick face-to-face conversation.
In
support of this, we also use a “no-door” policy, as well as open floor
plans, keeping everyone as accessible to everyone else as much as
possible.
Along with how we talk about things, what
we talk about also has a big impact on productivity and team spirit.
Cohesion is the goal, so we ask employees to leave any conversation
about religion or politics (including “office politics”) outside of
work.
Prioritize Transparency
The “no-door” policy
plays a part here, but we also try to maximize transparency in less
tangible ways. Information that we actively inform every member of our
organization about includes:
All aspects of corporate policy.
Any and all plans for future expansion.
Expectations for each job role, including specifically tracked statistics, and whether those are being met.
We
also conduct a daily stand-up meeting to provide all staff members with
a quick update about the company. On the more lighthearted side, I also
encourage employees to participate in a regular AMA (Ask Me Anything)
with me, the CEO.
This hyper-transparent environment doesn’t just
make people feel more accountable. It also gives them confidence about
their performance, their role and their value to the overall
organization.
Remember to Have Fun
By its nature,
the work we do is challenging. The last thing I’d want my employees to
feel is that it’s also boring or oppressive. Most of us spend a good
deal of time at work, and that shouldn’t be time that we look back on
with disdain. I firmly believe that good, old-fashioned fun is the right
ingredient in preventing that.
To that end, we run a constant
flow of games and contests in the workplace and even have an Internal
Games Commissioner to manage. Far from getting in the way of work, this
actually makes us more efficient, as we’ve gotten good at finding ways
to gamify production metrics and implement fun, performance-based
rewards.
Also,
a perpetual employee favorite among our company policies is the Florida
dress code: If you will not get arrested on your way to work, you’re
good!
There
are many things, small and large, that go into creating a sustainable
corporate culture — certainly more than just these four. But in my
experience, employees who feel valued (as people, not placeholders),
listened to (not just heard) and appreciated (not just compensated) are
the ones who will consistently rise to the challenges that their role
presents. Ultimately, everyone wants to succeed, and success in the
workplace is part of that. If, as an employer, you’re there to help them
succeed on a continual basis, and not just profit off their efforts,
then you’ll quickly find yourself surrounded by the kind of people who
will want to help you, and your business, succeed as well.
Kim Walsh Phillips VIP Contributor Founder of Powerful Professionals February 7, 2020 3 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
As your number-one ROI chaser, I’m here with another tale of a
business getting it wrong. You see, I am trying to sign up my daughter
for dance classes. Four of them. She loves dance, has been on company
teams before and is ready to go “all in” (i.e. they’re about to get a
payday from me over and over again). The problem is, I can’t get
the dance studio to take my money.
I’ve tried emailing,
calling, showing up in person only to find it closed, showing up in
person when they are open. None of it has worked so far. The latest
exchange involved the owner telling me to use a different email address
because the one that I used requires him to log in, and he always has
trouble doing it. This was in response to my last message that asked for
us to sign her up. Seriously.ADVERTISING
If
the school wasn’t so close to our house and I hadn’t heard such great
things about their program, I would have given up a long time ago. As I
am sure many have. Can you imagine how much they have lost in sales?
So
the question is: Is this happening inside of your business, too? Before
you’re quick to say no, ask yourself: Was there ever a question that
came into our website that took me a minute to respond to? Did I ever
miss someone contacting us on social media? Was there a voicemail that
got lost somewhere? Does my team always capture every lead?
I know
that at Powerful Professionals Business Coaching, we occasionally mess
this up for sure. And when we do, it hits that pit in my stomach
normally reserved for roller coasters and grownups wearing clogs.
To
elminate the need for such a moment of angst, I browse the inquiries
that come into our customer service team a few times a week, and we’ve
built time into our planning to comb through all channels to make sure
everyone is answered. We even hired a VA whose only job is to monitor
and reply to my social media messages and comments so we don’t miss
anything any longer. These systems collectively plugged the hole of
missed sales opportunities and increased revenue without inreasing ad
spend.
Are there sales opportunities you are missing that can be
captured right now? Look for a chance to make a sale that exists in
front of you now and … Take. Their. Money. Schedule time this week to
get it done.
And now I’m off to camp out in front of the dance studio with a wad of cash to see what happens next.
Richard Trevino II Guest Writer International Consultant, Speaker, and Writer February 7, 2020 5 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
In recent years, emotional intelligence, or EQ, has become a common and popular topic among managers and leaders. As a consultant who trains companies of all sizes on leadership and soft skills, I can tell you that it is by far one of the most needed areas of development in today’s workplace, and especially among leadership. But what is EQ really, and why is it so important?
According to TalentSmart founder and Emotional Intelligence 2.0 author Travis Bradberry, “Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage ourselves and our relationships effectively” and it “is also an important indicator when it comes to performance prediction.” Current studies indicate that it affects “performance and success in areas including customer retention, increased sales, leadership, management and so many other facets.” With such noted impacts, managers and leaders must understand and improve their EQ in order to beneift from its effects in the workplace.ADVERTISING
Fortunately, your EQ can be broken down into two key components: personal awareness and social awareness.
