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Tag: Failure

  • How Olympians think about success and failure and what we can learn from them

    By STEPHEN WADE

    If winning gold medals were the only standard, almost all Olympic athletes would be considered failures.

    Associated Press

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  • How Olympians think about success and failure, and what we can learn from them

    If winning gold medals were the only standard, almost all Olympic athletes would be considered failures.Video above: Amber Glenn opens up about mental health, coming out and her figure skating journeyA clinical psychologist with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Emily Clark’s job when the Winter Games open in Italy on Feb. 6 is to help athletes interpret what it means to be successful. Should gold medals be the only measure?Part of a 15-member staff providing psychological services, Clark nurtures athletes accustomed to triumph but who invariably risk failure.The staff deals with matters termed “mental health and mental performance.” They include topics such as motivation, anger management, anxiety, eating disorders, family issues, trauma, depression, sleep, handling pressure, travel and so forth.Clark’s area includes stress management, the importance of sleep and getting high achievers to perform at their best and avoid the temptation of looking only at results.”A lot of athletes these days are aware of the mental health component of, not just sport, but of life,” Clark said in an interview with The Associated Press. “This is an area where athletes can develop skills that can extend a career, or make it more enjoyable.” The United States is expected to take about 235 athletes to the Winter Olympics, and about 70 more to the Paralympics. But here’s the truth.”Most of the athletes who come through Team USA will not win a gold medal,” Clark said. “That’s the reality of elite sport.”Here are the numbers. The United States won gold medals in nine events in the last Winter Games in Beijing in 2022. According to Dr. Bill Mallon, an esteemed shoulder surgeon and Olympic historian, 70.8% of Winter and Summer Olympic athletes go to only one Olympics.Few are famous and successful like swimmer Michael Phelps, or skiers Mikaela Shiffrin or Lindsey Vonn.Clark said she often delivers the following message to Olympians and Paralympians: This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Focus on the process. Savor the moment.”Your job is not to win a gold medal, your job is to do the thing, and the gold medal is what happens when you do your job,” she said.”Some of this might be realigning what success looks like,” she added. “And some of this is developing resilience in the face of setbacks and failure.”Clark preaches staying on task under pressure and improving through defeat.”We get stronger by pushing ourselves to a limit where we’re at our maximum capacity — and then recovering,” she said. “When we get stressed, it impacts our attention. Staying on task or staying in line with what’s important is what we try to train for.” Kendall Gretsch has won four gold medals at the Summer and Winter Paralympics. She credits some of her success to the USOPC’s mental health services, and she described the value this way.”We have a sports psychologist who travels with us for most our season,” she said. “Just being able to touch base with them … and getting that reminder of why are you here? What is that experience you’re looking for?”American figure skater Alysa Liu is the 2025 world champion and was sixth in the 2022 Olympics. She’s a big believer in sports psychology and should be among the favorites in Italy.”I work with a sport psychologist,” she said without giving a name. “She’s incredible — like the MVP.”Of course, MVP stands — not for Most Valuable Person or Most Valuable Player — for “Most Valuable Psychologist.””I mean, she’s very helpful,” Liu added. American downhill skier Vonn will race in Italy in her sixth Olympics. At 41, she’s coming off nearly six years in retirement and will be racing on a knee made of titanium.Two-time Olympic champion Michaela Dorfmeister has suggested in jest that Vonn “should see a psychologist” for attempting such a thing in a very dangerous sport where downhill skiers reach speeds of 80 mph.Vonn shrugged off the comments and joked a few months ago that she didn’t grow up using a sport psychologist. She said her counseling came from taping messages on the tips of her skis that read: “stay forward or hands up.””I just did it myself,” she said. “I do a lot of self-talk in the starting gate.” “Sleep is an area where athletes tend to struggle for a number of reasons,” Clark said, listing issues such as travel schedules, late practices, injuries and life-related stress.”We have a lot of athletes who are parents, and lot of sleep is going to be disrupted in the early stages of parenting,” she said. “We approach sleep as a real part of performance. But it can be something that gets de-prioritized when days get busy.”Clark suggests the following for her athletes — and the rest of us: no caffeine after 3 p.m., mitigate stress before bedtime, schedule sleep at about the same time daily, sleep in a dark room and get 7-9 hours.Dani Aravich is a two-time Paralympian — she’s been in both the Summer and Winter Games — and will be skiing in the upcoming Paralympics. She said in a recent interview that she avails herself of many psychological services provided by the USOPC.”I’ve started tracking my sleep,” she said, naming Clark as a counselor. “Especially being an athlete who has multiple jobs, sleep is going to be your No. 1 savior at all times. It’s the thing that, you know, helps mental clarity.” Clark agreed.”Sleep is the cornerstone of healthy performance,” she added.

    If winning gold medals were the only standard, almost all Olympic athletes would be considered failures.

    Video above: Amber Glenn opens up about mental health, coming out and her figure skating journey

    A clinical psychologist with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Emily Clark’s job when the Winter Games open in Italy on Feb. 6 is to help athletes interpret what it means to be successful.

    Should gold medals be the only measure?

    Part of a 15-member staff providing psychological services, Clark nurtures athletes accustomed to triumph but who invariably risk failure.

    The staff deals with matters termed “mental health and mental performance.” They include topics such as motivation, anger management, anxiety, eating disorders, family issues, trauma, depression, sleep, handling pressure, travel and so forth.

    Clark’s area includes stress management, the importance of sleep and getting high achievers to perform at their best and avoid the temptation of looking only at results.

    “A lot of athletes these days are aware of the mental health component of, not just sport, but of life,” Clark said in an interview with The Associated Press. “This is an area where athletes can develop skills that can extend a career, or make it more enjoyable.”

    The United States is expected to take about 235 athletes to the Winter Olympics, and about 70 more to the Paralympics. But here’s the truth.

    “Most of the athletes who come through Team USA will not win a gold medal,” Clark said. “That’s the reality of elite sport.”

    Here are the numbers. The United States won gold medals in nine events in the last Winter Games in Beijing in 2022. According to Dr. Bill Mallon, an esteemed shoulder surgeon and Olympic historian, 70.8% of Winter and Summer Olympic athletes go to only one Olympics.

    Few are famous and successful like swimmer Michael Phelps, or skiers Mikaela Shiffrin or Lindsey Vonn.

    Clark said she often delivers the following message to Olympians and Paralympians: This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Focus on the process. Savor the moment.

    “Your job is not to win a gold medal, your job is to do the thing, and the gold medal is what happens when you do your job,” she said.

    “Some of this might be realigning what success looks like,” she added. “And some of this is developing resilience in the face of setbacks and failure.”

    Clark preaches staying on task under pressure and improving through defeat.

    “We get stronger by pushing ourselves to a limit where we’re at our maximum capacity — and then recovering,” she said. “When we get stressed, it impacts our attention. Staying on task or staying in line with what’s important is what we try to train for.”

    Kendall Gretsch has won four gold medals at the Summer and Winter Paralympics. She credits some of her success to the USOPC’s mental health services, and she described the value this way.

    “We have a sports psychologist who travels with us for most our season,” she said. “Just being able to touch base with them … and getting that reminder of why are you here? What is that experience you’re looking for?”

    American figure skater Alysa Liu is the 2025 world champion and was sixth in the 2022 Olympics. She’s a big believer in sports psychology and should be among the favorites in Italy.

    “I work with a sport psychologist,” she said without giving a name. “She’s incredible — like the MVP.”

    Of course, MVP stands — not for Most Valuable Person or Most Valuable Player — for “Most Valuable Psychologist.”

    “I mean, she’s very helpful,” Liu added.

    American downhill skier Vonn will race in Italy in her sixth Olympics. At 41, she’s coming off nearly six years in retirement and will be racing on a knee made of titanium.

    Two-time Olympic champion Michaela Dorfmeister has suggested in jest that Vonn “should see a psychologist” for attempting such a thing in a very dangerous sport where downhill skiers reach speeds of 80 mph.

    Vonn shrugged off the comments and joked a few months ago that she didn’t grow up using a sport psychologist. She said her counseling came from taping messages on the tips of her skis that read: “stay forward or hands up.”

    “I just did it myself,” she said. “I do a lot of self-talk in the starting gate.”

    “Sleep is an area where athletes tend to struggle for a number of reasons,” Clark said, listing issues such as travel schedules, late practices, injuries and life-related stress.

    “We have a lot of athletes who are parents, and lot of sleep is going to be disrupted in the early stages of parenting,” she said. “We approach sleep as a real part of performance. But it can be something that gets de-prioritized when days get busy.”

    Clark suggests the following for her athletes — and the rest of us: no caffeine after 3 p.m., mitigate stress before bedtime, schedule sleep at about the same time daily, sleep in a dark room and get 7-9 hours.

    Dani Aravich is a two-time Paralympian — she’s been in both the Summer and Winter Games — and will be skiing in the upcoming Paralympics. She said in a recent interview that she avails herself of many psychological services provided by the USOPC.

    “I’ve started tracking my sleep,” she said, naming Clark as a counselor. “Especially being an athlete who has multiple jobs, sleep is going to be your No. 1 savior at all times. It’s the thing that, you know, helps mental clarity.”

    Clark agreed.

    “Sleep is the cornerstone of healthy performance,” she added.

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  • Times Investigation: LAFD report on Palisades fire was watered down, records show

    For months after the Palisades fire, many who had lost their homes eagerly awaited the Los Angeles Fire Department’s after-action report, which was expected to provide a frank evaluation of the agency’s handling of the disaster.

