Solopreneur refers to an individual who sets up and runs a business on their own. Now, who doesn’t want to start their own business? I am pretty sure that most of you at some point in your life have thought about building your...
Read MoreWe live in a time of abundance. Despite what you see in the news daily, beauty and opportunity are all around us. We have the ability to create success in every area of our life if we’re willing to do the work. That work is the...
Read MoreWe live in a time of abundance. Despite what you see in the news daily, beauty and opportunity are all around us. We have the ability to create success in every area of our life if we’re willing to do the work. That work is the...
Read MoreThe moves I’ve made in my career from the military, to the mining industry, to running a multinational business in Latin America, aren’t linear. It’s not every day an ex-Australian military officer finds their niche in Latin...
Read MoreTom Bilyeu is the co-founder of billion-dollar brand Quest Nutrition and the co-founder and host of Impact Theory. With the goal to help people unlock their potential, and actualize their dreams, Tom speaks to the greatest minds...
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Legislative hearings and extensive media coverage may have highlighted the unsustainable direction...
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I always laugh when I see delusional “how to become a millionaire” posts online. Especially since most of them focus on unbelievable ways to get rich. Some of the wildest “make a ton of money” tips include Become a pro … Continued
3 proven steps anyone can take to become rich is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.
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If you aspire to one day take the reins of your company, it helps to know if you’ve really got what it takes to become a chief executive.
According to a new study led by Steven N. Kaplan at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Morten Sorensen at Copenhagen Business School, there are four key characteristics that can predict whether you’ll become a CEO: general ability, execution skills, charisma, and strategic skills.
The conclusions are based on an analysis of 2,600 interviews with candidates for top executive positions (like CEO, CFO, and COO). During four-hour interviews with a professional firm, candidates were rated on 30 different traits, such as integrity, creativity, and persistence.
Researchers boiled down those 30 traits into the four groups of characteristics mentioned above.
In an interview with Business Insider, Kaplan explained that general ability is basically overall talent, or your score on all 30 traits. Execution skills refer to your ability to get things done — being efficient, proactive and persistent. Charisma is about being persuasive and enthusiastic. Strategic skills are about creativity and big-picture thinking.
As it turns out, CEO candidates scored highly on all four characteristics. CFO candidates, on the other hand, tended to score low on all four characteristics, while COO candidates were somewhere in the middle.
An additional analysis found that candidates for other top executive positions (besides CEO) who scored high on these four characteristics were more likely to get hired as CEOs later in life, maybe five to 10 years down the line.
One especially interesting finding is that CEO candidates were typically rated low on interpersonal skills, which involves behaviors like being a good listener and treating people with respect. In other words, leaders who have the ability to get things done aren’t necessarily the most agreeable individuals.
Previous research Kaplan and Sorensen helped conduct suggests that execution skills are strongly correlated with CEO success. Kaplan cited Steve Jobs as an example of someone who was probably high on execution and low on interpersonal skills: He led Apple to greatness, but was notorious for shouting at and criticizing employees.
Yet the study found that interviewers tended to overvalue interpersonal skills in recommending hires. Candidates for all positions who wound up getting hired scored higher than average on interpersonal skills.
For those who hope to become CEOs, it’s helpful to know which characteristics you should work to develop. Other research suggests that you can learn to be more charismatic, for example.
In the interview, however, it might be wise to flaunt your people skills.
And the lesson for those making hiring decisions is to make sure you aren’t getting charmed by smooth candidates who don’t necessarily have the ability to execute. “Don’t hire a jerk,” Kaplan said, “but make sure the person you hire has a track record of getting things done.”