Be Self-Aware
Personal awareness, or self-awareness, entails being mindful of your emotions and how you express them as situations arise. People who are self-aware “are committed to their own growth and development,” as DevelopmenWORKS President John R. Stoker blogged for SmartBrief. In order to be self-aware, you must be willing to conduct honest self-assessments, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality test.
However, being self-aware is not just about
knowing how you react to certain situations and what triggers your
emotional responses. It is also about using that knowledge to control
your reactions. Controlling your emotions doesn’t mean you stop feeling
them. It means being able to recognize that you are angry or frustrated,
understanding that it’s inappropriate to show your anger and
frustration in certain situations and remaining calm despite your inner
feelings. It also means accepting criticisms, both negative and
positive, and using them as a basis for improving and developing
yourself. Such feedback can also help you in assessing yourself and your
emotional responses. Taking another MBTI won’t show you whether you’ve
improved or not, but feedback from your peers can help you assess how
much you’ve developed your EQ.
Being
self-aware allows you to communicate better. Because you can control
how you react to certain situations and people, you can avoid
unnecessary conflicts in the workplace or even in your personal life.
For instance, instead of shouting and making a scene, when you feel that
you are getting angry or frustrated, you start to take deep,
relaxing breaths so that you can stay level-headed and calmly address
the issue. This allows you to avoid escalating the situation.
Be Socially Aware
Social
awareness refers to our ability to empathize with others. In other
words, it’s our sensitivity to others’s feelings and emotions, as well
as our willingness to respect other people’s perspectives. Social
awareness also means being honest and respectful. With your knowledge of
how the people around you might react, you will be able to prepare for
their reactions. For instance, as managers and leaders, you’ll have to
implement changes in your company at some point, and you can anticipate
that a number of your employees will react negatively to those changes.
Consequently, you can also make plans to ensure that their concerns are
addressed, which helps prevent most of the conflicts that arise when implementing changes.
Like self-awareness, your social awareness can also improve your ability to communicate — not just at work, but in everyday conversations as well. In order to increase your social awareness, practice observing the people around you. Take note of what triggers their emotional responses. People betray certain cues when they are about to get an emotional high. For instance, most people start breathing heavily when they get angry. Some can turn red, while others begin to frown or form a crease in their foreheads. These are all indicators of people who might have a negative response to your words or actions or the situation that you find yourselves in. Knowing these cues allows you to take action to ensure that before they reach their emotional high, you diffuse some, if not all, of the possible causes of their emotional response.
As
a manager or leader in any capacity in the workplace, sharpening your
EQ is going to improve the day-to-day interactions amongst those in your
operation. One benefit of having a high EQ is developing the ability to
gather a group of people and make them work together to reach a common
goal. Because you understand their emotional responses, you know what to
say or do to motivate them to work harder and as a team towards the
same goal. And rememebr to take note that being self-aware and socially
aware can also help you manage your personal relationships, enahcing
your quality of life in and out of the office.
Doubt Will Always Creep In. Here’s How to Shut It Out.
Thomas Edwards, Jr. Guest Writer Performance and Transformational Coach February 10, 2020 5 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Doubt is a very, very powerful entity. It can consume your life and
sabotage your success. Even during your highest of highs, you will have
moments of questioning yourself. Imposter’s Syndrome is commonplace for
many entrepreneurs.
But over a decade of life coaching,
I’ve observed three main ways that entrepreneurs allow doubt to hold
them back from taking the necessary leaps in their businesses and
personal lives. Here are three ways I’ve experienced doubt creeping in,
and the solutions I’ve found for shutting it out, and moving forward.
The more you know, the less you know
Sometimes
you just feel clueless. You don’t know what the strategies or steps are
that you need to accomplish to overcome the challenge in front of you,
and you’re not even sure where to look for the answers. That can feel
truly paralyzing.
About a year ago, I was in a deep funk. I was
feeling really down on myself, and I honestly wasn’t sure if I was going
to pull out of it. I knew I was depressed but didn’t fully understand
what was happening emotionally. Meanwhile, I was trying to balance all
of my usual responsibilities, and it took a huge toll on me and my
business.
The trouble was, I had no idea what I was supposed to do
to get out of my head. “How does one break out of a depression?” I was
asking myself. “What’s the process? What’s the strategy? How do I figure
that out?” I began looking for answers, and then… I kept looking for
answers. I told myself I was making progress by learning about all the
possible answers, sequences, processes and outcomes. But in looking for
the perfect solution or piece of advice–as opposed to just doing
something, anything to actually move forward–I found another way of being stuck.
There
is truth to the old saying, “the more you know, the less you know.”
It’s always good to seek out knowledge and the wisdom of others, but if
you’re already in a state of paralysis, sometimes looking for the
perfect answer can become an excuse not to take any real action.
The
truth is, you probably already know more than enough to take that first
step. And whatever action you take will result in experience that will
help you grow and build momentum.
Courage keeps doubt on its heels
Like
all of us, entrepreneurs deal with a lot of fear. They’re afraid of
faulture and rejection. And sometimes they’re afraid of how long it
could take to get real results they can show others, to prove their
success. In a world of instant gratification, we don’t want to do things
that will take a lot of time –– or go through the “pain” of growth.
