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What it Takes to Be a Great Leader

Leadership

What it Takes to Be a Great Leader

Leadership is changing! Are you on board?

Whether you’re a CEO, Area Manager or Team Supervisor, how you ‘perform’ as a leader of people and in particular, how you continually learn and adapt, will define your career success, as well as the respect of peers and leaders around you.

Why do I say this?

Maybe that seems pretty obvious to some?

But the truth of the matter is that the majority of today’s leaders are falling behind the pace and some are simply static.

Leadership is rapidly undergoing a much needed upgrade, something which is dramatically changing the face of organisational cultures, employee engagement and business potential as a whole.

The challenge is, everyone has a different idea of what good leadership is. So what is the right way to lead?

What does great leadership mean to you? Does it mean the same to your colleagues?

In this article, I’m sharing an interesting TED Talk with you, presented by Rosalinde Torres on the subject of New Leadership.

During her speech Roselinde asks 3 very interesting questions, among others, as to what it takes to be a great leader today and how to thrive as a leader in the future.

From 25 years of observing great leadership, the contrast she is able to draw between what most leaders do and the leadership qualities and skills that are actually needed in today’s modern world, is vast, powerful and kind of clear to see when we look at the businesses all around us.

So, would you say you’re already aligned with new leadership requirements? Well, it’s time to watch the video and find out. Try as you watch, to reflect on the 3 key questions she poses.

Video Introduction: “The world is full of leadership programs, but the best way to learn how to lead might be right under your nose. In this clear, candid talk, Roselinde Torres describes 25 years observing truly great leaders at work, and shares the three simple but crucial questions would-be company chiefs need to ask to thrive in the future.”

What do you think of Rosalinde’s speech? Do you agree with her view on the future of leadership?

As you reflected on the questions she raised in the video, could you see room to adapt or improve your own leadership style in some way? The best leaders always find ways to learn and improve.

In fact, continual improvement is often a defining characteristic of great leaders!

If you’re not a leader in business, yet, can you see these comparisons in the leaders you interact with at work? How would you lead if you were in their position?

Share your ideas and experiences with us in the comments section! You can also share this article with your colleagues and friends via Facebook and LinkedIn.

Best,

Adam

For the definitions of the highlighted words check our Glossary. 

About the Author

Adam Baker is the co-Founder and Course Director at Trust Native. He’s an Entrepreneur, Business Coach, and Sport & Organizational Psychologist with professional experience in both Europe and South America.

About the Author

Adam Baker is the co-Founder and Course Director at Trust Native. He’s an Entrepreneur, Business Coach, and Sport & Organizational Psychologist with professional experience in both Europe and South America.

Subscribe to our Newsletter!

We’ll email you occasionally with our latest posts & most interesting news.

Can I Use Sarcasm in Business Meetings?

Professional English

Can I Use Sarcasm in Business Meetings?

When Speaking another language…

…it’s not just the grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation that we need to pay attention to. It’s also things like humour, cultural values, and in today’s article: Sarcasm.

We’re going to tackle this head-on today to give you some key insight into when, where, why, how and how not to use sarcasm in business, especially in meetings!

Sarcasm is frequently used in English, in fact, for some people it can even be a defining personality trait that forms part of their identity among friends and colleagues.

I’m pretty sure we all know at least one sarcastic person in our personal or professional circle.

Used correctly, it can be funny, endearing and intelligent. However, on the flipside, if used poorly it can appear rude, inappropriate, annoying, foolish and unprofessional.

First of all, what is Sarcasm?

Sarcasm, defined in simple terms as “disguising negative commentary with a positive tone”, is one of the most common forms of humor in conversation.

Today, sarcasm is more specifically defined as “harsh or bitter derision or irony.”

Consequently, just like when we use other forms of humor in business, in practice it can be like walking a tightrope, with a rather large drop below! A recent article in the Wall Street Journal calls sarcasm a “dangerous game.”

The etymology of the word is of Greek and Latin origin, meaning “to tear flesh.” Even now, these negative overtones cast a somber shadow over the word’s meaning.

Why would we use Sarcasm in Business?

If sarcastic quips are so fraught with the risk of offense, why would we be tempted to utter them in the company of colleagues?

The answer comes from author and playwright Oscar Wilde, who said: “Sarcasm is the lowest form of humor but the highest form of intelligence.”

Modern studies support Wilde’s observation. Columnist Elizabeth Bernstein wrote in her WSJ piece “[researchers] …know that sarcasm requires abstract thinking – discerning meaning beneath the surface – which is known to be a hallmark of intelligence.”