SEE ALSO: 7 science-backed ways to become more charismatic
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Entrepreneurship is transforming lives as we speak. There are thousands of people mustering the courage to follow their dreams by becoming entrepreneurs – not all of them excel though. The key to entrepreneurial success is more complicated than most people think. There are a lot of factors aiming to block an entrepreneur’s journey towards growth and success. It’s important that every entrepreneur follows a set of rules that help transform the way they do business. Here are 8 cardinal rules to become a standout entrepreneur: Rule #1 – Enjoy yourself and never lose interest in what you do Most entrepreneurs are fueled by a passion to achieve the impossible. This passion keeps them going from one challenge to another, ensuring they achieve success in whatever they do. Passion for a venture begins to die down when you get bored of what you are doing. It’s important that you keep the passion burning inside you. So go ahead and enjoy entrepreneurship and the challenges it offers you! Certain unavoidable circumstances may see you losing all interest in your venture. In this scenario, it’s advisable to sell the company or hand over reins to somebody who can bring a fresh perspective to the venture. “My biggest motivation? Just to keep challenging myself. I see life almost like one long University education that I never had — everyday I’m learning something new.” – Richard Branson Rule #2 – Be humble and willing to listen to what others have to say Arrogant leaders haven’t gone too far in the business world. Don’t make the same mistake! Humility is a trait well-appreciated in leaders. A humble entrepreneur will give a patient ear to insights from peers and employees. These insights carry hidden gems that can be put to use at work. Rule #3 – Love clients and employees as you would love yourself A lot of entrepreneurs focus on keeping clients happy. They do everything at their disposal to make clients feel like kings. There is nothing wrong with this approach except for the fact that employees may end up feeling neglected. You should maintain a delicate balance between employees and clients, keeping staff happy while retaining them for the long run. Rule #4 – Take the right risks at the right time An entrepreneur cannot survive without taking risks. The most successful entrepreneurs are those who take bold risks that helped them create a revolutionary space for themselves in their industry. Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Steve Jobs come to mind. A risk-taker can be successful only if he weighs pros and cons in an efficient manner. Quality attention to detail must be given in a quick manner to ensure that only the right risks are taken. Rule #5 – Never let failure cloud your thinking Entrepreneurs launch their ventures hoping to excel in quick time. They never anticipate failure! This is a grossly wrong move. Have a backup plan and anticipate failure in a big way. Remember this – it’s difficult to have things go our way all the time. A failure isn’t the end of the world. Bounce back doubly hard to take your business to unchartered territory! Rule #6 – Be visible and constantly showcase your potential as an expert in your domain Embrace social media and other knowledge platforms where you can highlight your credentials as an industry expert. This will help increase your standing in the business community while gaining the trust of employees. “Social media is not about the exploitation of technology, but service to community.” – Simon Mainwaring Rule #7 – Never under-estimate competition Be wary of competition. Always. A lot of business owners tend to get complacent after achieving success. This is a wrong move. Keep a steady momentum towards your business goals and keep an eagle’s eye on how competitors are performing. Get inspired if they are ahead of you and work towards staying ahead if they are behind. Rule #8 – Become an expert organizer It’s important to have organizing skills that help to rally your troops around you in times of adversity. Apart from employees, you should also be adept at organizing funds and other resources necessary for the daily affairs of your company. Do you have any entrepreneurship rules that you successfully follow? How different are they from the ones mentioned in this article? Share your insights with me in the comment box below.
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Are you a weak leader? I know that’s a tough question to answer. I don’t think there is a single leader that will proclaim,“Yes! I am a weak leader!” At least not publicly. The reality is that you are not as good of a leader as you would like to be. Yes, you are an honest, open, decisive and principled leader, but there is a roadblock to your success. And this roadblock is also adversely affecting the success of your company, the projects you’re running and the team you are building. The degree of your success has little to do with the lack of resources; the basis is in the context of your habits, fears and the opinions of others. So you run into what John C. Maxwell, leadership authority, calls the lid. It’s an invisible, self-imposed, barrier that prevents you from becoming the leader you are meant to be. “Leadership ability is the lid that determines a person’s level of effectiveness. The lower the individual’s ability to lead, the lower the lid on his potential. The higher the person’s ability to lead the higher the lid on his potential.” – John C. Maxwell The Mcdonald’s success story that almost wasn’t McDonald’s operates in 118 countries, serves 68 million customers each day, operates over 35,000 restaurants, and employs more than 1.7 million people. But back in 1940, McDonald’s was a single restaurant located at 1398 North E Street at West 14th Street in San Bernardino, California. The founders were brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald. They were skilled entrepreneurs who steadily grew revenue and by developing the “Speedee Service System” the brothers arguably revolutionized the restaurant business. But they were ineffective leaders. Under the McDonald’s leadership, the brothers wanted to keep the franchise to a small number of restaurants. They had weak leadership that in part was due to their limited thinking patterns of what was possible. It took Ray Crock to envision the potential of McDonald’s. Crock was a strong leader who between 1955 – 1963 grew McDonald’s to 500 restaurants. How do you become a better leader? The McDonald’s story is a powerful visual. It paints a picture of what a good leader can build. But how do you become that type of leader? You master influence. “You need someone who understands the limitations inherent in power and chooses to view his or her leadership role as one of influence. Influence is a derivative of power, and it can be wielded more easily and with greater effect.” – Ray Hennessey So if leadership has more to do with influence, how do you earn it? John C. Maxwell touches on four techniques: 1. What have you done? A track record of your accomplishments tells everyone what you have done. It allows you to illustrate your past achievements and gives your followers a reason to trust your leadership. 2. What can you do? We follow a leader, in part, because of what he is capable of doing. We want to feel safe in the knowledge that he can lead us to a better place. If your followers believe that you can deliver, they will follow you. 3. Who are you? Who you attract is determined by who you are. So the better leader you are, the better people your will attract. 4. Who do you know? Leadership is a relationship business. So it goes without saying that building deep relationships is important. The deeper the relationship, the more profound your influence you will have over others. Don’t waste another moment Which of the four methods do you rely on to influence people? Rate them 1 – 4, with one meaning you are highly dependent on it. Once done, ask yourself how you can better optimize 3 and 4? How you can improve your influence requires a degree of self-awareness that can only be accomplished by evaluating your experiences, your life markers. These markers usually are associated with a transformation, change or time of transition. So if you ask yourself better questions your ability to optimize your number 3 and 4 increases significantly. Here are some questions that have helped me: What is my biggest asset? What is my biggest liability? What is my best habit? What is my worst habit? What do I value most? We are not born great leaders. Leadership is a skill that must be nurtured through consistency, discipline, and evaluated experiences. There is a great deal of hard work in becoming a good leader, which is the reason so many leaders are weak. I often wonder what would McDonald’s look like today, if Richard and Maurice intentionally developed their leadership potential. Some pundits would argue that a company does better under the guidance of its founders. What do you think? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!