In
my personal experience, when things looked OK on the surface,
underneath things were chaotic and I was scared to ask for support. When
I did begin to share publicly what was happening with me, there was
still a lot of fear about not only admitting my faults, but also
admitting I needed support.
But
once I stepped into the experience of sharing, it got easier very
quickly, and gave me an understanding –– with insights from people with
knowledge and willingness to help — about what I needed to do to up
level my personal life and business.
Destroy doubt by eliminating laziness
Most
people are lazy. But laziness is a very deceiving experience. You’re
probably reading this and saying to yourself, “I’m not lazy. I work
hard, you jerk.” But laziness is not a measure of how hard you work. I’m
sure many of you work hard, but feel you’re in a place where you want
to do something new, and you just can’t seem to move toward getting it
done.
You realize you need to lose
weight, and you know the gym is right around the corner, but you’re
comfortable. The thing you’re most avoiding doing is the one thing that
will really help you. So what do you do instead? You’d do other things,
like answering emails, or continuing tinkering with your slide deck.
You can convince yourself that’s productive, but it’s actually a form of
laziness.
Decisiveness forces doubt out
The first and
most important step is simply taking ANY productive action. By making
changes and standing firm in those decisions, you become an activist for
your own life. Decisiveness forces out doubt.
Leadership is about
taking a stand on how you want to show up in your business and life.
When you take the lead by choosing action over doubt, massive change
follows.
The quickest way to break the bonds of doubt is by taking
immediate decisive action. Oftentimes that’s all it takes: drafting
that first email, asking for help on a new project, or stepping inside
that gym. Building a business, like life, is a journey. As you continue
to live, you come across new experiences, new challenges, new obstacles.
You don’t learn by having all the answers.
10 Successful Leaders Share Their Struggles with Imposter Syndrome and How to Overcome It
Grow Your Business, Not Your Inbox
Candice Georgiadis February 11, 2020 15+ min read This story originally appeared on Authority Magazine
The legendary poet and activist Maya Angelou, who won the Presidential Medal of Freedom and received nominations for a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, once said about herself, “I have written 11 books, but each time I think, ‘Uh oh, they’re going to find out now! I’ve run a game on everybody, and they’re going to find me out.'”
This feeling, often prevalent in high-achieving people, is commonly known as “imposter syndrome.”
Imposter syndrome is a thought pattern where a person has a
persistent fear of being exposed as a “fraud,” and which makes that
person doubt himself and/or minimize their accomplishments.
Recently Authority Magazine interviewed dozens of high-achieving C-suite executives and leaders who all shared their own experiences overcoming imposter syndrome, as well as the advice they recommend for getting past it.
Enjoy 10 highlights of their interviews below.
These interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
Mikaela Kiner (CEO of Reverb)
Image credit:
via Authority Magazine
My experience struggling with imposter syndrome.
In the summer of 2018 while I was working on my book, a journalist from The Wall Street Journal asked
to interview me for her “Work and Family” column. When I looked at who
else she had featured, I saw people with big titles and important roles,
and I wondered, “Why would she want to hear my story?”
I saw myself as less accomplished and less relevant. I had to remind
myself that in the past, I’ve held senior roles in global organizations,
and I realize my experiences at these places counted. Not only did I
enjoy our conversation, we spoke again many months later on a different
topic. In the end I was quoted twice and met a wonderful woman who I now
consider an ally.
What I did to shake the feeling off.
Early in my career before I ever heard of impostor syndrome, I lived
with it all the time. I would walk into a meeting at work and wonder “Do
they like me? Am I smart enough to be here?” It took me several years
before I walked into a room and asked myself “Do I like them? Are these
people I respect and admire?”
I don’t know that it’s possible to be entirely rid of impostor
syndrome but I do manage it better today. What has helped me is learning
to recognize it so I can deal with my feelings rationally and talk
myself down.
Last year my colleague Elizabeth Bastoni shared some advice that really helped. She said “Don’t say no to yourself, let other people do that for you.” When I start talking myself out of an opportunity or favor because I don’t think I’m worth it, her words are a good reminder to put myself out there and let others decide. More often than not, their answer is yes.
5 Steps someone experiencing imposter syndrome can take to move forward, despite feeling like an “imposter.”
Name it. You can’t prevent thoughts and feelings
of impostor syndrome but when you name them, you can overcome them.
Label impostor syndrome for what it is.
Choose a mantra. Counter those feelings with a mantra like Michelle Obama’s “I am good enough.”
Gather data. List the facts and data about your
qualifications and achievements to remind yourself that you are indeed
accomplished and deserving.
Create an impostor box. When you experience
self-doubt, write your feelings down, tuck them away, and get on with
your day. Revisit them when you’re ready, on your terms.
Find a friend. There’s nothing like confiding in
someone you trust who can talk you off a ledge and help you see yourself
for the talented, capable person you are.
Stevon Lewis (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist)
Image credit:
via Authority Magazine
My experience struggling with imposter syndrome.
As a black male therapist, I haven’t always had an example to follow
or model myself after. In my graduate program I was the only black male
in my program the entire time I was there. I think this experience led
to my questioning whether or not I knew what I was doing. I don’t have
an example to follow to effectively evaluate my trajectory and
therefore, enter into effective questioning if I will be successful.
What I did to shake the feeling off.
