I am a member of the CEO organisation called Vistage (formerly TEC) and every month, my group of 14 CEOs come together in a room to share issues that may be troubling them vis a vis their business or their personal life. At Vistage, there is no separation between business and personal, each impacts the other, and as such, both are given due attention when it comes to the health of the CEO and their business. These 14 are guided by a coach or a chair who help the group get to the heart of the issue and each CEO in turn, offers their sagely opinion to their fellow CEO presenting his/her issue.
Some of the best lessons in business have been from shared learnings and pointers from my Coach and my fellow CEOs. So for the start of the Year of the Goat, I thought I would share some of my Top 8 tips with all you entrepreneurs, budding or otherwise.
1. You are better than you think you are.
When numerous people compliment you on your work, it’s time to accept the compliment, take it onboard and stop being so being so hard on yourself.
- e.g. of never giving yourself a break :- you are fantastic at selling but constantly ignore it and choose to beat yourself up because you are not good in negotiations like your colleague.
Celebrate your strengths and tackle one challenge at a time.
2. Check your ego.
The ego can be a source of arrogance or pride, judging others to be lesser, making you boastful. Or it can also have the total opposite affect; making you extremely unsure and extremely hard or judgmental about yourself.
Some samples would be:
- “How can that person be an expert when he/she can’t even speak well” (language or the fluency of it, is not a prerequisite for being a subject matter expert especially when English is not their first language)
- “There is no way I can charge that. That would be not right.” Meanwhile everyone in the market, who you have judged as wrong/bad, is charging ‘that’ price. And their business is expanding whilst you are still a solo artist having problems coping with the workload and paying the bills.
- “It’s terrible how they are such publicity seekers. I would never do something so uncool” Publicity seeking is another word for branding, marketing and advertising. It is a necessity to get ahead. If your competitors are doing it and getting ahead, congratulate them and take notes.
All of the above can be ways you are unconsciously sabotaging yourself. We often call the above samples, “following our values” or “making a values-based judgement” but it is important to note, some of these are merely camouflages or excuses for wounded pride, fear, doubt or even fear of success. Until you see them for what they are, they often stand between you and success.
3. Beware of Self limiting assumptions
Look within. How you see yourself may not represent the reality. Are you really not good enough or have you judged yourself to be not good enough using some unattainable benchmark?
- Words like:
- there is no way I can do that,
- I have no degree, so how can I…
- I am not as intelligent/attractive/slim/rich as he/she is, so how do I …
These words if said often enough, will become your reality. Change the words, believe it, allow it and your reality will slowly but surely start to shift.
4. Remember to celebrate your victories. (refer to point 1)
5. Be kind to yourself.
- Don’t’ assume you are invincible. Heed signs of impending exhaustion. If you need to rest, rest. No job is worth compromising your health. As my Coach says, “You can’t save anyone else if you are drowning.”
6. We all need help. Do not be afraid to ask for help.
- Find a support group. Create a Lean In group or join a CEO support group. Do what ever it takes. Being at the top can be lonely, but that does not mean you have to be alone.
7. Never go into a 50:50 partnership.
- There can be many leaders but only one captain of the ship. Go for 51:49 where one person clearly has the final say. 50:50 can result in a stalemate, which may impede progress or sink the ship if no one wants to compromise.
8. Passion without profits is a hobby.
If you love doing something but year after year, you don’t see it pay off, then it is time to change course. Not doing so is called the sunk cost fallacy. Here is a snippet from Rolf Dobelli’s The Art of Thinking Clearly”
- the sunk cost fallacy is most dangerous, when we have invested a lot of time, money, energy, or love in something. This investment becomes the reason to carry on, even if we are dealing with a lost cause.
This is also true of relationships.
Letting go, moving on and failing does not mean you are a failure. Learn the lesson and move on.
So there you have it, my 8 Ong (fortuitous) tips for the Year of The Goat. I would love to hear of yours.
Gong Xi Fa Cai, Xin Nian Kuai Le.
– Lee Jia Ping-
Surya Women 