    A first draft was completed by August, possibly earlier.

    And then the deletions and other changes began — behind closed doors — in what amounted to an effort to downplay the failures of city and LAFD leadership in preparing for and fighting the Jan. 7 fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes, records obtained by The Times show.

    In one instance, LAFD officials removed language saying that the decision not to fully staff up and pre-deploy all available crews and engines ahead of the extreme wind forecast “did not align” with the department’s policy and procedures during red flag days.

    Instead, the final report said that the number of engine companies rolled out ahead of the fire “went above and beyond the standard LAFD pre-deployment matrix.”

    Another deleted passage in the report said that some crews waited more than an hour for an assignment the day of the fire. A section on “failures” was renamed “primary challenges,” and an item saying that crews and leaders had violated national guidelines on how to avoid firefighter deaths and injuries was scratched.

    Other changes in the report, which was overseen by then-interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva, seemed similarly intended to soften its impact and burnish the Fire Department’s image. Two drafts contain notes written in the margins, including a suggestion to replace the image on the cover page — which showed palm trees on fire against an orange sky — with a “positive” one, such as “firefighters on the frontline,” the note said. The final report’s cover displays the LAFD seal.

    The Times obtained seven drafts of the report through the state Public Records Act. Only three of those drafts are marked with dates: Two versions are dated Aug. 25, and there is a draft from Oct. 6, two days before the LAFD released the final report to the public.

    No names are attached to the edits. It is unclear if names were in the original documents and had been removed in the drafts given to The Times.

    The deletions and revisions are likely to deepen concerns over the LAFD’s ability to acknowledge its mistakes before and during the blaze — and to avoid repeating them in the future. Already, Palisades fire victims have expressed outrage over unanswered questions and contradictory information about the LAFD’s preparations after the dangerous weather forecast, including how fire officials handled a smaller New Year’s Day blaze, called the Lachman fire, that rekindled into the massive Palisades fire six days later.

    Some drafts described an on-duty LAFD captain calling Fire Station 23 in the Palisades on Jan. 7 to report that “the Lachman fire started up again,” indicating the captain’s belief that the Palisades fire was caused by a reignition of the earlier blaze.

    The reference was deleted in one draft, then restored in the public version, which otherwise contains only a brief mention of the previous fire. Some have said that the after-action report’s failure to thoroughly examine the Lachman fire reignition was designed to shield LAFD leadership and Mayor Karen Bass’ administration from criticism and accountability.

    Weeks after the report’s release, The Times reported that a battalion chief ordered firefighters to roll up their hoses and leave the burn area on Jan. 2, even though they had complained that the ground was still smoldering and rocks remained hot to the touch. Another battalion chief assigned to the LAFD’s risk management section knew about the complaints for months, but the department kept that information out of the after-action report.

    After The Times report, Bass asked Villanueva to “thoroughly investigate” the LAFD’s missteps in putting out the Lachman fire, which federal authorities say was intentionally set.

    “A full understanding of the Lachman fire response is essential to an accurate accounting of what occurred during the January wildfires,” Bass wrote.

    Fire Chief Jaime Moore, who started in the job last month, has been tasked with commissioning the independent investigation that Bass requested.

    The LAFD did not answer detailed questions from The Times about the altered drafts, including queries about why the material about the reignition was removed, then brought back. Villanueva did not respond to a request for comment.

    A spokesperson for Bass said her office did not demand changes to the drafts and only asked the LAFD to confirm the accuracy of items such as how the weather and the department’s budget factored into the disaster.

    “The report was written and edited by the Fire Department,” the spokesperson, Clara Karger, said in an email. “We did not red-line, review every page or review every draft of the report. We did not discuss the Lachman Fire because it was not part of the report.”

    Genethia Hudley Hayes, president of the Board of Fire Commissioners, told The Times that she reviewed a paper copy of a “working document” about a week before the final report was made public. She said she raised concerns with Villanueva and the city attorney’s office over the possibility that “material findings” were or would be changed. She also said she consulted a private attorney about her “obligations” as a commissioner overseeing the LAFD’s operations, though that conversation “had nothing to do with the after-action” report.

    Hudley Hayes said she noticed only small differences between the final report and the draft she reviewed. For example, she said, “mistakes” had been changed to “challenges,” and names of firefighters had been removed.

    “I was completely OK with it,” she said. “All the things I read in the final report did not in any way obfuscate anything, as far as I’m concerned.”

    She reiterated her position that an examination of missteps during the Lachman fire did not belong in the after-action report, a view not shared by former LAFD chief officers interviewed by The Times.

    “The after-action report should have gone back all the way to Dec. 31,” said former LAFD Battalion Chief Rick Crawford, who retired from the agency last year and is now emergency and crisis management coordinator for the U.S. Capitol. “There are major gaps in this after-action report.”

    Former LAFD Asst. Chief Patrick Butler, who is now chief of the Redondo Beach Fire Department, agreed that the Lachman fire should have been addressed in the report and said the deletions were “a deliberate effort to hide the truth and cover up the facts.”

    He said the removal of the reference to the LAFD’s violations of the national Standard Firefighting Orders and Watchouts was a “serious issue” because they were “written in the blood” of firefighters killed in the line of duty. Without citing the national guidelines, the final report said that the Palisades fire’s extraordinary nature “occasionally caused officers and firefighters to think and operate beyond standard safety protocols.”

    The final after-action report does not mention that a person called authorities to report seeing smoke in the area on Jan. 3. The LAFD has since provided conflicting information about how it responded to that call.

    Villanueva told The Times in October that firefighters returned to the burn area and “cold-trailed” an additional time, meaning they used their hands to feel for heat and dug out hot spots. But records showed they cleared the call within 34 minutes.

    Fire officials did not answer questions from The Times about the discrepancy. In an emailed statement this week, the LAFD said crews had used remote cameras, walked around the burn site and used a 20-foot extension ladder to access a fenced-off area but did not see any smoke or fire.

    “After an extensive investigation, the incident was determined to be a false alarm,” the statement said.

    The most significant changes in the various iterations of the after-action report involved the LAFD’s deployment decisions before the fire, as the wind warnings became increasingly dire.

    In a series of reports earlier this year, The Times found that top LAFD officials decided not to staff dozens of available engines that could have been pre-deployed to the Palisades and other areas flagged as high risk, as it had done in the past.

    One draft contained a passage in the “failures” section on what the LAFD could have done: “If the Department had adequately augmented all available resources as done in years past in preparation for the weather event, the Department would have been required to recall members for all available positions unfilled by voluntary overtime, which would have allowed for all remaining resources to be staffed and available for augmentation, pre-deployment, and pre-positioning.” The draft said the decision was an attempt to be “fiscally responsible” that went against the department’s policy and procedures.

    That language was absent in the final report, which said that the LAFD “balanced fiscal responsibility with proper preparation for predicted weather and fire behavior by following the LAFD predeployment matrix.”

    Even with the deletions, the published report delivered a harsh critique of the LAFD’s performance during the Palisades fire, pointing to a disorganized response, failures in communication and chiefs who didn’t understand their roles. The report found that top commanders lacked a fundamental knowledge of wildland firefighting tactics, including “basic suppression techniques.”

    A paperwork error resulted in the use of only a third of the state-funded resources that were available for pre-positioning in high-risk areas, the report said. And when the fire broke out on the morning of Jan. 7, the initial dispatch called for only seven engine companies, when the weather conditions required 27.

    There was confusion among firefighters over which radio channel to use. The report said that three L.A. County engines showed up within the first hour, requesting an assignment and receiving no reply. Four other LAFD engines waited 20 minutes without an assignment.

    In the early afternoon, the staging area — where engines were checking in — was overrun by fire.

    The report made 42 recommendations, ranging from establishing better communication channels to more training. In a television interview this month, Moore said the LAFD has adopted about three-quarters of them.

    Alene Tchekmedyian, Paul Pringle

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  • Chanel exec started in teaching—she fell into luxury after a failed exam forced her back to school. Her career advice for Gen Z? Get out of their dorms | Fortune

    Claire Isnard can trace her 40‑year career—including 17 years at fashion house Chanel—back to one bad exam. Had she passed, she’d likely still be in a classroom, grading essays on Italian literature.

    Looking back, in her first-ever sit-down interview ahead of her retirement, Isnard says she feels like she’s come full circle. Despite having zero HR qualifications, she wound up as Chanel’s chief people and chief organization officer. “When you draw my story back, the first compelling and meaningful thing that would end up spread across everything I’ve done is helping people become who they didn’t think they can become,” she told Fortune.

    “For me, teaching was not about the speciality of French or Italian, it was about helping those young people—especially the ones who were having difficulty unleashing their skill set and couldn’t find themselves internally, I could help them become larger, bigger than what they thought,” she said. “And I loved it very much.”

    At the time, Isnard took that career plan “very, very seriously” and was giving language lessons to teenagers in both Italy and France while studying, which made the final exam failure that would have cemented a lifelong academic career all the more confusing.

    “Not only I failed,” Isnard said, “but I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I had no clear path ahead of me. I had no clear goal.” 

    With no plan B, she went back to school and threw herself into student forums and networking events. It led to a chance encounter that would drag her from the classroom into consulting—and eventually, right into Chanel’s corner office.

    Gen Z: Failure might be your lucky break—but not if you don’t get out

    40 years later, Isnard still remembers how crushing that first experience of failure was—but she refuses to let younger generations see similar setbacks as the end of the story.