She cites further studies by researchers at Columbia Business School, Harvard Business School and Insead, a European business school, which declare: “People who are able to understand sarcasm are more creative and better able to solve problems.”

As creativity and problem-solving are building blocks of productivity, occasional sarcastic banter in business meetings seems understandable.

Still, caution is advised for anyone taking up the technique.

Furthermore, “laying down a good one-liner feels good, which makes sarcasm tempting in any social situation, including business meetings,” says R.C. Dirkes, a consultant who coaches executives on methods of persuasion.

“But like any art form, the key to successful sarcasm is not how your comments make you feel, but what feelings your words provoke in others.”

Like humor in general, he explains, sarcasm hinges on a sense of timing and a feel for the audience.

It’s also a question of quantity and frequency, too much and sarcasm quickly becomes annoying, rude and down right frustrating.

So, based on Bernstein’s article and Dirkes’ counsel, here are five guidelines to help develop a knack for productive sarcasm:

1. Meeting Leaders Should Avoid Sarcasm

One critical aspect of leading a successful meeting is demonstrating respect for each attendee’s commitment to the business at hand. A sarcastic jest easily could send the opposite message to someone feeling stressed by work or pressed for time.

2. Avoid Sarcasm When Invited to Speak by a Leader

Just as respect for any given participant’s time is important for meeting organizers, for best results attendees should show deference to session leaders. Instead of generating a few laughs, sarcastic repartee could be interpreted as not taking a meeting’s subject matter – or its organizer — seriously.

3. It’s Okay to Use Sarcasm with Internal Teams

Colleagues who have collaborated for some time on a project often develop a comfortable rapport. In this context, sharing sarcastic wit can be a sign of a trusting relationship, and, in turn, contribute to a productive environment.

4. Virtual Meetings Don’t Translate Sarcasm Well

One key to conveying trust and confidence is eye contact. And while audio and video conferences provide significant support for this mission, when participating in a meeting through virtual channels wariness should be the rule.

5. Avoid Sarcastic Remarks in Mixed Company

No matter the dimensions of diversity in a group – age, gender, region, ethnicity, etc. – the likelihood that everyone around the table laughs at the same jokes is low. In business, diversity demands discretion not only in meetings but in all forms of communication.

Dirkes believes sarcastic wordplay in business can play a “powerful role” in building teams and fostering collaboration across conference tables and around the world.
“The benefits can be worth a little risk,” he says. “If you practice a touch of restraint, I’m sure your wry witticisms will hit the mark with every colleague every time.”

Now it’s over to you!!

Have you ever experienced a sarcastic remark at work that was poorly used – where someone’s comment deflated a meeting or sabotaged a group project as a result?

Maybe something like: “Well, I’m sure we’ll have no trouble covering these 25 items in the next 20 minutes!”

How do you feel about using sarcasm in the workplace? Is sarcasm worth the price of the feel-good moment? Have you ever used it successfully? – Let us know in the comments!

Moreover, what about when using a second language, like English? Is it hard to use, or maybe hard to understand someone else is using it?

As a general rule of thumb, we advise our students to avoid using sarcasm when in a professional environment, unless they have these two requirements checked:

  1. You are speaking to people you know well and who will understand when you are being sarcastic. You must have that feel for the people you’re speaking to first!

    2. You speak the language very well and are skilled at the timing and intonation required to deliver sarcasm correctly and politely.

And even then, we still suggest exercising caution with sarcasm and humour in business situations, particularly if it’s not your first language or you’re working cross-culturally.

If this article resonated with you, there’s a great chance that your colleagues will appreciate it too. Be an office champion and share this with your friends and colleagues via LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

Best,  

Team Trust Native

For the definitions of the highlighted words check our Glossary. 

Adapted from original article: West UC

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Diversity Can Benefit Business – Here’s the Proof!

Leadership

Diversity Can Benefit Business – Here’s the Proof!

Diversity in the Workplace Can Improve Your Business! Just look at Apple, JP Morgan and Alibaba!

Many businesses these days aim to do more than just make money, they want to make a difference in the world somehow.

Often, companies can do this by moving our society forward, be it through technology, innovation, products and services, or simply by influencing a new way of thinking.

Today, with ever-changing employment laws and regulations, businesses are obliged to fulfill certain requirements with regards to equality, diversity, employee rights and data protection, and rightly so.

But aside from the law, what else drives business decisions around the subject of employee diversity?

How much should companies care about diversity in the workplace? Are these regulations something they simply fulfill because they have to hit their quota, or do they see the real value and the potential for this to be an influential factor for the success of their business?