Read MoreWhat are you currently a symbol of? It’s an important question to ask yourself once in a while. Every one of us is a symbol of something. That symbol can be positive or negative, and we are in complete control. Too many people either stand for nothing or stand for something that has a negative connotation. Ask yourself right now, “how do others see me?” Possibility is a powerful tool that all the greats have used. It gives us hope that we can be whatever we want to be and achieve any goal that we can think of. It can allow ourselves to dream of a vision for our life and then go out there and attempt to fulfil it. We may succeed, or we may fail with our dream of what we think is possible, but the results we get along the way are in many ways more powerful than achieving our ultimate goal. The journey builds muscle and helps increase our perception of possibility for the future. When we set out to achieve our next goal, our positive thoughts about possibility increase. If all of us just expanded our scale of possibility by a few notches, we could achieve so much more. Richard Branson believes that he can achieve anything which is why he took on British Airways, by starting Virgin Airlines, and won. Everyone thought he was crazy and that he was taking big risks; he didn’t allow himself to believe them. His perception of his own strengths and what he could achieve were just far greater than everyone else. That’s why the results Richard has achieved are far more significant than most. It’s time for you to increase your positive thoughts around what you think is possible, and then become a symbol of possibility for everyone else. Below are four ways to become that symbol. 1. Start with you and crush your own goals Before you can become the symbol of possibility for others you, you need to become the symbol for yourself. You need to work out what you stand for and how you see yourself currently. Once you have asked yourself this question you may find that the answer is not what you hoped for. A negative answer is okay it just means that you will need to begin a process of growth to alter the outcome. Through the growth process, you will learn how to become a symbol of possibility. The easiest and simplest way to demonstrate possibility to others is by crushing your goals. Each time you achieve a goal and do something that people around you thought couldn’t be done, you are becoming a symbol of what’s possible in life. What a great gift to give back to society. 2. Be Vulnerable The only way you can ever be a symbol of possibility for others is to start finding ways to be vulnerable. Through the process there is a chance that you may get wounded, you may fall, or you could get criticised. All of these things are fine and remember that none of them are permanent. Until you are ready to show your true self and demonstrate your beliefs to the world, no one else is ever going to see you as a symbol of possibility. Through the evolution of becoming vulnerable and doing what is uncomfortable, those around you will see you push through your limits. They will watch you become something positive for everyone you come into contact with, and your opinion will suddenly matter much more. The feeling you get from increasing how vulnerable you are will give you the motivation you need to take the extra step and become the symbol. Being a symbol of possibility is not something that is easily achieved, and the task should not be taken lightly. You have what it takes; you just need to draw on your belief to get there. 3. Help others to dream To compound the results further, you can share your story of possibility and success with others. This broadens your reach and helps you to become a symbol for people on a much larger scale. You should never want to hide what you have done and instead, use it to help others to dream and achieve the results that you have been able to get to. In sharing what you think is possible and demonstrating how you have achieved or are achieving your dream, you’re by default, helping humanity. The real fulfilment in your life won’t come from your own beliefs about what’s possible and your success, it will come from helping others to come along that same journey. Through this journey you have the chance to become a positive symbol for others, not to be a celebrity, but to be outstanding. By being outstanding, you get to have unique opportunities that can further progress your own personal goals. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that helping others to dream requires a huge amount of work. It might just be short messages on social media or sharing a podcast with the world. The point is to have an impact by helping everyone else to believe that anything is possible. 4. Stand for something inspiring The word’s possibility and symbol both have a positive meaning. So, to become a symbol of possibility, you need to stand for something that is inspiring. You need to stand for something that others will be drawn to, and that helps them achieve their dream in some small way. When you dedicate your life to going against the naysayers and doing what you can to inspire others, you feel like a different person, and you become something that defies possibility itself. Standing for something will require you to stand tall, with passion, and with an unwavering belief in what is possible. “In the vision of my own life, I stand for people living their dream and doing whatever they can to be happy. I stand for going the extra mile even when you have nothing left in the tank. I stand for going against the norm and not being afraid of what others might say about you” While I don’t consider myself to be a symbol of possibility yet, I hope to reach this level at some point in my life, and I am prepared to deal with whatever sacrifices it takes to get there. Do you believe you can become the symbol of possibility? Tell me your thoughts in the comment section below or on Facebook and Twitter.
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The secret to success in the business world is a combination of grit and creative thinking....
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