    Now, the lesson she reminds her millennial children (who are 30 and 33) is that failure is simply “a roadblock on the road, not the end of the road.” 

    “It hurts, it’s very uncomfortable,” Isnard said. “It can be very frustrating because you worked hard. Although it may not feel like it in the moment, this pause could be a blessing in disguise.”

    Isnard recommends using failure as an opportunity to reassess the direction you’re going down—as well as whether you’re even enjoying it. 

    “There is a signal here that either you’ve not worked enough—if you really want to do it again, work harder, and you will get it—or maybe there was something that was not for you,” she said. “Look at what you enjoyed in doing that, but also look at the thing you don’t enjoy, and go where your passion is… I’m really convinced that we cannot be good at something we don’t like doing.”

    Of course, passion alone is not enough to land a big break after a failure. It doesn’t matter how much you love talking about luxury brands or coding—if you don’t get out of your comfort zone and show them, no one will know. That’s why Isnard recommends Gen Zers simply get out into the world.

    “If you stay in your room, or behind your computer, you just don’t get those moments of connection that spark a different conversation, or open your mind to possibility, or let you meet someone who finds something interesting in you,” she said. 

    She would know. Just one “lucky” conversation with the founder of a boutique consultancy at a student forum turned into a two-decade career in the industry, including climbing up Aon Hewitt’s ranks (formerly known as Hewitt Associates) to managing director.

    “I was present in all forums, in all networks, where I could meet people that I would not meet otherwise, and it was a series of encounters that brought me to the woman who hired me,” she said. “So I really believe in connection. I really believe in going outside of your comfort zone—open that door, be curious, meet with people, enter the conversation.”

    Isnard says you don’t need a slick five-year plan, or even a full-to-the-brim contacts book—just the courage to start up conversation in a room full of strangers. 

    “Everyone knows someone,” she said. “So I didn’t hesitate to say, I’m hungry for work and I would like to do something that has to do with writing, thinking and being helpful to others.”

    The brutally honest answer that got her poached by Chanel

    Being courageous worked out in Isnard’s favour when Chanel was a client of hers. Soon after the company had hired its first-ever global CEO, Maureen Shekels, she directly asked Isnard one tough-to-answer question: Do I have what I need to act as a global CEO?

    The answer, Isnard gave her, was brutally honest: No. 

    For eight years, she had partnered with the fashion brand on “different, strategic problems.” And that proximity became vital when its new boss asked her to carry out a no‑nonsense diagnosis of her leadership and how to bring the luxury brand out of an outdated, fragmented structure.

    “So we designed together a global model for the future,” Isnard said. “It’s easier for a consultant to tell [the harsh truth] because you have objectivity, you don’t have the emotion of being inside. I was not losing anything; I was helping my client to see through what she needed for the future.”

    But what Isnard perhaps didn’t expect was to get poached by the CEO herself, just two years later in 2008: “I was very surprised, because I’ve never been an HR in my life before,” Isnard recalled, before adding she didn’t think twice before accepting despite feeling a mixture of honoured, intimidated, and frankly, a bit scared.

    “I had to move with my family to New York from France,” she said. “I had to learn how to be an insider—I knew everybody, all the leaders, but from the outside. I had to build a team. There was no global team in HR. I had to do everything from scratch.”

    Despite her lack of formal HR credentials, Chanel’s global footprint has expanded dramatically over the past two decades. Today, the brand operates in roughly 70 countries worldwide with over 600 boutiques. Under Isnard’s watch, its workforce has more than tripled, growing to 38,400 employees worldwide.

    “It’s another story of someone placing trust in you,” she added. “Take risk, pivot, but do it with people you trust—who trust you too. And check that you have the passion for what is to come.” 

    What comes after Chanel’s corner office?

    Now, as she prepares to step down after over 17 years as Chanel’s chief people and organization officer, Isnard faces a familiar uncertainty—the same feeling she had after that first failed exam. Only this time, she’s looking forward to it.

    “The next chapter for me is to be invented, which is also back to the first conversation, how will I take risk—or not? Am I going to meet with other people? It’s all about the new possibilities that will unfold.” 

    The outgoing exec, who says she’s been reflecting on what her purpose is and will take some more time to ponder, already knows she wants to “continue being contributive,” even in retirement. 

    “The worst is if you feel lost and you feel abandoned. But I think the other worst is that you get another kind of frenetic, but it has no meaning. It’s just a bunch of activities for the sake of not being by yourself. These are the things that I want to absolutely avoid,” she said.

    In the end, she hints she may just go back to where it all began: In teaching, some way or another.

    Orianna Rosa Royle

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  • Daymond John Reveals the Number One Reason New Businesses Don’t Survive

    Shark Tank investor Daymond John recently shared that the top reason new businesses fail is that entrepreneurs aren’t honest with themselves about why they’re starting a business.

    John has seen it all when it comes to building a business. In 1992 he started his clothing company, FUBU, from his mother’s house in Queens. Since then, it has generated over $6 billion in global sales.

    In a recent GOBankingRates interview for the Top 100 Money Experts, John offered insight into the leading reasons businesses fail and how to avoid them. 

    A founder’s intention behind their startup is crucial, he says. Founding a business just to flaunt the CEO title or because of pressures to carry a family business can backfire. Without a real desire to build the company, the essential, less glamorous tasks like marketing and inventory management will pile up, and the shame of failing will hit hard. 

    Solely wanting to make money isn’t the answer, either. John says your ‘why’ should be more specific. 

    “Set your goals, then research or do homework on how to accomplish those goals,” he says. “But if your why is wrong—if you’re doing it because that’s what your parents did, or because you’re afraid of what people will think—then you’re going to set the wrong goals. You’ll do the wrong homework for the wrong reasons.” 

    An often overlooked determinator of a strong business is its relationship with customers. John says paying attention to customer needs builds loyalty and mutual respect, but viewing them as transactions can be detrimental. Those businesses won’t hold up when faced with obstacles, because they won’t have an audience to help them rebound.

    “The best investment you can make is answering a customer complaint,” John says. 

    He knows firsthand. John started FUBU after observing that a specific style of wool hat was gaining popularity, but at too high a cost. So he and his neighbor made them and sold them for half the price.

    John paid critical attention to what customers wanted, and it led to a billion-dollar business. 

    Not too quickly, though. When a business first takes off, celebrating early can be a slippery slope, John says. Instant growth is exciting, but it’s not emblematic of sustainable success. Instead, he recommends prioritizing steady progress and building a network that invests in that growth.

    One tip to maintaining control of the progress along the way is by tracking all finances. This includes phantom costs like equipment maintenance or subscriptions fees. Even these stack up, and ignoring them doesn’t set you up to make informed decisions. 

    “If you really go by the numbers, you can make conscious decisions on the things you want to do,” John says, adding that you can even consult AI about the profit you should be making.

    John’s advice is rooted in transparency and honesty, within yourself and your business. Figure out your ‘why’ early on, and make educated decisions that support that mission. 

    Ava Levinson

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  • 3 Strategies for Monetizing Failure From a Serial Entrepreneur

    Every founder I trust will tell you the same thing: The biggest mistakes often inform the clearest strategy. Kim Perell is one of those founders. On a recent episode of The Big Idea podcast from Yahoo Finance, I sat down with Perell, a nine-time entrepreneur and the best-selling author of the book Mistakes That Made Me a Millionaire: How to Transform Setbacks into Extraordinary Success.  

    Perell has built multiple multi-million-dollar businesses from the ground up and is known for teaching founders how to turn setbacks into strategy. When I asked her how she built lasting success, she didn’t credit luck or timing. She credited failure and how she studied her mistakes. We are both moms and acknowledged that parenthood in and of itself is an ocean of mistakes!  

    Not everyone has that mindset. According to the 2024 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report, 49 percent of adults worldwide say they would not start a business because they fear failure. Overcoming the fear of failure is not optional; it is foundational to leadership. Here are three Perell principles every entrepreneur can use to turn setbacks into strategy. 

    Remember that failing does not make you a failure 

    “So many times something tragic happens,” Perell explains. “We use some of these challenges, and we define ourselves by them. I think that’s a huge mistake.”  

    To be truly successful, you have to be willing to bounce back. If you spend your energy chasing perfection, you will never find satisfaction because perfection is unattainable. Failure is inevitable, but the lessons you learn and how you respond to these mistakes determine your trajectory.  

    Perell believes that small-business owners need to take personal responsibility for their mistakes and then decide what to do next.  

    “Do you learn from it? How do you react? How you react is actually going to make the biggest difference in how that mistake plays out,” she says. “Mistakes are inevitable on the path to success, so embrace it, learn from it, grow from it, and move on.” 

    Surround yourself with supportive people 

    One piece of advice I hear repeatedly from the most successful leaders is to build a personal board of advisers. My board includes my girlfriends and my dad. Your board can include mentors, peers, family, and trusted confidants who can offer diverse perspectives. In a recent Kabbage survey of 200 small businesses, 92 percent of respondents said their mentors had a direct impact on their growth and survival. 

    “You can’t do it alone, you need help,” Perell says. “It’s more of a collaborative discussion on how we can solve this together.” The right people challenge you, protect you from blind spots, and help turn failures into decisions. 