Why don’t we see companies doing more about this?

In this article, we share a video with you that highlights how employee AND leadership diversity in today’s businesses shouldn’t just be the politically correct thing to do…

…It should be actively acknowledged that there are numerous significant business benefits to diversifying your company’s workforce and leadership.

Forward thinking businesses such as Apple, JP Morgan and Alibaba, already recognise this, and they’re reaping the rewards!

Rocío Lorenzo took matters into her own hands to go one step further and prove that diversity matters, both because it’s right and because businesses thrive as a result of it!

She led a team who conducted interesting research into the matter, revealing astonishing facts and figures about the current state of affairs in companies around the world, in terms of diversity and equality, as well as the correlation between employee diversity, business innovation and results.

Check out Rocío’s TED Talk right here:

Video Introduction: “Are diverse companies really more innovative? Rocío Lorenzo and her team surveyed 171 companies to find out — and the answer was a clear yes. In a talk that will help you build a better, more robust company, Lorenzo dives into the data and explains how your company can start producing fresher, more creative ideas by treating diversity as a competitive advantage.”

We can’t get enough of Rocío’s TED Talk! But what do you think?

Do you agree with her findings? How does this compare to your company or country culture?

Do you think companies in your country are making enough changes or is something greater needed to stimulate this kind of movement?

Let us know your opinion, experience and ideas on this in the comments box below!

Feel free to share this article with your friends and colleagues on Facebook and LinkedIn, so they can take in this important message on modern day organisational diversity, too.

Best,

Adam

About the Author

Adam Baker is the co-Founder and Course Director at Trust Native. He’s an Entrepreneur, Business Coach, and Sport & Organizational Psychologist with professional experience in both Europe and South America.

About the Author

Adam Baker is the co-Founder and Course Director at Trust Native. He’s an Entrepreneur, Business Coach, and Sport & Organizational Psychologist with professional experience in both Europe and South America.

Subscribe to our Newsletter!

We’ll email you occasionally with our latest posts & most interesting news.

Tips for Business Travel Abroad

News

Tips for Business Travel Abroad

Whether it’s overseas interviews, international networking, meetings, or simply proving your corporate worth and delivering great results while you’re abroad, as well as everything in between, I think we can all agree that business travel requires a great deal more preparation than any of us typically give it!

I’m sure you’re already aware that preparation is everything in business. You’ve also probably already heard the phrase, “Fail to prepare and you prepare to fail!”.

There’s a lot of truth in that statement!

Despite this, there are occasions for most of us when proper preparation simply slips through the net, and we end up paying the corporate price for it!

Of course, some occasions require more preparation than others, an interview, a new client perhaps, or simply making a great impression on the new CEO, these are easy to remember they demand preparation.

Preparing for Business Travel on the other hand, sometimes lacks the same enthusiasm.

 

But what are we actually talking about here?

Well I’m not talking about logistics like your flight and hotel, albeit important! There is so much more to prepare for than that.

I’m talking about culture, language, safety, business etiquette abroad and ensuring you can deliver results while your away from home! These are the forgotten things that must be taken into consideration before you set foot on that plane!

New business in a foreign country can be both a great challenge and a great opportunity.

That’s why we’re sharing this useful article with you, on how to best prepare yourself for your business trip abroad.

Enjoy!… and remember to let us know what you think in the comments below!

MAXIMIZE YOUR TIME SPENT OVERSEAS. PROPER PREPARATION BEFORE YOUR DEPARTURE WILL NOT ONLY MAKE YOUR BUSINESS TRIP A SAFE ONE BUT MORE PRODUCTIVE. 

Besides personal safety, you also will want to prepare for your foreign business encounters. After all, you want to get maximum value for the time that is spent abroad. This means you have to be open to different values, behaviours and ways of doing business.

 

Lack of familiarity with the business practices and social customs of another country can weaken your position or prevent you from accomplishing your goals. 

 

Without a doubt there is nothing like a face-to-face meeting with a client or customer. But even the most minor mistakes can cost you time, money and opportunity. Here are seven tips to help you make the necessary adjustments for a business trip abroad.

Prepare a well-planned itinerary. 

A well thought out itinerary should reflect what your company hopes to accomplish. Think about your goals and relative priorities.

For instance, you will want to have two or three appointments confirmed well in advance and spaced comfortably throughout the day. This will be more productive and enjoyable than a crowded agenda that forces you to rush from one meeting to the next.

