Growing Your Business From the Inside Out
/Turning fear into action and weakness into strength, learning how to say no, building multiplex ties, and beware of perfectionism.
Transforming fear into growth
Fear of rejection can become a serious block to success for anyone who needs to ask someone else to take an action, like buying a product or even agreeing to a meeting. Facing this fear and seeing it as the signal for a worthwhile risk can help you transform fear that paralyzes you into action that advances your goals. "If you’re here for growth and transformation, fear will come up over and over again -- a sign that you’re doing just what you set out to do." Learn how fear can be your guide using a 5 step plan to embrace it.
It's a strength to know your weakness
According to this article, it's easier to identify your strengths than it is to identify your weaknesses. With strengths, you can often point to concrete evidence of how your strength created success. Weaknesses are more difficult to see. They are more likely to be demonstrated by missed opportunities, which may not be as apparent. While mild weaknesses may not have much impact on effectiveness, strong weaknesses can act as a fatal flaw that seriously hampers an organization and a career. Read this article to learn how you can identify your weaknesses and take action to prevent a fatal flaw from limiting your success.
Yes means yes and no means no
In a growing, thriving company, new ideas abound. Entrepreneurial owners and employees are excited to experiment and discover. In early start-up mode, saying yes to all ideas leads to success. As complexity grows, too many ideas, too many directions will swamp a growing business. Saying no or at least not yet to new exciting ideas will ensure that business growth can continue in an organized and intentional manner. In this article, HubSpot CEO Brian Halligan shares how he learned how, when, and why to say no as HubSpot grew from start-up to scale and provides guidance on how you can learn to say no too.
Networking Advice: Beyond Asking "What Do You Do"
When meeting new people in a networking situation, our first instinct is to ask "What do you do?" The authors of this article contend that this immediately narrows the contact to a focus on work and may not be the best way to develop the stronger connections that will best serve you in multiple arenas of life, including work. "Research findings from the world of network science and psychology suggests that we tend to prefer and seek out relationships where there is more than one context for connecting with the other person. Sociologists refer to these as multiplex ties, connections where there is an overlap of roles or affiliations from a different social context." Read this article to learn some new and interesting open-ended questions to try at your next networking event to make better connections.
Perfection is a trap to avoid
Perfection is an impossible goal. Yet, a recent study confirmed that many young people are trying to achieve perfection based upon unrealistic expectations about their career, the things they own, and how they look. The focus on perfection is leading to an increase in depression, anxiety, shame, and guilt. Specifically, the authors found that between 1989 and 2016, college students’ levels of self-oriented, socially prescribed, and other-oriented perfectionism all increased by statistically significant amounts. Recent generations of young people are more demanding of themselves, perceive that others are more demanding of them, and are more demanding of others. Coupled with research demonstrating the destructive effects of perfectionism on mental health, the findings are potentially a forewarning for schools, universities, and employers who may find managing the welfare of young people becomes increasingly important.This article includes tips for teachers, lecturers, and managers that might help create a culture to alleviate the impact of perfectionism.