I continually overcome any feelings of being an impostor. I use the
same techniques and skills I teach my clients. I tell myself, when
exploring a new opportunity, I successsfully explore other new
opportunities in the past and will continue to so with new ventures.
Moreover, I try to tell myself I am doing a good job, and look at the
evidence that supports this.
5 steps someone experiencing imposter syndrome can take to move forward, despite feeling like an “imposter.”
Be relentless in challenging your “inner bully.” The
inner bully is that inner voice we all have that makes us question our
abilities and self-worth. Listening to it often leads us to feel more
negatively about ourselves, our futures and our present circumstances.
For example, in a relationship,an inner bully might prey on our thoughts
or feeling as though we don’t deserve our significant other. Often
times this will cause us to act in ways that prevent intimacy and
connection. We become increasingly angry, clingy, jealous, defensive or
easily offended. If our partners are less talkative on a particular day,
our inner bullies get us to believe they are mad at us for something we
did. We will blindly believe our inner bully instead of checking in to
see if our significant other may not feel good, or if there is some
other rational explanation for their silence.
Create an evidence sheet. A physical paper or a
digital notebook where you list all of the evidence that counteracts
support your negative view of yourself as a fraud. This is not based on
whether you agree with the information, as we know people that struggle
with impostor syndrome will often explain away the evidence they receive
that suggests they aren’t a fraud. The goal is to continually add to
the document to show oneself that their feelings of being a fraud aren’t
based in reality.
Stop dismissing or minimizing your accomplishments.
Individuals that struggle with impostor syndrome often dismiss or
minimize their accomplishments as routine. I teach my clients to
celebrate themselves by acknowledging their accomplishments. The idea is
that even if their accomplishment has become routine, that doesn’t mean
it shouldn’t be acknowledged. In addition, if we disproportionately
highlight our shortfalls — while ignoring our successes — we all
inevitably end up feeling like a failure.
Temper your expectations of yourself. People that
struggle with impostor syndrome frequently hold themselves to a standard
of perfection that isn’t sustainable or achievable. If you are like
this, you may convince yourself you are failing. It would be better for
you to temper expectations by using scaling techniques to evaluate their
performance. For example, if you have a list of 10 things to accomplish
and you accomplish 9 out of 10, it would be more effective to say
you’ve accomplish 90 percent of your plans, as well as reminding
yourself that 90 percent is still an “A.”
Stop comparing yourself to others. In working with
individuals that struggle with impostor syndrome, the most toxic
behavior you can exhibit is using the lives and accomplishments of
others to negatively evaluate yourself. I often hear, from my clients,
how others are superior in their abilities and, as a result, are more
deserving of success. Individuals with impostor syndrome need to stop
measuring their abilities and journey based on someone else’s model.
It’s okay to take a different route to get to the same location; some
people like to fly, while others prefer to drive.
Liz Forkin Bohannon (Founder of Sseko Designs)
Image credit:
via Authority Magazine
My experience struggling with imposter syndrome.
Although I’ve been quite familiar with the feeling from early on in
my life, imposter syndrome really started to rear its ugly head up when I
was about five-six years into my career of building Sseko Designs. We
had to build a traditional wholesale/retail company and were considering
pivoting to a direct sales model. I believe the opportunity to od
business and make an impact was immense, but so was the risk. At this
point, I had a multi-million dollar company with employees and partners
across multiple countries. I started feeling like if I tried to lead us
through this pivot and failed, that would be the moment when I got
“found out” for being an imposter. Everyone would say, “See. She is not a
real leader or business person. It was all just ‘beginner’s luck.’” As a
result, I had an incredible amount of insecurity and anxiety.
What I did to shake the feeling off:
I may not have gotten rid of it completely, but enough that I was
able to move forward — and I am glad that I did! In our first full year
of selling through individual women in their communities, we did more in
revenue and impact than we had ever done through our wholesale channel!
In order to overcome it, I revisited the earliest days of my career and
started studying the mentalities and mindsets I had they helped me
resist imposter syndrome without even knowing it. My study of those
mentalities and mindsets was such an “a-ha” moment to me that I ended up
writing an entire book about it so that others can access their “Inner
Beginner” as a way of overcoming imposter syndrome so that you can build
a life of purpose, passion and impact.
5 Steps someone experiencing imposter syndrome can take to move forward, despite feeling like an “imposter.”
Own your average. Despite all the common self-help talk that
wants you to focus on your specialness, I propose you start warding off
imposter syndrome by owning the fact that you are likely indeed quite
average. When you “own your average,” you will stop only saying yes to
the things you think you’ll immediately excel in. When you own your
average, you start to realize that no one is thinking about you quite as
much as you think they are. You are not Beyoncé. (Or maybe you are
— hi, Beyoncé!). When you decide to own your average, you will start to
believe that success will require lots and lots of work, and is not
just an inevitable result of being born awesome. You also realize that
your insecurities and failures aren’t the tell-tale sign that you’re
below average. You know that mistakes and wrong turns are simply a
requisite on the road to building an above-average life of purpose and
passion, which means you’ll be less afraid to fail and flail a bit. And
more importantly, you’ll become less afraid and more likely to succeed,
perhaps wildly, because you truly believe you’re just as worthy and
likely to build an extraordinary life of purpose and passion as anyone
else.