Your schedule should be flexible enough to allow for unexpected problems such as transportation delays and/or opportunities such as an unplanned lunch on invitation. 

Kaufman suggests leaving a copy of your itinerary with trusted colleagues, family members or close friends so that they know where you are supposed to be at all times. Also provide a family member or spouse with copies of your passport, medical insurance card, and other pertinent information. In addition, leave an emergency contact list with your travel planner.


Seek information on the culture.

Invest some time in learning about the history, culture and customs of the countries to be visited, says Thomas. Attend cross-cultural seminars or training. Read books about that country.

Brush up on the differences in negotiating styles, attitudes towards punctuality, gift-giving customs, and the proper use of names and titles (understand the importance of rank and know who the decision makers are when conducting business). 

Take the Japanese, for instance, who consider it rude to be late for a business meeting but acceptable for a social occasion. In Latin countries, being late for a business meeting is more tolerable. In the Middle East it is commonplace to engage in small talk before conducting business.

The French and the British have different views about discussing business during meals, Thomas says. “Do you talk about business during dinner or do you wait until after you have eaten your meal? The slightest things can really offend people,” she says.

 

Learn protocol and etiquette practices.

Study the general protocol and etiquette of the country or countries you’re visiting. Understanding in advance how to greet your counterparts and manage appointments will be most helpful.

Check normal work days and business hours. In the Middle East, for example, the workweek is Saturday to Thursday. It is not uncommon in many countries for lunch to last two to four hours.

Also take into account foreign holidays. Business manners, religious customs, dietary practices, humour and acceptable dress vary widely from country to country.

Misunderstandings over gestures and body language can cause you more than embarrassment but can lead to business complications, says Thomas. For instance, the okay sign (thumb and index fingers forming a circle with the other fingers pointing upward) is commonly used in the US. But it means zero in France and Thomas says it is a vulgar gesture in Brazil and the Philippines (like giving the middle finger is here in the States).

She recommends finding a local person from the host country whom you can openly talk to and learn about customs. Or a international communication expert who can give you the low-down on the customs of the country.

 

Learn the native tongue.

Business associates will appreciate any sincere attempt. Study the language or hire a translator, especially if the persons you are meeting with do not speak English or are uncomfortable speaking it.

You can learn a foreign language on the go using various mobile apps, podcasts or systems. Or invest in a language course in advance, ideally one you can continue while travelling abroad. Check out our courses here!

Some colleges or universities in your area may offer traditional classroom instruction or immersion programs. Other options are audio language lessons, software programs, and online courses (Trust Native Launching an Online Course Very Soon!).

There may even be subtle differences in the same language, cautions Thomas. “Certain words in English that we use freely could have different meanings outside the US.” She cites a situation between American and British businessmen. “During the meeting the Americans said, ‘let’s table’ this, hoping to end the discussion, but the Brits kept on talking. The Americans took this as utter disregard and stormed out, not knowing that in England the expression ‘let’s table it’ means to put it on the table for discussion.”

 

Check travel advisories.

Governments issue advisories about safety concerns that may affect travel to a particular country or region. Travel advisories are released for various reasons, including terrorism, natural disasters, political unrest, wars, health emergencies, and outbreaks of violent crimes against tourists. Check to see if the advisory applies to the entire country or certain areas.

Have a backup plan in case something does go wrong. Find out whether your home country has an embassy or consulate in the place you are visiting and how they can help in the event that you need them.

 

Protect yourself.

Kaufman recommends getting travel insurance. With most insurers you can get a yearlong policy as opposed to a trip-by-trip basis. Insurance companies are there to help you out in a crisis such as medical evacuations.

Keep in mind that different destinations pose different risks; incorporate that into your strategy for choosing business travel insurance. Do your research. Travel insurance may not cover you in all countries and in all circumstances. Most policies do not cover acts of war, riots or civil disorder. Find out what exclusions apply.

Check with your health plan carrier to see if you need to get another policy to cover medical costs for an injury or sudden illness abroad, says Thomas. What if you need to be airlifted by helicopter and taken to the hospital, are you still covered? Look into the large travel insurance companies.

 

Plan to stay connected.

A plug or adapter may be needed to charge notebooks, cell phones, and PDAs while overseas. Also, contact your cell phone provider before you leave to find out about international options for business trips, says Kaufman. You may be able to get a temporary plan while you are visiting another country. To make an international call from your cell phone, your carrier network must be compatible with that country. Your phone also must be technically capable of making international calls.

Other options are to use Skype on your laptop or a Skype iPhone app to make international calls. You also can rent a cell phone in airport malls around the world from companies such as TripTel or online from sites such as Cellularabroad.com.