    Mistakes are the path to success 

    Perell has invested in more than 100 companies, and she notes that nearly all of them have had to pivot to survive. Very few successful businesses end up doing exactly what they started with. YouTube, for example, began as a video-based dating site before becoming a global content platform. Twitter started as a podcasting project called Odeo before evolving into social media. Successful entrepreneurs and business owners learn from their mistakes and realize that being adaptable and learning to quickly repurpose is vital.  

    Every entrepreneur will face a dirty unicorn, what I call the mistake that feels too big to recover from. However, if you’re willing to study it, speak about it, and shape strategy from it, that mistake might be the most valuable investor you’ll ever have. 

    On The Big Idea, I ask every guest about the biggest mistake they’ve made. Not because I want the story, but because I want to share their response strategy with America’s aspiring entrepreneurs and small-business owners. 

    Elizabeth Gore

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  • 7 Non-Negotiable Rules for Launching a Successful Startup

    The startup economy never sleeps: from incubators to accelerators to eager investors to a generation with a pioneering spirit that craves to be its own boss. However, despite lofty aspirations and untold resources, thousands of businesses never get off the ground for every startup that hits the billion-dollar mark. 

    What’s the difference between success and failure? Successful businesses have little or nothing to do with chance or good fortune. If you want to build a company that lasts, you’ve got to have discipline, and there are proven rules, principles, and standards that are not open for negotiation. The following are seven “commandments” of entrepreneurship to guide you along the path of building a durable, successful venture. 

    1. Lock down your “why.” 

    Can every employee in your organization explain your core value proposition in a clear, concise, and compelling way? The specific problem you solve matters a lot. However, so does why you’re better positioned than any competitor to provide the best solution. If your team can’t instantly and persuasively communicate your value proposition, you’re not ready to sell a single product. 

    2. Place your bets on the jockeys. 

    “Investors always bet on the jockeys, not the horses they ride.” It’s a simple but profound truth: your business’ technology, product, platform, solution, whatever it is—those are all important, but they’re not as important as your executive team. Attract the best, brightest, and strongest talent you can. Bring in an executive team that is sufficiently equipped, skilled, and psychologically tough enough to manage the risk and effectively handle a crisis when it occurs. 

    3. Fail forward, but never twice. 

    Failure is not a dirty word. As a matter of fact, if you want to grow, then you’ve got to fail forward. You can’t be so risk averse or afraid to pivot and iterate that you don’t take the necessary chances to improve your business. On the other hand, there are some decisions and mistakes you should never make twice. If there’s one surefire way to fail, it’s to do the same wrong thing over again. 

    4. The stakeholder is your North Star. 

    Your company isn’t an island unto itself, and it doesn’t exist for its own sake. The stakeholders, who are any people that have an investment or interest in your business, are your true north. From customers, employees, investors and partners to the community you’re serving, and the regulators who preside over your industry, meeting their needs is your number one priority and is always the right answer. 

    5. Don’t be the first one in. 

    “First-mover advantage” is frequently a myth. A lot of the early exploratory work is just that, uncharted. Your early venture capital or seed money should never be wasted on pioneering when you can follow in someone else’s footsteps. Learn from those who pave the way and then execute far more strategically and efficiently than your early competition. 

    6. Guard your crown jewels. 

    Your intellectual property (IP) is not expendable, and it’s often the key differentiator in your future valuation and ability to compete in your marketplace. Code, processes, key trademarks, and any unique solution you have on hand—those are the things that must be jealously guarded from even the possibility of disclosure. Put the legal agreements in place today. 

    7. The biggest hurdle is often mindset. 

    This is an easy one to read, but among the most brutal axioms of business to accept. It’s a simple observation: If you believe it can’t be done, you’re absolutely right. The startup world is filled with challenges that seem insurmountable at the time. If you don’t have the absolute unshakable confidence you can make it happen, you won’t ever improve your odds of success. 

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

    Peter Economy

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  • 5 Famous Founders Who Failed—Then Built Billion-Dollar Companies

    Starting a business doesn’t always go so smoothly. More than 20 percent of businesses fail in their first year, with nearly 50 percent closing their doors in the first five years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And while those numbers aren’t as bad as the oft-cited myth that half of all startups close their doors in the first year, there’s still a significant chance of failure.

    For some founders, the failure of a startup is a one-and-done thing. The thought of taking that sort of risk again, both financially and emotionally, is too daunting. Failure doesn’t make you persona non grata in the funding world, though. In some cases, it can be considered a good thing to venture capitalists. In fact, some of the most successful entrepreneurs in history have stumbled or flopped before, they went on to launch businesses that had a much greater degree of success.

    Here’s a look at five founders who didn’t get things quite right in their first run at entrepreneurship.

    Reid Hoffman

    Before finding success with LinkedIn, Hoffman tried launching another sort of social media site in 1997. SocialNet was basically a Facebook/Match mashup before either of those sites existed. It was designed as a place to meet and make friends online (and, should you want, to date them). There weren’t as many people using the Internet then, though, and the technology was too rudimentary to foster those connections. It shut down in 2000—and Hoffman refunded all of the capital the company’s investors put into it. After joining the founding team atPayPal, he founded LinkedIn in 2002, eventually taking it public in 2011 before it was acquired by Microsoft for $26.2 billion in 2016.

    Steve Jobs

    Steve Jobs experienced failure in a way that’s much different than the other founders in this list. Apple was a hit from the start, but nine years after he co-founded the company, he was famously forced out in 1985 following a power struggle with John Scully. He went on to found NeXT, a tech company focused on workstations for higher education facilities. It flopped – and Apple bought the company in 1997 and brought Jobs back as CEO of Apple. The failures of NeXT and his ejection from Apple had given him a new perspective, though, which helped him shape the company into the $3.67 trillion powerhouse it is today.

    “I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me,” Jobs told graduates at Stanford University in 2005. “The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

    Bill Gates and Paul Allen

    Four years before Gates and Allen launched Microsoft, the duo teamed up on another company. Traf-O-Data was meant to take the raw data from traffic counters along a state or city’s roads and automatically create reports for traffic engineers. (The duo used a computer at the University of Washington to do so.) “We ended up being okay successful, not seriously successful,” Gates later said in a 1993 interview with the Museum of American History. The State of Washington eventually offered free processing of the data for cities, which put an end to Traf-O-Data, but Allen and Gates both said the experience they gained with that company was critical when they decided to launch Microsoft.

    Travis Kalanick

    The third time was definitely the charm for Uber founder Kalanick. His first company, in the early 2000s, was Scour, a peer-to-peer file-sharing company. Before long, though, Scour faced a $250 billion copyright infringement suit from the entertainment industry and filed for bankruptcy. Next up was Red Swoosh, a content delivery network. That company struggled, but was eventually acquired in 2007 by Akamai Technologies. Two years later, Kalanick co-founded Uber, which revolutionized the transportation industry. Kalanick was forced out as CEO in 2017 after a series of workplace scandals revolving around a toxic work environment. These days, Kalanick is onto another venture, having acquired CloudKitchens, which provides commercial kitchen space to food delivery companies. He serves as CEO.

    Chris Morris

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  • Why Does Success Often Feel Like Failure? Science Says Blame the ‘Negative-Lumping’ Effect

    Say you’ve averaged landing 40 new customers a month over the past year. You really want to ramp things up, so you set a goal of landing 100 new customers next month.

    Most importantly — because a goal without an action plan is just a dream — you do a number of things differently to achieve it. You make more cold calls. You rework your sales pipeline. You implement new pricing strategies. You leverage referrals. You work your butt off to achieve your goal.

    Unfortunately, you fall a little short. You only land 94 new customers.

    How do you feel? Science says you’re bound to be disappointed, even though 94 new customers is way more than 40. A study published in Psychological Science found that people dismiss relative gains even when those gains are considerable. Psychologists call that the “negative-lumping”effect, the tendency to dismiss achievement — no matter how great the improvement — even when you fall short of a seemingly impossible goal.

    Say profits are small and you want to cut costs by 10 percent this month. Oddly enough, whether you only cut 2 percent, or 5 percent, or 9 percent, the result feels the same. Even though 2 percent is good, 5 percent is better, and 9 percent is great — even though the difference between where you started and what you accomplished is huge — still.

    You feel like you failed.

    Which is not just a problem in the moment, but also in the future. As the researchers write:

    … falling short signals an eschewal of doing the bare minimum and lacking serious intent to change, making these gains seem less deserving of recognition.

    Critically, participants then “checked out”: they under-rewarded and underinvested in efforts toward “merely” incremental improvement. In all experiments, participants lumped together absolute failures but not absolute successes, highlighting a unique blindness to gradations of badness.

    When attempts to eradicate a problem fail, people might dismiss smaller but critical steps that were and can still be made.

    Or in non researcher-speak, if you don’t hit your target, you’ll probably quit trying. Or you’ll scrap the process you created to hit a goal (after all, it didn’t “work”) and start over again — even though you’re clearly on the right track.

    So how can you combat the effect of negative-lumping? How can you keep falling a little short of a goal, especially a huge goal, from feeling like total failure?

    The key is to look forward and backward. Measuring yourself against a goal is obviously valuable. Striving to reach a goal, evaluating your progress toward that goal to modify your approach, your strategies, your daily activities… goals are valuable because they help you establish and then shape the process you create to reach that goal.

    Since you can’t decide how to get there if you don’t know where you’re going, you need to measure yourself against a goal.

    But you also need to make sure you look back to see how far you’ve come. If your goal was to land 100 customers and you “only” landed 94, still: you’ve grown your customer base by a significant amount — and you’ve learned a lot about how to turn leads into customers. If your goal is to work out five days a week and you “only” work out four, still: you’ve made definite strides in improving your fitness, and you can figure out how to remove the barriers that keep you from working out one more day a week.