Choose curiosity over criticism. There is scientific
evidence that suggests curiosity is just as important as IQ in achieving
long-term success. Also, it is the ultimate defense against imposter
syndrome. The more curious you are, the more able you are to tolerate
ambiguity, navigate complexity and acquire knowledge over time. Studies
have shown that increased curiosity is associated with less defensive
reactions to stress and less aggressive reactions to provocation. It’s
incredibly difficult to increase your IQ but you can increase your CQ,
or “curiosity quotient.”
Think like a journalist. Here is the thing about great
journalists: They don’t go into the story assuming they have it all
figured out. In fact, they know that the less you think you have it all
figured out, the more you can learn. The less you have riding on what
you think you need to “discover,” the freer you will be to get closer to
the actual truth, whatever it may be. The more open you are to be
surprised by what you uncover, the more likely you will be to find
something really interesting. By pretending to be a journalist on
assignment in your own life, you’re going to be more likely to find the
truest story which will enable you to be more successful. It’s also
going to de-shame not knowing everything and will reframe it as an asset
which will kick imposter syndrome to the curb.
Focus on the problem instead of the solution. Feeling like
we have to come up with the best solution off the bat will keep us
living under the sea of imposter syndrome. Instead, strive to connect
with people who can find and understand really interesting problems, and
therefore help us detach our egos from the solution. It gives us more
freedom to try and fail, all the while keeping the problem we set out to
solve in the starring role it deserves.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help along the way. If you’re the
first to admit you’re in a “learning mode” and might need some help, it
takes the power of the fear that someone else might say it first away.
And here is the really cool thing: Contrary to popular belief, studies
show that when we’re able to help someone out, we, the helper, end up
having increased affection and perceived closeness towards the person we
helped.
Kim Perell (Author, Angel Investor and CEO)
Image credit:
via Authority Magazine
My experience struggling with imposter syndrome:
Absolutely. When I first started my own company, I was terrified and
young. I had just gotten fired and broke. Everyone doubted me. And even
though I chose to press forward, block their voices out and believe in
myself. Predictably, I was still terrified. But I felt the fear and did
it anyway. Ultimately, your confidence must be greater than your doubt.
As an entrepreneur and executive, a huge part of success is that you
keep going despite doubt and uncertainty.
What I did to shake the feeling off:
I believe I did. Rather than focus on feelings of self-doubt or
worry, I focused on my vision and my passion. I zeroed in on the things I
wanted to achieve and the things that made me feel grateful to be
alive. These were the things that were the most authentic and true to
me.
I also learned to master my emotions. Sometimes, we act as though
fear and self-doubt are real and true facts. Really, they’re just
emotions that are only as powerful as we make them. I stopped allowing
those feelings to overwhelm me or distort my reality.
I’ve also made an effort to surround myself with successful people who support me and challenge me.
5 Steps one experiencing imposter syndrome can take to move forward, despite feeling like an “imposter”:
Talk about it. A few years ago, a CEO of a company I
invested in called me and said, “Do you ever feel like you don’t know
what you’re doing and you have all these people looking at you for
leadership but you doubt yourself?”
His question surprised me for a few reasons. For one, I was shocked to
hear that he felt that way. He had always struck me as someone who was
so self-assured and capable. I had nothing but confidence in his
abilities. I was also surprised because his worries were so familiar to
me. I knew exactly how he felt. I’d felt that way countless times early
on. Talking out how you feel with successful people you trust can help
you realize how common and normal your feelings are. It can also help
you see the way you look through their eyes.
Invest in relationships. Surround yourself with successful
people who want your success to continue. Find a mentor and peers who
see your potential and believe you deserve to be where you are. I
believe, at any given time, that you should have a mentor, engage in
mentoring somebody else, and possess a group of peers who are at your
level with whom to share resources, cross-references and gut checks.
Master your emotions. Too often, we act as though fear and
self-doubt are facts, when really they’re just emotions that are only as
powerful as we make them. Don’t let those feelings overwhelm you or
distort your reality. Choose to listen to positive emotions like
self-belief, trust and hope; give less weight to negative feelings or
self-talk. The belief in yourself must be greater than anyone else’s
doubt — including your own.
Stop comparing yourself to others. Focus on being the best
version of yourself and embrace what makes you different and unique.
Everyone has their own special talents; the key is to find yours and
execute on what you are good at. What other people have or haven’t
accomplished has nothing to do with you. Focus on your own journey. It’s
the best way to make sure you’re staying true to yourself and not
trying to become someone else.
Focus on your vision and passion. Zero in on the things you
want to achieve. Set a clear, specific, meaningful vision of something
you want to accomplish. Then, make that your North Star. Let it guide
everything you do. I always write down my vision and put it on my
bathroom mirror so I’m reminded of it every single day.
And make sure you’re devoting plenty of time to your passions, the
things you’re willing to sacrifice for, things that make me feel
grateful to be alive. Because those are the things that are the most
authentic and true to you. They’re the things you were truly meant to
do, regardless of abilities or talents.