If you are traveling to a foreign destination for more than a week or two, consider buying a local phone, suggests Kaufman. You can use that phone for making calls within the host country and it may prove to be less expensive. “Some business travelers also use local SIM cards because it makes communications by mobile phones a lot easier.”

Source: Carolyn M. Brown – inc.com

Now that you’ve taken all that in, we want to hear from you, how do YOU prepare for a business trip? Do you consider these points already?

Have you ever had a problem while travelling or difficulty with cultural differences in business? Maybe some nationalities are easier or harder to connect with than others?

Feel free to tell us your story and share your experiences with us here!

Best,

Team Trust Native

Want to go one step further?

You can train your Business English with us today!

Check out how here:

  • Private classes
  • Business English Group Courses 
  • Business Interviews
  • Presentations in English

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Tips from the world’s best in Business!

Career advice

Tips from the world’s best in Business!

If clichés like “Follow your passion,” “Give 110%,” and “Be true to yourself” just aren’t cutting it for you, then we’ve got some fresh takes on how to get a head start in your career.

From “Don’t work too hard” to “Relax”, here’s some unconventional career advice from some of the most successful business people around:

 

President Donald Trump: Be an outsider

Like him or not, Trump’s business acumen and commercial success is undeniable.

During his first commencement address as President of the United States, Donald Trump implored Liberty University graduates to “challenge entrenched interests and failed power structures.”

“Remember this: Nothing worth doing ever, ever, ever came easy,” Trump said. “Following your convictions means you must be willing to face criticism from those who lack the same courage to do what is right.”

Trump told graduates being called an “outsider” was, in fact, a good sign — “It’s the outsiders who change the world,” he said.

“The more that a broken system tells you that you’re wrong, the more certain you must be that you must keep pushing ahead,” Trump said.

 

Mark Zuckerberg: Finding your purpose isn’t enough

Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg says it’s not enough to simply find your purpose in life — most young people today already instinctively try do do that, he explains.

Instead, he told Harvard’s graduating class of 2017 that the challenge for today’s 20-somethings is to create a world where everyone has a sense of purpose.

“Purpose is that feeling that you are part of something bigger than yourself, that you are needed, and that you have something better ahead. Purpose is what creates true happiness,” he said.

To help the rest of the world find a sense of purpose, Zuckerberg says young people can do three things:

1. Do great things, no matter how scary this might seem. “The reality is, anything we do will have issues in the future. But that can’t keep us from starting,” Zuckerberg says.

2. Offer your money and time to help someone out. “Let’s give everyone the freedom to pursue their purpose — not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because when more people can turn their dreams into something great, we’re all better for it,” Zuckerberg says.

3. Build community. “We get that our greatest opportunities are now global. We can be the generation that ends poverty, that ends disease. We get that our greatest challenges need global responses too. No country can fight climate change alone or prevent pandemics. Progress now requires coming together not just as cities or nations, but also as a global community,” Zuckerberg says.

 

Richard Branson: Never look back in regret — move on to the next thing

Richard Branson’s mother taught him that.

“The amount of time people waste dwelling on failures, rather than putting that energy into another project, always amazes me,” the Virgin Group founder and chairman told The Good Entrepreneur. “I have fun running ALL the Virgin businesses — so a setback is never a bad experience, just a learning curve.”

 

Sheryl Sandberg: There is no straight path to where you are going

“As Pattie Sellers of Fortune Magazine says, careers are not ladders but jungle gyms,” the Facebook COO wrote on Quora. “You don’t have to have it all figured out.”

Sheryl Sandberg recommends having a long-term, abstract dream to work toward in addition to a more concrete 18-month plan. The long-term plan allows you to dream big, while the short-term plan forces you to push yourself and think about how you want to get better over the next year and a half.

“Ask yourself how you can improve and what you’re afraid to do,” she wrote, adding “that’s usually the thing you should try.”

 

Warren Buffett: Exercise humility and restraint

In a 2010 interview with Yahoo, Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Warren Buffett saidthat the best advice he ever received was from Berkshire Hathaway board of directors member Thomas Murphy. Murphy had told Buffett:

“Never forget, Warren, you can tell a guy to go to hell tomorrow — you don’t give up the right. So just keep your mouth shut today, and see if you feel the same way tomorrow.”

During Berkshire Hathaway’s 2015 shareholders meeting, Buffett also told a curious seventh-grader that the key to making friends and getting along with coworkers is learning to change your behavior as you mature by emulating those you admire and adopting the qualities they possess.