    Relative improvement is still improvement — and it provides a knowledge and experience base you can use to adapt, revise, optimize… and continue to improve.

    Because here’s the thing. When you look forward, you “failure” is relative. When you look backwards, your success is absolute. You grew your customer base. You got fitter. Whatever you hope to do, you’re closer than you were.

    So use goals to inform processes, to track your progress, and to make smart course correction. By all means, measure yourself against your goals. 

    But don’t forget to look back and measure yourself against the progress you made, especially if your efforts fall short of your goals. 

    Failing to hit a target is just failing to hit an arbitrary — and possibly unreachable, at least in the short-term — target. Progress is actual. Progress is tangible. Progress, no matter how small, is an achievement to take pride in, and use as motivation to keep making progress.

    Because shorter-term goals are fun… but where you end up is all that really matters.

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

    Jeff Haden

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  • Don’t Run From Failure — Run Toward It. Here’s Why. | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    We’re trained to avoid failure like it’s a contagious disease.

    At school, failing wasn’t just about getting a bad grade — it was about getting labeled. If you didn’t pass, you weren’t just “behind,” you were branded. Pulled into extra classes, singled out in front of your peers and whispered about in the hallways. It can feel like public shame dressed up as education.

    When you grow up in that kind of system, what you learn fast is: Don’t mess up. Don’t take risks. Don’t give anyone a reason to think less of you. And the biggest lesson? Stay in your lane.

    The problem is that that mindset doesn’t prepare you for the real world — especially if you want to lead, build or create anything meaningful. Because here’s the truth: If you’re afraid to fail, you’ll never truly succeed.

    Related: Want to Be a Successful Entrepreneur? Fail.

    The fear that holds us back

    Fear of failure isn’t just about the actual mistake — it’s about the imagined fallout.

    • What will people think?
    • Will they see me as incompetent? Reckless? Stupid?
    • Will this cost me my reputation, my relationships, my livelihood?

    And because those fears feel heavy and real, we avoid taking the shot. We stay where it’s “safe,” never realizing that “safe” is just a slow, quiet way to fail anyway.

    As leaders, that fear can be deadly. It keeps us from innovating, from hiring bold talent, from experimenting with new products or ideas. It makes us reactive instead of proactive. And when the market shifts — as it always does — the leaders who’ve been too scared to risk anything are the ones left scrambling.

    How I learned to get comfortable with losing

    The real turning point for me wasn’t some massive success — it was being okay with losing. But that didn’t happen overnight.

    When I started my business, I brought that school-based fear of failure right along with me. I worried about how my decisions would look. I avoided risks that felt “too visible.” I overworked myself trying to make sure nothing went wrong — and when something inevitably did, I beat myself up for weeks.

    But here’s what changed everything: I realized failure without feedback is just a loss. But failure with insight? That’s an investment.

    When you stop seeing failure as a verdict and start treating it as raw material, it becomes the most valuable thing you have.

    Over the last eight years, I’ve:

    • Mismanaged people and learned how to lead better.
    • Made bad hires and learned how to recruit with sharper instincts.
    • Invested in projects that flopped and learned where my market actually is.
    • Lost more money (and time) than I’d like to admit — and learned exactly how to make it back (and more).

    None of those lessons came from the times things went perfectly. Every single one was purchased with the currency of failure.

    Related: 4 Key Strategies to Help Entrepreneurs Cope With Failure

    How school got it wrong

    Part of why this mindset is so hard to adopt is that it’s almost the opposite of what we were trained to believe.

    Our education system rewards perfection and punishes missteps. You’re graded on what you got right, not on how many creative attempts you made. You’re celebrated for the A, not for the questions you dared to ask or the risks you took to get there.

    And that’s fine if your career goal is “ace tests forever.” But in real life, success is about trying, adapting and trying again — fast. It’s about iteration, not immaculate execution on the first go.

    If you’ve ever wondered why so many talented people never reach their potential, this is it. They’ve been conditioned to fear the first step because they’ve been conditioned to fear the stumble.

    The leader’s advantage: Failing faster

    Here’s the mindset shift that’s changed everything for me: Don’t run from failure — run toward it.

    When you take a calculated risk and it doesn’t work out, you gain information your competitors don’t have. You see where the potholes are. You understand the dynamics of your market or your team in a way you simply can’t from the sidelines.

    Failure speeds up your feedback loop. And in business, speed of learning is a competitive advantage.

    When I stopped worrying about how failure looked and started focusing on what it taught, I moved faster. My team moved faster. We became more willing to experiment, to test ideas, to pivot quickly.

    And here’s the irony: The more comfortable I got with failing, the less I actually failed in ways that mattered. Why? Because the lessons compound. The insight you gain from one mistake prevents five more down the line.

    Turning failure into fuel

    If you’re looking for practical ways to reframe failure, here’s what’s worked for me:

    1. Separate the event from your identity. Failing at something doesn’t make you a failure. It makes you a human who’s gathering data.
    2. Ask better post-mortem questions. Instead of “Why did I mess up?” ask “What specifically did I learn, and how will I apply it next time?”
    3. Take the hit, then take the action. Feel the sting, but don’t camp there. Apply the lesson as quickly as possible so it becomes forward motion.
    4. Make it visible for your team. When leaders are open about their own missteps, it gives everyone else permission to try without fear.

    Related: How to Turn Failures Into Wins As an Entrepreneur

    The real goal

    At the end of the day, the point isn’t to fail for failure’s sake. The point is to strip failure of its power over you so you can move without hesitation.

    If there’s one mindset that’s been critical to my success, it’s this: Be okay with failing — because the lesson you learn is worth more than the hit you take.

    The faster you embrace that truth, the faster you’ll grow — not just as a leader, but as a human being who’s willing to show up, take the shot and trust that even if you miss, you’re still moving forward.

    We’re trained to avoid failure like it’s a contagious disease.

    At school, failing wasn’t just about getting a bad grade — it was about getting labeled. If you didn’t pass, you weren’t just “behind,” you were branded. Pulled into extra classes, singled out in front of your peers and whispered about in the hallways. It can feel like public shame dressed up as education.

    When you grow up in that kind of system, what you learn fast is: Don’t mess up. Don’t take risks. Don’t give anyone a reason to think less of you. And the biggest lesson? Stay in your lane.

    The rest of this article is locked.

    Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

    Ginni Saraswati

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  • Trump administration revokes security clearances of 37 current and former government officials

    The Trump administration moved Tuesday to revoke the security clearances of 37 current and former national security officials in the latest act of retribution targeting public servants in the federal government’s intelligence community.Related video from January above: White House press secretary comments on Gen. Milley’s security clearance being pulledA memo posted by Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, accuses the targeted officials of having engaged in the “politicization or weaponization of intelligence” to advance partisan goals, as well as a failure to safeguard classified information and a “failure to adhere to professional analytic tradecraft standards.”The action, coming months after an even broader clearance suspension on his first day in office, is part of a broader campaign by President Donald Trump’s administration to scrutinize the judgments of intelligence officials he personally disagrees with. Critics of his approach have said it risks chilling dissenting voices within the government.”These are unlawful and unconstitutional decisions that deviate from well-settled, decades-old laws and policies that sought to protect against just this type of action,” Mark Zaid, a national security lawyer whose own clearance was revoked by the Trump administration, said in a statement.Many of the officials who were singled out left the government years ago. Some worked on matters that have long provoked Trump’s ire, including the intelligence community assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election on Trump’s behalf, or have openly criticized him.Gabbard, in the last month, has declassified a series of years-old documents meant to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the assessment on Russian election interference.

    WASHINGTON —

    The Trump administration moved Tuesday to revoke the security clearances of 37 current and former national security officials in the latest act of retribution targeting public servants in the federal government’s intelligence community.

    Related video from January above: White House press secretary comments on Gen. Milley’s security clearance being pulled

    A memo posted by Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, accuses the targeted officials of having engaged in the “politicization or weaponization of intelligence” to advance partisan goals, as well as a failure to safeguard classified information and a “failure to adhere to professional analytic tradecraft standards.”

    The action, coming months after an even broader clearance suspension on his first day in office, is part of a broader campaign by President Donald Trump’s administration to scrutinize the judgments of intelligence officials he personally disagrees with. Critics of his approach have said it risks chilling dissenting voices within the government.

    “These are unlawful and unconstitutional decisions that deviate from well-settled, decades-old laws and policies that sought to protect against just this type of action,” Mark Zaid, a national security lawyer whose own clearance was revoked by the Trump administration, said in a statement.

    Many of the officials who were singled out left the government years ago. Some worked on matters that have long provoked Trump’s ire, including the intelligence community assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election on Trump’s behalf, or have openly criticized him.

    Gabbard, in the last month, has declassified a series of years-old documents meant to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the assessment on Russian election interference.

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  • Failure Analyzer Worksheet (PDF)

    Failure Analyzer Worksheet (PDF)

    The “Failure Analyzer” worksheet is designed to help you reflect on a recent failure, identify the underlying causes, and create a mindset to improve and avoid similar mistakes in the future.