Michael O’Brien (Executive Coach at Peloton Executive Coaching)
Image credit:
via Authority Magazine
My experience struggling with imposter syndrome:
My first experience with imposter syndrome came after I was promoted
to National Sales Director. I started to believe that the only reason I
got the job was that I was the only candidate willing to move to New
Jersey. I also thought I had to lead like all the National Sales
Directors in my industry, but that wasn’t my style. As a result, I lost
my identity for a few months. It was an extremely stressful period and I
wondered if I was the right person for the job. These feelings stayed
with me until I shifted my thinking and regained my confidence.
What I did to shake the feeling off:
Yes, I was able to shake off my imposter syndrome by shifting the
conversation I was having with myself by developing a list fo
accomplishments and a few mantras to remind myself why I was promoted. I
also started looking for small wins, which I knew would lead to bigger
ones down the road, which they did.
5 Steps someone experiencing imposter syndrome can take to move forward, despite feeling like an “imposter”:
1. Breathe. When imposter syndrome is present, it’s common for
your head to be spinning and be filled with emotion. It makes it hard
to know what to do next. Focusing on your breath slows you down, shifts
your perspective, and sparks a healthier self-narrative.
2. Create an accomplishments list. Develop a list of life
and career accomplishments and mantras that will help you
counter-balance your self-narrative when it gets negative or anxious.
You can develop your list in private and then ask others what strengths
they see in you.
3. Develop your network. Since life and career are not solo
projects, it’s essential to have a strong network. They can help you see
attributes you might not realize — especially when you can’t.
4. Celebrate small wins. Look for small victories to gain the type of momentum that will lead to big wins down the road and reframe your situation.
5. Express gratitude. Develop a gratitude practice to help
you see what’s working in your life. You can even be grateful for your
moments of self-doubt or feeling like a fraud because they are a natural
part of being alive and an opportunity to show yourself and the world
that you are gritty.
Ricky Joshi (CEO of The Saatva Company)
Image credit:
via Authority Magazine
My experience struggling with imposter syndrome:
Absolutely! Coming from the agency world meant I was well-versed in
business. My interest in lifestyle was strong, but as I worked on the
business model, attended events, and met other professionals, there were
definitely times where I felt like I did not know what I was doing.
While I knew intrinsically that I was competent, I found difficulty in
navigating this new space with my new company. That’s what’s so tricky
about imposter syndrome: you know you’re good, but it doesn’t always
show.
What I did to shake the feeling off:
Yes, through consistency, I was able to work my way out of it. Every
time I accomplished something, I would remind myself that it was because
of my talents and perseverance, and how I deserved to be there.
5 Steps someone experiencing imposter syndrome can take to move forward, despite feeling like an “imposter”:
Believe in your talents. Always look at your
talent as the base rather than focusing on the task. If you know you can
achieve something because of past experiences, then keep that at the
forefront of your mind.
Ask for help. I was fortunate enough to have Ron
through this journey, but friends and colleagues are a great support
system when you need a reminder.
Start small. If something seems too daunting, make
sure that you scale back and start with something small and manageable.
Once you conquer that, it’ll be easier for you to conquer future,
larger tasks.
Visualize your success. Keep your eye on the prize and look forward to what you want to achieve rather than playing into your doubts.
Prepare for disappointment. This is key. It does
not mean anticipate failure; it means come up with a plan in case of
failure. How will you move forward after the fact? Putting these in
place early can help you navigate tricky personal feelings.
Elena Doukas (Design Director at Garrett Leight California Optical)
Image credit:
via Authority Magazine
My experience struggling with imposter syndrome.
My education was in fashion design, and although there are many
parallels from apparel design to product design, I’ve always regretted
having not taken product design courses. When I started building out the
design team at Garrett Leight, I was nervous that candidates with way
more product design skills would not respect me as a boss, or that I
wouldn’t know what were the magic ingredients were needed to build a
strong team. Designing frames was something I was grasping quickly, but
managing a team was something I had never done.
On the flip side, when we were first starting out as a company, there
were only a few of us, and I had horrible work life balance. I would
stay at the office late, and lost touch with a few friends and had
trouble giving my friend base the time they deserved. I also had no time
to network or interact with any type of peer group, which made me feel
like an imposter when I started interacting in fashion circles. It was
like an imposter pendulum; on one side I felt not technical enough, and
on the other side not connected enough. I was in my late-20s introducing
myself as a design director of an eyewear company with no previous
eyewear experience, and bracing myself for questions about how I got the
job. I knew I got this opportunity from a combination of hard work and
luck, but would constantly question if I was truly the most qualified
person for the job.
What I did to shake the feeling off.
As the company grew, I wasn’t always able to have a clear vision of
how I wanted to personally grow. I realized I needed to make some
changes and give more balance to my life. I think the most confusing
part for me was how I evolved through my job. When I was hired, the
company needed me to do a lot of roles (i.e. design, development,
production and sales), but as we grew, I was expected to be an expert in
a specific field. It was difficult for me to adapt, and there was
no magic ball telling me exactly how I had to change. There was no
how-to guide on building and managing a team, and giving direction.
However, I got some good advice from one of my mentors to really
understand what my best strengths were, and had a real constructive
conversation on the things I wasn’t good at. The irony is the I was
advice I was told was the following: No one is ever blessed with knowing
exactly how to do everything. It’s the journey of figuring it out that
helps you learn how to do things and continuing to perfect your process.