 

Bill Gates: Keep things simple

In a 2009 interview with CNBC, Microsoft cofounder and chairman Bill Gates admired Warren Buffett’s ability to keep things simple:

“You look at his calendar, it’s pretty simple. You talk to him about a case where he thinks a business is attractive, and he knows a few basic numbers and facts about it. And [if] it gets less complicated, he feels like then it’s something he’ll choose to invest in. He picks the things that he’s got a model of, a model that really is predictive and that’s going to continue to work over a long-term period. And so his ability to boil things down, to just work on the things that really count, to think through the basics — it’s so amazing that he can do that. It’s a special form of genius.”

 

Ivanka Trump: Think less, do more

Ivanka Trump previously told Business Insider that you need to work especially hard early in your life to find and foster your passions so that you can love what you do.

“Passion is something that’s hard to discover purely through introspection,” she explains. “You have to have experiences — you have to learn real time and through experiences what makes you tick.”

This means identifying the things that you could potentially be interested in and then just going for them, whether it’s through internships or taking jobs in fields that could potentially be interesting for you.

“Just go out and do things, and those things that continue to spark an interest, do more of,” she advises.

Once you’ve found your passion, the key to success is then putting in the work.

“The only people I’ve ever met who are really successful in their fields, regardless of what field that is, are people who are deeply passionate about the work they do every day and are motivated by a sense of purpose,” Trump says.

 

Tony Robbins: Make yourself invaluable by learning the necessary skills you may be lacking

Before Robbins was the inspirational speaker with a cult following that he is today, his career was going nowhere, even though he was putting in long hours.

It was his mentor, the late motivational speaker Jim Rohn, who gave him the advice that eventually helped him turn it all around. As Robbins detailed in a Facebook Live Q&A at Business Insider’s New York office:

“He said, ‘Tony, you’re so focused on expecting things to happen so fast … Your worth in the marketplace is based on your ability to add more value than anyone else. If you can find a way to do more for others in your company, more for the employees, more for the clients, than anybody else, your gifts will make room for you. But in order to do that, you’ve got to build skills.'”

 

Maya Angelou: Make your own path

In her book, “The Best Advice I Ever Got,” Katie Couric quotes the late author, poet, dancer, actress, and singer Maya Angelou:

“My paternal grandmother, Mrs. Annie Henderson, gave me advice that I have used for 65 years. She said, ‘If the world puts you on a road you do not like, if you look ahead and do not want that destination which is being offered and you look behind and you do not want to return to your place of departure, step off the road. Build yourself a new path.'”

 

Lloyd Blankfein: Chill out

The Goldman Sachs CEO’s best career advice is something he says he’d never have followed himself when he was younger: “Chill out.”

As he told Goldman Sachs interns from around the world during a speaker series:

“There’s not a sport — there’s not an activity in life where, if you have a really hard grip, you actually are better. Whether it’s baseball or golf … the looser you are, the further the thing goes, because it’s a lot easier to whip around a string than a stick. If you’re tight, I’m speaking metaphorically, if you’re really tight you’re not necessarily better.”

 

J.K. Rowling: Embrace failure

J.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling children’s book series “Harry Potter,” knows a lot about achieving success — and failure.

“I don’t think we talk about failure enough,” Rowling told Matt Lauer on NBC’s “Today” show. “It would’ve really helped to have someone who had had a measure of success come say to me, ‘You will fail. That’s inevitable. It’s what you do with it.'”

Before Rowling became one of the wealthiest women in the world, she was a single mom living off welfare in the UK. She began writing about her now famous character, the young wizard, Harry Potter, in Edinburgh cafés, and received “loads” of rejections from book publishers when she first sent out the manuscript, The Guardian reports.

“An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless … By every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew,” Rowling said during a 2008 Harvard University commencement speech.

She went on to say that she considered her early failure a “gift” that was “painfully won,” since she gained valuable knowledge about herself and her relationships through the adversity.

 

Melanie Whelan: Get a job, any job

The CEO of SoulCycle believes that new college grads should forget about doing what they think is expected of them and just get to work.

“Get a job and work hard,” she told The New York Times’ Adam Bryant in an interview. “You are going to learn a ton in whatever that job is, so don’t stress too much about what it is or where it is. Just take a job and put your head down, work hard, raise your hand for anything anybody asks you to do.”

Melanie Whelan said it’s important for young job seekers to live in the present rather than worry so much about where they’re headed. The key is working as hard and learning as much as possible. When you do this, she said, good things will follow.