    This content is for Monthly, Yearly, and Lifetime members only.
    Join Here

    Steven Handel

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  • Yes, We're Still Messing Up Hybrid Work. Here's Where Exactly We're Going Wrong. | Entrepreneur

    Yes, We're Still Messing Up Hybrid Work. Here's Where Exactly We're Going Wrong. | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Is your team truly prepared for the hybrid work revolution? This question might unsettle many business leaders, but it’s one we must confront. The recent shift to hybrid work models has been seismic, yet a staggering number of managers find themselves navigating uncharted waters without a compass. Surveys paint a concerning picture: A vast majority of managers acknowledge the need for new skills in this flexible work era, but astonishingly, nearly half feel ill-equipped and untrained for the task.

    Related: 68% of Companies Are Making This Critical Mistake in Their Approach to Hybrid Work — Are You?

    The cost of untrained leadership

    The cost of this oversight is more than just operational hiccups. Gallup’s research is a wake-up call, revealing that 80% of hybrid workers and 73% of their leaders are sailing in the same rudderless boat. The impact of this unpreparedness on team engagement and well-being is not just significant; it’s exponential. An effective manager’s influence on a team’s engagement is four times more potent than the physical work environment, according to Gallup. This statistic serves as a clarion call for immediate action.

    Delving deeper into the skills gap issue, the findings by From Another’s research shed light on a critical disconnect in the current corporate landscape. While 81% of managers recognize the necessity to adapt, 44% confess to lacking the right training and tools. This gap represents a systemic failure to adapt to the evolving work environment.

    The impact of this lack of preparedness extends beyond operational inefficiencies. It seeps into the very core of team dynamics, affecting engagement, morale, and ultimately, productivity. Consider the role of an effective manager – they are not just task supervisors; they are motivators, problem-solvers, and the bridge between the organization’s goals and the team’s aspirations. When such a pivotal role is undermined by inadequate training, the consequences are profound. Employee disengagement can skyrocket, leading to higher turnover rates, reduced productivity, and a dampened team spirit.

    Investing in managers for organizational resilience

    The investment in managerial training should be seen as a critical pillar for building organizational resilience in the evolving landscape of work. In the hybrid work model, the role of a manager transcends traditional boundaries, becoming more complex and multifaceted. A well-trained, well-equipped manager becomes the key driver in steering this model towards success.

    Firstly, it is important to recognize that the effectiveness of managers in a hybrid environment has a direct and significant impact on the overall health of the organization. Managers who are adept at navigating the nuances of hybrid work can effectively align their teams with the organization’s goals, regardless of physical location. This alignment is crucial for maintaining operational efficiency, fostering innovation, and ensuring a competitive edge in the market.

    Furthermore, investing in managerial training is an investment in employee engagement and retention. Managers play a pivotal role in shaping the work experience of their team members. When they are equipped with the right skills to manage, motivate, and support their team members, it leads to higher levels of job satisfaction, loyalty, and productivity. This, in turn, translates to lower turnover rates and a stronger employer brand, attracting top talent to the organization.

    This investment also signals a commitment to continuous improvement and adaptation. By prioritizing managerial training, organizations demonstrate a forward-thinking mindset, acknowledging that the skills needed yesterday may not be sufficient for tomorrow. This approach fosters a culture of learning and adaptability, which is essential in today’s fast-paced business environment.

    Moreover, well-trained managers are better equipped to identify and mitigate risks associated with hybrid work, such as communication breakdowns, team fragmentation, and burnout. By foreseeing and addressing these challenges proactively, they contribute to the overall resilience and sustainability of the organization.

    Redefining managerial training for a hybrid world

    As I tell my clients when developing management training programs for hybrid work, effective training for hybrid work transcends traditional boundaries, requiring a comprehensive and nuanced approach. It’s not just about the technical know-how of handling virtual meetings or scheduling tools. Instead, it calls for a more holistic development of skills that are often overlooked but crucial in a hybrid setting.

    Firstly, emotional intelligence takes center stage. In a hybrid environment, understanding and managing emotions – both one’s own and those of team members – is vital. This skill becomes even more crucial when direct, in-person interactions are limited. Managers need to be trained to pick up on subtle cues in virtual settings, cues that are often more nuanced and less apparent than in face-to-face interactions. This training should include recognizing signs of stress or disengagement in team members, effectively communicating empathy, and fostering an inclusive environment where every team member feels valued and heard.

    Digital proficiency is another critical area. While most managers are familiar with basic digital tools, the hybrid environment demands a deeper understanding and more strategic use of these tools. Training should focus on leveraging technology not just for task management but for fostering collaboration, creativity, and connection among team members. This includes using project management software more effectively, understanding the best practices for virtual meetings, and being aware of and utilizing digital tools that can enhance team interaction and productivity.

    Additionally, an adaptive leadership style is crucial. Hybrid work environments are dynamic, and what works one day may not be effective the next. Managers must be trained to be flexible in their leadership approach, adapting to the varying needs of their team members. This adaptability also means being open to feedback and willing to continuously learn and evolve their management style. It involves understanding the unique challenges and opportunities of managing remote and in-office team members and being adept at creating a cohesive team culture that bridges the physical divide.

    Honing communication skills is another key focus. In a hybrid setup, clear and inclusive communication is paramount. Managers need to be adept at conveying their messages effectively across various digital platforms, ensuring that every team member, whether remote or in-office, feels equally involved and informed. This involves not just verbal and written communication skills but also an understanding of non-verbal cues in virtual settings. Training should cover aspects like active listening, clear and concise messaging, and the use of visual aids to enhance understanding.

    Developing strategies for remote team building is equally important. Hybrid work models can lead to a sense of disconnection among team members. Managers should be equipped with strategies to foster team cohesion and a sense of community, regardless of physical location. This could include virtual team-building activities, regular check-ins, and creating opportunities for informal interactions among team members. The training should also emphasize the importance of celebrating team achievements and milestones, which can significantly boost morale and team spirit.

    These training programs should not be static; they need to be dynamic and evolve with the changing landscape of hybrid work. They should include regular updates and refresher courses to keep managers abreast of the latest tools and strategies. Additionally, offering a platform for managers to share their experiences and learn from each other can be invaluable.

    Related: Employers: Hybrid Work is Not The Problem — Your Guidelines Are. Here’s Why and How to Fix Them.

    Understanding cognitive biases in hybrid work management training

    In the context of hybrid work and managerial training, understanding the impact of cognitive biases is crucial. These biases can significantly influence how managers perceive and address the challenges and opportunities of hybrid work environments. Let’s delve into two specific biases: status quo bias and empathy gap, and explore their implications in this setting.

    Status quo bias is the tendency to prefer things to remain the same or to resist changes, especially when the benefits of change are uncertain. In the realm of hybrid work management, this bias can manifest in several ways. Managers might be inclined to stick with traditional management practices, hesitant to adopt new strategies or tools that are better suited for hybrid work environments. This resistance can stem from a discomfort with change or an underestimation of the new skills required in a hybrid setting.

    For instance, a manager might continue to evaluate employee performance based on time spent working, disregarding the productivity and efficiency of outcomes-focused metrics. This bias can hinder the adoption of more effective performance metrics that are tailored to hybrid work models. The status quo bias can also lead to a reluctance to invest in necessary training for managing hybrid teams, as it deviates from traditional training models.

    The empathy gap refers to the difficulty in understanding or predicting others’ emotions, especially when they are in a different situation or context. In hybrid work environments, this can lead to managers underestimating or misjudging the challenges faced by remote team members. For example, a manager who primarily works on-site might struggle to fully grasp the communication barriers, feelings of isolation, or work-life balance issues experienced by remote employees.

    This gap can result in ineffective communication strategies or insufficient support for remote team members, leading to disengagement and decreased productivity. Managers might overlook the need for regular check-ins or fail to create inclusive meeting formats that ensure remote employees feel as involved as their in-office counterparts.

    Incorporating an understanding of these biases into managerial training programs is essential. Training should not only focus on imparting new skills but also on raising awareness of these cognitive biases and their impact on managing hybrid teams. Managers should be encouraged to challenge their preconceptions, critically evaluate their management approaches, and adopt more flexible, inclusive strategies that cater to the diverse needs of hybrid teams.

    For instance, training programs can include exercises that simulate remote work scenarios, helping managers to experience and understand the challenges faced by remote employees, thereby bridging the empathy gap. Similarly, discussions and case studies can be used to illustrate the pitfalls of the status quo bias, encouraging managers to embrace and adapt to the changing dynamics of the workplace.

    Conclusion

    The move to hybrid work isn’t a temporary shift; it’s the future of work. As we navigate this new landscape, the need for adequately trained managers cannot be overstated. It’s time for organizations to step up and equip their leaders with the skills and tools needed to thrive in this new era. Let’s not just adapt to hybrid work; let’s master it with well-trained managers leading the charge.

    Gleb Tsipursky

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  • Demystifying the role of the school board director

    Demystifying the role of the school board director

    Key points:

    In the often stormy waters of public education, there’s an analogy I like to use to describe what school boards do: I think of each school district as being a ship–not a smaller size boat, but more like an ocean liner. In a time when there is confusion around what school board directors do and don’t do, this analogy can help clarify the role of the school board.

    Think of the superintendent as the captain, the one who’s responsible for steering the ship and making sure everyone is doing their job to ensure it’s heading in the right direction. School board directors are akin to the navigators. They’re looking out across the horizon and pointing toward where the ship should be heading. That direction should align with the community’s desires as well as the needs of the students. School boards lay out big, long-term priorities such as strategic planning, budgetary goals, and financial stability. They also support and evaluate the superintendent, who is their only employee.