5 Steps one experiencing imposter syndrome can take to move forward, despite feeling like an “imposter.”
Get organized. I think common result of imposter
syndrome is either procrastination or anxiety. If I find myself freezing
up or on the opposite end approaching a project sporadically, I try to
get myself organized. I think a huge stereotype is that creative people
are unorganized, where I think a lot creatives actually thrive in an
organized environment, and they just need to find the best structure for
them. Try to schedule out time for yourself when you’re at your best to
tackle your most overwhelming issues. For me it’s early mornings,
before I’ve checked my phone or email so I have zero distractions.
Bullet journaling, which is a daily free form journal, is something I
actively do to keep myself organized, and really has helped me not push
things to the side. If you google Bullet Journal, don’t compare your
journal to the thousands of journal images showing perfect penmanship,
art doodles and different colored pens. As much as I envy some of these
peoples art skills, it’s absolutely insane to think you should spend
that much time working on making your bullet journal perfect. The whole
point is to free mind up so you can focus on more important things.
Rinse and repeat (but with intent). Growing up I
played competitive soccer and I had a coach who started every practice
saying, “Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.”
It wasn’t until after I graduated college that I realized the intent of
this saying wasn’t to become a perfectionist, but it was to be present
in every moment you are working on your goal. Now in my job, I’ve also
learned to embrace doing multiple iterations of a design and work on
them in the full extent. Even when I think it’s finished, I’ll try doing
several more. It’s in the process of exploring all the possibilities
that you find something new and original, even if the first version ends
up being the one you go with.
Mentor. I’m very grateful to have several mentors
in my life, and can’t stress enough how important I think it is to have a
soundboard. My brother in law is in a line of work where he’s
frequently meeting with investors, and he shared with me that in almost
every investor meeting a commonly asked question is, “Who are you
talking to?” which equates to who in your circle is giving you
advice and are they smarter than you? Quite frankly, you’re probably not
the smartest person on any one subject, and there’s a bit of relief in
admitting it and finding guidance from someone who is. I learned from
Garrett not to design in a bubble, and he actively pushes me to get
feedback from others outside of the office on designs.
Peer relationships. Having close friends that can
call you on your bullshit is equally as important as having a peer group
within your industry. I now have several friends who are in fashion and
eyewear, and a lot of our relationships are built around a support
system we give to each other.
Wellness program. Work life balance is a must for
me. Find an activity or routine that allows you to turn your brain off
and give back to yourself. Yoga has been my way of turning off, and is a
practice in itself of learning to shut down a wandering mind. I’ve
learned that the reaction of letting your mind wander to negative
thoughts is actually possible to shut down, but it takes practice.
David Metzler (CEO of CBD Capital Group)
Image credit:
via Authority Magazine
My experience struggling with imposter syndrome:
When I first began my career, I was involved in large-scale
investment companies. Having graduated from Columbia as a veteran, I
climbed the ranks quickly as the company positioned me strategically
with important clients that value veterans. As I looked around at the
high-level executives around me, I felt like I didn’t deserve to be at
the top with them. As a result, I felt like I couldn’t ask the questions
necessary to understand a subject because I worried that people will
see me as not smart. Knowing that tendency, I created a rule for me that
I would only create teams of experts, where I didn’t need to be the
“smartest guy in the room.” That allowed me to always be surrounded by
the best professionals, and ask all the questions I needed to truly
master and solve any situation or problem that arises.
What I did to shake the feeling off:
Yes, but not without practice. I spent years accruing experience
doing what I love and surrounding myself with other successful
entrepreneurs. As success came in each endeavor, I realized that I do
have the ability to lead and create the life I want.
5 Steps someone experiencing imposter syndrome can take to move forward, despite feeling like an “imposter”:
Look to your strengths. Take a look inside yourself and list out your five largest strengths that have contributed to your success.
Think about your career goals. Consider your goals one, five and ten years from now.
Analyze your weaknesses. Ask yourself, what are
your biggest weaknesses that you’re afraid people will discover. And how
can you develop those strengths to achieve your goals?
Surround yourself with other successful people. You are who you surround yourself with.
Believe in yourself. Take that step. Make those decisions based on what you think the best choice is and adapt to what happens and learns.
Mary Rinaldi (Co-Founder of Simone)
Image credit:
via Authority Magazine
My experience struggling with imposter syndrome:
After building hedge fund products at an investment firm, one of our
partners who I worked with closely on a successful project wanted to
hire me into their firm. This firm was one of the best — highly ethical
and extremely well-respected. Even better, the team I was to join was
run by one of the smartest, kindest women I met during my short career
in finance. Despite these positives, I was certain I would fail if I
took the offer. I was fundamentally afraid that without the pedigree
(since every single person there had attended The Wharton School of
Business), the degree in Economics (my degree was in literature and
history), and a coveted CFA II certificate, I would last for a few
months and then be fired. Looking back, I would have flourished. It was a
perfect role for me: It combined my love of explicating structure and
process, integral to how a portfolio is built, and communicating
outcomes, integral to the explanation of how a portfolio performed.
Sadly in the end, I didn’t take the role.