“A lot of people think in terms of ‘should’ — I ‘should’ be a banker, I ‘should’ go to law school, I ‘should’ pursue what I studied in school,” she said.

This is a mistake, she told Bryant.

 

Eric Schmidt: Say yes to more things

In her book, “The Best Advice I Ever Got,” Katie Couric quotes Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt as advising:

“Find a way to say yes to things. Say yes to invitations to a new country, say yes to meet new friends, say yes to learn something new. Yes is how you get your first job, and your next job, and your spouse, and even your kids.”

 

Chelsea Handler: When you make a commitment, keep it

The millionaire comedian and actress says that she learned the importance of showing up when she was a waitress in her 20s.

“Whether that was a result of wanting to be liked from years of rejection in high school, or whether it was wanting to be dependable and reliable after years of being the opposite, I just wanted people to feel that they could count on me,” she writes in a LinkedIn post, titled “I Used to Hate Doing Stand Up. Then I Discovered the Power of Showing Up.”

Handler says that her habit for dependability has since bled into every facet of her life.

“It was no longer an option to not show up. I now practice ‘showing up’ with everything I do. It has permeated every facet of my life. Whether it’s wanting to cancel a workout, a friend’s party, a public appearance, my family in New Jersey. Whatever it is, when I commit, I show up,” she says.

 

Steve Jobs: Don’t just follow your passion, but something larger than yourself

In a Business Insider article, Cal Newport, author of “So Good They Can’t Ignore You,” referenced Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson, who recalled an exchange he had with Jobs shortly before he died.

Jobs reportedly told Isaacson:

“Yeah, we’re always talking about following your passion, but we’re all part of the flow of history … you’ve got to put something back into the flow of history that’s going to help your community, help other people … so that 20, 30, 40 years from now … people will say, this person didn’t just have a passion, he cared about making something that other people could benefit from.”

 

Suze Orman: With success comes unhelpful criticism — ignore it

In a LinkedIn article about the best advice she ever received, motivational speaker, author, and CNBC host Suze Orman wrote that success has often made her a target of nasty criticism”entirely disconnected from facts.” At first these attacks made her angry, but she eventually learned to ignore them.

She wrote:

“A wise teacher from India shared this insight: The elephant keeps walking as the dogs keep barking. The sad fact is that we all have to navigate our way around the dogs in our career: external critics, competitors, horrible bosses, or colleagues who undermine. Based on my experience, I would advise you to prepare for the yapping to increase along with your success.”

 

Arianna Huffington: Don’t work too hard

In a LinkedIn post, The Huffington Post and Thrive Global cofounder Arianna Huffington revealed that she’s often asked if young people pursuing their dreams should burn the candle at both ends.

“This couldn’t be less true,” she wrote. “And for far too long, we have been operating under a collective delusion that burning out is the necessary price for achieving success.”

She says that she wishes she could go back and tell her younger self, “Arianna, your performance will actually improve if you can commit to not only working hard but also unplugging, recharging, and renewing yourself.”

 

Stewart Butterfield: Have an ‘experimental attitude’

Stewart Butterfield, cofounder of Flickr and chief executive of Slack, one of the fastest-growing business apps of all time, shared his best advice for young people with Adam Bryant of The New York Times:

“Some people will know exactly what they want to do at a very young age, but the odds are low. I feel like people in their early- to mid-20s are very earnest. They’re very serious, and they want to feel like they’ve accomplished a lot at a very young age rather than just trying to figure stuff out. So I try to push them toward a more experimental attitude.”

 

Dr. Phil McGraw: Make sure you’d be all right with someone judging you on any of your work

The television personality, author, psychologist, and host of the “Dr. Phil” show suggests that, before you submit any work, you should ask yourself if you’d be OK with it being the only thing someone used to form an opinion of you.

He told Business Insider that he learned this lesson during the second season of his show, when he was having trouble deciding if he should cover a particular topic for an episode.

His son said to him: “You have to ask yourself this question: ‘If someone is only ever going to see one Dr. Phil episode in their life, would you be OK with it being this one?’ If the answer is ‘no,’ don’t do it.'”

McGraw says that he keeps this in mind now with all of his work, whether it’s a book he’s writing, an answer he gives in an interview, or an episode he does.

 

George Stephanopoulos: Relax

“Almost nothing you’re worried about today will define your tomorrow,” “Good Morning America” coanchor George Stephanopoulos told personal-finance website NerdWallet. “Down the road, don’t be afraid to take a pay cut to follow your passion. But do stash a few bucks in a 401(k) now.”
 