    However, ships can get knocked off course by tempests like a pandemic or even less cataclysmic factors, such as public opinion, changing demographics in the district, financial challenges, collective bargaining agreements, new board members, or a new superintendent. When that happens, the board’s role is to continue to look toward the destination and give the captain and staff the ability to right the ship and continue onward.

    Roles and responsibilities

    School board directors are elected to represent their constituents, but individuals may take different approaches to this role. Some believe they were elected to advance a specific platform or position. This is often called the delegate model of representation, in which they feel obliged to make decisions that closely align with their constituents without exercising their own judgment. Another approach is referred to as the trustee model, where the board member believes that voters elected them to use their best judgment in ways that are in line with the overall needs of the whole community and student body.

    The trustee approach has the advantage of allowing school directors to consider all available information, some of which might not be widely known by the general public because, for example, they aren’t participating in board work sessions that allow school directors to dive deeply into all aspects of an issue. Also, following the trustee model enables the board member to gather additional input from students, families, and the community as needed to make the most informed decisions. 

    Regardless of their approach, school board directors need to act in the best interest of students. Here in Washington state, one of our school board standards states that the job of school board members is to create conditions for students and staff success.

    Because the nature of their elected office is collaborative, school board directors are in constant communication with various audiences: families, taxpayers, district voters, students, legislators, local government leaders, and their peers in other districts or associations. The form this communication takes may vary by district. For example, many boards have student representatives who can speak directly to their fellow members and have the ability to contribute input on policies.

    This extensive communication gives school board directors the opportunity to explain the nuances of their job, which are often misunderstood by the general public. A school board director’s role is governance rather than management. I often share the example that if you’re a family member who’s frustrated by something going on in your student’s classroom, you might call a school board director who lives in your neighborhood to lodge a complaint against a teacher. However, that is not in any way the role of the school board.

    School board directors must never forget that they are responsible for the overall strategic direction of a district. This ensures they don’t become fixated on one specific interest or devote too much energy to something that amounts to a tiny fraction of the district’s work. A best practice is to explicitly delegate authority to superintendents–and to provide sufficient resources and autonomy for them to do their jobs. This helps boards avoid diverting their attention from strategic matters.

    Creating chaos vs. being a force for good

    People often wonder how much power school boards wield. The truth is one individual school board director has no power—they only have the power to take any official action if they are part of a quorum.

    Where it gets more complicated is the question of indirect power. Board members can have a lot of influence on their communities and on each other, and a responsible board member must be very thoughtful about their role. Board members can be a force for good by correcting misinformation, being supportive of the district, and sharing how the community can engage in collaborative conversations with the district. 

    The biggest qualification

    I have 18 years of school board experience, and when I joined my local school board, I thought I knew a lot about my school district. I did not. I was a parent, but I didn’t understand how the district worked and what the different factors were that went into educating students–and I’m not alone in this assessment among fellow board directors. 

    One of the most important qualifications to be a successful school board member is having an open mind. You need the ability to listen, to learn, and to admit when you are mistaken. This is how I’ve witnessed several of my colleagues grow into successful board directors. Too often, I’ve seen board members come into the role laser-focused on a particular issue–like building infrastructure–only to quickly realize there are hundreds of issues affecting the district.

    Another important qualification is being focused on what’s best for students–not just their academic success, but are the students seen and heard? Do they feel like they belong and can grow into who they were meant to be during their years of education? Ultimately, creating an environment where students can succeed is a board member’s top priority.

    Focus on strategic vision

    At a time when even education is more politicized than ever before, knowing what school board members can and cannot do is critical for an effective school system that serves student needs, while respecting the values of the communities they serve. For optimal impact, the school board’s focus should be on the overall strategic vision for the district, and ensuring students and staff have what they need to succeed.

    Understanding that only responsible and informed school board directors can meaningfully contribute to the long-term success of a school district is the first step in fostering an environment where students can thrive. 

    Latest posts by eSchool Media Contributors (see all)

    Tricia Lubach, Director of Leadership Development, Washington State School Directors’ Association

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  • How To Grow Your Startup With Rapid Experimentation | Entrepreneur

    How To Grow Your Startup With Rapid Experimentation | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Many concepts get pounded into us from well before we’re entrepreneur cubs. One example is: “Money doesn’t grow on trees, so be careful with it.”

    Later in life, we learn about the wonders of leverage. In business school or elsewhere, we’re introduced to the seductive benefits of bringing on lenders and private equity partners to accelerate our dreams.

    If we need to be careful with our own money, we learn that we better be doubly careful with others’ money. We’re continuously answerable to them, and they can sink our business.

    When building Warrior Trading, I instead chose the self-funded route. I had been subject to anxiety attacks since I was young, and the last thing I needed was to skyrocket my anxiety by worrying about investors.

    There are two sides to having investors: their money does offer the potential to grow faster. But it also creates drag. Startups funded by investors can find it difficult to pivot and change course when needed. To me, self-funding has equaled freedom. Working within the constraints of my limited funds gave way to resourcefulness, creativity and innovation.

    Related: How Entrepreneurial Creativity Leads to Innovation

    Creating a culture of rapid experimentation

    In my startup, I created an engine of rapid experimentation to find products that matched demand in the active trading community. I had to be smart about where I invested my time and money, but I knew that quick experiments and quick decisions could lead to quick progress.

    The SaaS world has the concept of a minimum viable product. That implies a deliverable, an “alpha” or “beta” test that’s at least semi-packaged for others’ consumption. I take the concept further: When I start to develop a product, I want to see the most primitive product that performs at least one new function. You might call it “most primitive improvement.”

    I’ll caution that rapid prototyping is not for everyone. You need a team accustomed to bootstrapping and thrives under that pressure. Of course, there is no other option for the self-funded startup. So, it comes down to assembling the right team for your company.

    Related: What I Wish I Knew Before Bootstrapping My Startup

    How rapid experimentation gives way to product iteration

    My team engages with developing new products by testing a thesis. We have a belief based on consumer behavior and looking at the marketplace that there is demand for a specific product. We begin the development of that product, but instead of keeping it hidden until it’s perfect, we put customers into beta testing as soon as it meets the standard of “most primitive improvement”.

    Here’s something really interesting. Every single time we’ve done this, we get feedback from beta testers that we didn’t expect. Whether it’s a common request for a feature we overlooked or an element we thought would be highly valued but is not being utilized at all, we can quickly take this feedback and roll it into the next release.

    I find this process especially exciting. One might even say, thrilling.

    The final product will often look and feel much different from our initial mockup, but that’s a good thing. We will have created a product that is an exact match for our target customer.

    Throughout my years in the investing space, I’ve seen companies backed by investors spend incredible sums of money building platforms that sadly completely missed the mark in terms of delivering what traders are really looking for. I believe this happens when development occurs in isolation from the intended users.

    But truth be told, rapid experimentation does not always lead to a success story.

    Rapid experimentation helped me pull the plug on a doomed project

    A few years ago, I wanted to see if it was worth starting a free service for traders similar to Twitch; in other words, a platform where people can easily stream their trading activity but where they’re in a tighter community of active traders. We got a few dozen people streaming at first, and they, in turn, had modest followings. But it didn’t take long for me to come to a difficult conclusion. Twitch and YouTube are successful because they attract a massive audience, attracting advertisers.

    My new platform was too niche. Even though it was free, our total available market was too small to bring in the advertising revenue we needed to keep that platform running. No amount of product iteration was going to change these dynamics, but the good news is that I was able to pull the plug while we were still in the early stages of development.

    I wrote off that project as a loss. But every loss is a lesson. There’s a saying in Silicon Valley: You don’t learn until you ship. I would expand on that to say: Ship fast. Fail fast. Ship again. Just like in trading, in business, we must be willing to take risks, but we must also cut losses quickly.

    A few takeaways:

    1. Think hard before seeking external funds for your venture. Self-funding doesn’t earn commissions for anyone, so you hear less about it, but it can potentially take substantial pressure off you.
    2. Focus on ROI, but also focus on ROT: Return on Time. Rapid experimentation, along with rapid decision-making, can not only save money but can gain you a first-mover advantage. You can be on version 4.0 — or be done with an unworkable experiment — before the competition has finished suiting up.
    3. Be proud of the money you raise and even prouder of what you rapidly ship. Many fortunes have been made with external capital, but even more great, young businesses have been snuffed out by the constraints and risk-aversion that the capital brought. By all means, do a round of high fives if you close a round of financing. But save your biggest celebrations for when you rapidly confirm your failed experiments and ship your newest winner.

    Ross Cameron

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  • 3 Ways To Overcome Rejection and Turn It Into Power | Entrepreneur

    3 Ways To Overcome Rejection and Turn It Into Power | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Throughout the journey of starting, launching and growing a business, you’ll feel like you’re on a never-ending rollercoaster of highs and lows. One day you’re jumping for joy because a big customer says yes to launching your new product in thousands of stores, and then the next day, you’ll be slammed in the face with yet another disappointment or stress-inducing challenge. And so goes life as an entrepreneur… but the good news is, you have the power to decide how to respond to every curveball life throws at you.

    So, to help you become a superhero in business, here are a few words of wisdom to live by.

    As an entrepreneur and an executive with over 20 years of experience in business, like many people, I’ve faced more rejection than I can count. From being ghosted by retail chain buyers to hearing no from customers I’ve worked hard to earn, rejection is an inevitable part of this experience. However, in moments like these, we truly find out what we’re made of.