What I did to shake the feeling off:
I don’t think people with imposter syndrome permanently eliminate the
feeling, since it’s about alignment between your internal self and how
you are perceived by the world. But I’ve found some tools to change the
internal dialogue about that process. How we work — listening, teaching,
and making — can be the best tool for that.
For example, I’ve accepted that I don’t pop-up out of bed at 5:30 AM,
but that doesn’t mean I can’t make a habit of it and make it last for
years. I’ve learned that general productivity — clocking good hours at
my job, meeting professional goals, expanding my network — isn’t what I
really want. The grueling schedule required a level of anxiety that kept
me from the work I really wanted to do. So now, I wake up around 8:00
AM, and I read or write for an hour with a cup of coffee. This way, I
arrive at work with clarity and intention. From this routine, I now have
multiple essays in progress, a few new roles I’m going after and more
warmth and generosity to offer others.
5 Steps someone experiencing imposter syndrome can take to move forward, despite feeling like an “imposter”:
Own the problem. The first step is stating that
there is a problem, defining what it is without blaming anyone and then
getting feedback. For me, this took the form of telling a close friend
about my crippling anxiety and how I was to overcome it. She recommended
a book (“The Artist’s Way”) for me to begin my work with it, and it was
life-changing.
Get into the world around you.Take walks,
ride your bike, notice people, count oddities of nature and notice the
cracks in the sidewalk. While I was on a mission to overcome creative
paralysis brought on by imposter syndrome, I enrolled in a course called
“Drawing for Writers.” I learned how to observe, learned how to be
present and find honesty and courage in my writing.
Take your time. Luxuriate in the time it takes to
change with no particular outcome other than feeling less anxiety about
whether or not you’re worthy of your life, job or what you want. Time is
elastic, so just go with it. Move quickly when you need to and move
slowly when you need to. It will change your perception of the world.
Be honest.Self-criticism is the hallmark
of imposter syndrome, especially sweeping declarative insults that are
patently untrue. For example, saying to yourself, “You really suck at
pitching ideas. Your ideas are boring and really bad. You don’t deserve
your job at all” is a dead end. If you choose to be honest and say, “I’m
nervous about today, because I don’t feel connected to this idea and
afraid my pitch is going to go poorly,” you’ve just found the way
forward and clarified the options. You might have a teammate help you
out with the pitch, or interrogate what you feel is missing from the
idea. Or you may accept that this one may not go your way and take time
for rest and refreshment.
Be disciplined. Practice, practice, practice! As
you find time throughout your week to do all these things, ritualize
them. Changing the conversation is an ongoing practice. You will
experience setbacks and anxious moments, and how you respond to them
will have a big impact on the steadiness of your outlook. Healthy
emotional and mental grooves help us persist through difficulty.
Mike Hondorp (CMO of Whalar)
Image credit:
via Authority Magazine
My experience struggling with imposter syndrome:
I really started to feel like an imposter as my job grew at Facebook.
Facebook was a place for crazy-smart, high-achieving, really young
people. To go from more traditional corporate jobs to a role at job
fast-growing and boundary-breaking tech company turned the idea
hierarchy on its head for me. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure if I could measure
up. Though it was humbling to feel like I wasn’t qualified enough to
even be in the room with some of these people.
In my role, I was meeting with the heads of marketing for big global
companies, and even though I had less experience than they did, they
would listen so attentively my counsel about Instagram because the
platform was so new, and they trusted you to guide them through it.
Despite this authority, I did not know what I had done to earn their
trust. And I often felt like I was just there.
What I did to shake the feeling off:
For me, it never goes away, and it never feels like I’m achieving
enough. I minimize this by continuing to prove my value and focusing on
the work itself. I also try to redefine what a C-level executive does
and how they behave, to make it more authentic and approachable than
people can sometimes think of senior leadership being. For example, I
really like relating to people on a human level — it’s fun to understand
what motivates people, what their home life is like, what music they’re
into, and just be fun and silly sometimes. It’s through these moments
is when we build connections with each other.
5 Steps one experiencing imposter syndrome can take to move forward, despite feeling like an “imposter”:
Know your material — then over-prepare. For
example, last month we launched our 2020 influencer marketing trends
report with a big event for clients in New York, which I hosted. I had
been living in the research for three months, so I was also confident
that I knew my stuff. The event was a huge success.
Lean into what makes you uncomfortable. If I
hadn’t said yes to meeting up with a colleague after a chance encounter
on an elevator, I may not have had the career I’ve had.
Be vulnerable and transparent. It builds trust
immediately and builds psychological safety. For example, I was speaking
at a conference last year and mistakenly misgendered a creator I
featured in a presentation to hundreds. I was mortified, and while I
apologized profusely, I felt terrible for my error and any discomfort it
caused them. Rather than ignore it or try to forget it, after the event
I shared what had happened with my team, so that it was a learning
moment not just for me, but for all of us.
Understand that you’ll never truly get over it — and that’s OK. It’s part of who you are. I think about my imposter syndrome constantly, but I also know I can’t let it hold me back.
Put your anxiety to good use and let it motivate you. For
me, I use these feelings to both fuel my ambition for great work that
makes a difference, as well as remind me that everyone needs to feel
comfortable to do their best work.