Marla Malcolm Beck: Remember that you won’t end up where you start

Marla Malcolm Beck, cofounder and CEO of Bluemercury, said in an interview with Adam Bryant of The New York Times that she always reminds students that “nobody ends up in the first job they choose out of college, so just find something that is interesting to you, because you tend to excel at things you’re interested in. But just go do it. You have nothing to lose.”

Her other piece of advice: Go into tech.

“If you look at all the skill sets companies need, they involve a comfort level with technology,” she told Bryant.

 

T.J. Miller: Work harder than anyone else around you

T.J. Miller, comedian and star of HBO’s “Silicon Valley,” told personal-finance website NerdWallet that this is truly the formula to success: “It worked for me, and I have mediocre talent and a horse jaw.”
 

Alexa von Tobel: Get up, dress up, and show up

What Alexa von Tobel, founder and CEO of LearnVest and the author of New York Times best-seller “Financially Fearless,” means is that it’s important to wake up excited for what’s coming, dress the part, and always show up ready to go.

She wrote in an article for Business Insider:

“As a new hire, you will likely find yourself in tons of new situations, and it’s up to you to figure out how to navigate them.

“Remember that your manager is strapped for time, so know when to ask questions. Are you unsure of the objectives for an assignment? Asking her to clarify is crucial, since it’s pretty hard to make the mark if you don’t know where it even lies.

“On the flip side, avoid bombarding your manager with petty questions that could be answered by your peers or a quick Google search.”

 

John Chen: Being a ‘superstar’ can hurt your career

“Most employees think that the best way to show value to their boss and get promoted is to aggressively claim credit and ownership over everything they do,” BlackBerry CEO John Chen wrote in a LinkedIn post. “While it’s important to be recognized for what you do and the value you add, grabbing the glory is going to turn off your coworkers.”

It can also turn off your boss, he warns.

“Trying too hard to show you’re a superstar tells me that you only care about what’s best for you, and not the company as a whole,” he wrote.

 

Salli Setta: Never eat lunch alone

Red Lobster president Salli Setta told Business Insider that it’s important to get out from behind your screen at lunchtime because lunch is a prime networking opportunity.

The benefit of always having lunch plans with someone are twofold: You can get information that will help you “think about your job differently,” and you also get on your companion’s radar.

“It isn’t about saying ‘hi, what are we going to talk about, let’s talk about sports,'” Setta said. “It’s about identifying the object of this lunch in your mind” and going in armed with “a couple of things that you want to ask, and a couple of things you want to share.”

 

Deepak Chopra: Embrace the wisdom of uncertainty

In a LinkedIn post, Deepak Chopra, popular author and founder of The Chopra Foundation, said that he wished he embraced the wisdom of uncertainty at a younger age.

“At the outset of my medical career, I had the security of knowing exactly where I was headed,” he wrote. “Yet what I didn’t count on was the uncertainty of life, and what uncertainty can do to a person.”

“If only I knew then, as I know now, that there is wisdom in uncertainty — it opens a door to the unknown, and only from the unknown can life be renewed constantly,” he wrote.

 

Brian Chesky: Don’t listen to your parents

Brian Chesky, cofounder and CEO of Airbnb, said in an interview with The New York Times’ Adam Bryant that recent grads shouldn’t listen to their parents.

He told Bryant:

“They’re the most important relationships in your life, but you should never take your parents’ career advice, and I’m using parents as a proxy for all the pressures in the world. I also say that whatever career you’re in, assume it’s going to be a massive failure. That way, you’re not making decisions based on success, money and career. You’re only making it based on doing what you love.”

 

Diane von Furstenberg: Keep it real

In an interview with Adam Bryant of The New York Times, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg said she learned that trusting yourself is the key to success.

“In order to trust yourself, you have to have a relationship with yourself,” she told Bryant. “In order to have a relationship with yourself, you have to be hard on yourself, and not be delusional.”

 

Rick Goings: Be nice to everyone

Rick Goings, CEO of home-products company Tupperware Brands, shared his favorite pearls of wisdom for young people with Business Insider. One of them was to be nice to everyone when you go on a job interview.

“I like to check with the driver, our receptionist, and my assistants on how the candidate interacted with them. How you treat others means the world!” he said.

 

 So what do you think? Good advice?

Which of these tips most resonates with you? 

Are there any ideas here that you just don’t agree with or don’t understand?

We’d like to know what you have to say on this! Come and share thoughts via the comments box below!

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Best,

Trust Native Team!

 

Original source: Business Insider

 

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