    But, on the flip side of all these disappointments, I’ve been fortunate to experience great success and amazing opportunities in various facets of my businesses (including working with hundreds of the top brands and retailers on the globe). So I know both sides of the coin and am grateful for all the pivotal moments on my path to success.

    Related: 5 Ways to Turn Rejection Into Resilience

    I believe that we’re drawn to entrepreneurship because we have a vision of a better life — for ourselves, our families and the world around us. That said, my father was one of the men who inspired my entrepreneurship journey.

    My father was a self-made serial entrepreneur and a true example of the “American Dream.”

    As a high school dropout from New York who had to get a job shoveling snow to help his struggling family earn a living, he ultimately ran and launched multiple businesses. In his early years, he served in the military, bussed tables and became a door-to-door salesperson. Ultimately he became the Publisher of the first single-volume African-American history encyclopedia (during the Civil Rights movement) called “In Black America.” This encyclopedia helped thousands of men and women earn a living while empowering their communities and families. My father then went on to run a successful merchandising company. He most recently built Creative Balloons Manufacturing Inc., our family-operated global business celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year, helping millions of people and brands celebrate life’s special moments with fun-filled balloons.

    Over the years, he taught me many valuable lessons in entrepreneurship, especially regarding overcoming challenges and rejection.

    1. Drive, determination and mindset are paramount to what we know

    Since my father never had a formal education, he realized at an early age that he’d have to be more resourceful and hard-working than most, so he became street-smart and ultimately learned what it takes to start and run a global business, one that has proudly been a national supplier to major chains like McDonald’s for over 45 years.

    Don’t let your education or lack thereof prevent you from feeling worthy or deserving of pursuing your passions and becoming successful. Always remember — if all else fails, just Google it (or, for that matter, just read an article by Entrepreneur). Where there’s a will, there’s a way. And as Marie Forleo says, “Everything is figureoutable.”

    Related: 5 Steps Entrepreneurs Need to Take to Overcome the Fear of Rejection

    2. Persistence and resilience are absolutely imperative if we want to make anything happen in life

    As a kid, I vividly remember hearing my father on the phone calling one potential customer after the next, which ultimately helped him land many national accounts (including Burger King, Carl’s Jr., Mrs. Field’s Cookies and more). Whether we dream of developing a prototype for an innovative new product, landing a major client or changing the world with our revolutionary products or services, we have to believe in the purpose behind what we’re doing. Keep waking up each day to reach your goals and win. Even A-list athletes have bad days and losses, so keep striving, working hard and believing you’re a winner. You have to envision success first to achieve it.

    Related: Rejection Is Part of Entrepreneurship. Here’s How to Handle It.

    3. Boldly pursue your dreams, no matter how big or wild they may seem

    Want to land that big chain? Go pitch them! Looking to score a key investor? Send them a presentation deck. While you might not get a positive response from everyone you contact, all it takes is one “Yes” to open the door, leading you toward the next open door. And while you’re hearing no’s, do your best to find out why — was it the wrong timing, do you need to tweak something in your pitch, etc. Look at rejection as a form of redirection or recalibration.

    Just remember that Bill Gates pitched to 1200 investors, out of which 11 said yes. Because of the few who aligned with his vision, he’s now one of the world’s most influential and successful people. So, even if you’re rejected, you can still skyrocket to success.

    Bottom line: Never be afraid of rejection. Yes, you will hear a no, or worse, you’ll get ignored, but unless you try, you’ll always wonder, “What if?!”. And more importantly, you’ll never hear a yes unless you’re willing to ask for what you want.

    Christina-Lauren Pollack

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  • Drew Brees: From Football to Franchising | Entrepreneur

    Drew Brees: From Football to Franchising | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In this captivating podcast episode, hosted by Jeff Fenster, founder and CEO of Everbowl, former NFL quarterback Drew Brees shares his remarkable transition from the football field to the world of entrepreneurship. The conversation between these two accomplished individuals offers a unique blend of insights from both the host and the guest, adding credibility and depth to the discussion.

    Jeff Fenster, a highly successful entrepreneur himself, brings his expertise and experience to the table as the host of the podcast. As the founder and CEO of Everbowl, a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in superfood bowls, Fenster has demonstrated his ability to identify market opportunities and build a thriving business. His entrepreneurial journey serves as a testament to his knowledge and understanding of the challenges and triumphs that come with building a successful brand.

    Fenster’s entrepreneurial journey began with a vision to create a healthy and delicious dining option that would cater to the growing demand for nutritious food. With a passion for health and wellness, Fenster recognized the need for a fast-casual restaurant that offered nutrient-rich meals without compromising on taste. This realization led to the birth of Everbowl, a concept that has since gained popularity and expanded to multiple locations.

    As the founder and CEO of Everbowl, Fenster has been instrumental in shaping the brand’s identity and driving its growth. His hands-on approach and commitment to quality have earned him a reputation as a respected figure in the restaurant industry. Fenster’s ability to identify market trends, adapt to changing consumer preferences, and build a strong brand presence has been key to Everbowl’s success.

    On the other side of the conversation, Drew Brees, a legendary NFL quarterback, brings his own credibility and expertise to the discussion. With a career spanning two decades, Brees is widely regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. His accomplishments on the football field, including a Super Bowl victory and numerous records, have solidified his status as a respected and admired figure in the sports world.

    Beyond his football career, Brees has also made a name for himself in the business world. As a franchisee for Jimmy John’s sandwiches and an investor in various other ventures, Brees has demonstrated his entrepreneurial acumen and ability to navigate the complexities of the business landscape. His experiences as a franchise owner and his commitment to authenticity in his business ventures further enhance his credibility as a successful entrepreneur.

    Brees’ journey into entrepreneurship began with his foray into the world of franchising. As a franchisee for Jimmy John’s, Brees gained firsthand experience in running a business and managing a team. This experience sparked his interest in franchising and opened his eyes to the possibilities that lay beyond the football field. Brees recognized the value of aligning himself with established brands that shared his values and resonated with his personal brand.

    Brees’ commitment to authenticity has been a guiding principle in his entrepreneurial endeavors. He understands the importance of staying true to oneself and maintaining unwavering integrity in business. This commitment not only ensures a genuine connection with his business ventures but also helps build trust and loyalty among his customers. Brees believes that authenticity is the key to building a successful and sustainable business.

    But what sets Brees apart is his ability to find love in difficult situations. He fearlessly opens up about his personal encounters with failure and adversity, emphasizing the importance of resilience in overcoming challenges. Brees firmly believes that setbacks are not the end of the road but rather stepping stones to success. He encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to embrace failure, learn from it, and use it as fuel to propel themselves forward. By reframing challenges as opportunities for growth, entrepreneurs can approach difficult situations with a positive mindset, unearthing the hidden gems within every setback.

    Brees’ experiences as a franchisee have also highlighted the value of the franchise community. He recognizes the wealth of knowledge and support it offers. Brees cherishes the opportunity to learn from fellow franchise owners, understanding the power of collaboration and shared experiences.

    The franchise community provides a vibrant platform for entrepreneurs to connect, exchange ideas, and gain invaluable insights from others who have walked a similar path. Brees’ experiences underscore the importance of building relationships and leveraging the wisdom of others in the pursuit of success.

    In addition to his franchise ventures, Brees has also found success in expanding his Everbowl locations. Everbowl, a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in superfood bowls, aligns with Brees’ commitment to health and wellness. Through his involvement with Everbowl, Brees has not only expanded his business portfolio but also contributed to promoting a healthy lifestyle among his customers. This expansion showcases Brees’ ability to identify opportunities that align with his personal values and leverage his platform to make a positive impact.

    Brees’ journey into entrepreneurship is a testament to the power of setting goals and embracing challenges. He emphasizes the importance of having a clear vision and working tirelessly to achieve it. Brees’ relentless pursuit of excellence on the football field has seamlessly translated into his business endeavors. He believes that the same principles of discipline, hard work, and dedication that propelled him to success in football are equally applicable in the world of entrepreneurship.

    As Brees reflects on his journey, he acknowledges the lessons learned from both successes and failures. He understands that failure is not a reflection of one’s worth but rather an opportunity for growth and improvement. Brees encourages entrepreneurs to embrace failure as a stepping stone to success, reminding them that even the greatest achievements are often preceded by numerous setbacks.

    In conclusion, Drew Brees’ journey from the gridiron to the boardroom is a captivating tale that offers invaluable insights for aspiring entrepreneurs. His entrepreneurial mindset, emphasis on authenticity, unwavering resilience, and commitment to personal values serve as a beacon of inspiration. Brees’ unwavering belief in finding love in difficult situations and his deep appreciation for the franchise community further underscore the importance of resilience, collaboration, and continuous learning in the entrepreneurial journey.

    As entrepreneurs navigate their own paths, they can draw inspiration from Brees’ experiences and apply his insights to their own ventures. By embracing challenges, staying true to their values, and seeking support from the vibrant community, entrepreneurs can conquer obstacles and achieve their loftiest goals. So, gear up, embrace the unknown, and let Drew Brees’ entrepreneurial spirit guide you to victory in the game of business.

    Jeff Fenster

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  • 3 Important Lessons I’ve Learned Working With the Top 1% of Business Leaders | Entrepreneur

    3 Important Lessons I’ve Learned Working With the Top 1% of Business Leaders | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    One of the great joys of my career has been working alongside hundreds of ambitious entrepreneurs, including those in the top 1% — a.k.a. owners of businesses that make it to $10 million in annual revenue. There are 31 million entrepreneurs in the U.S., and if there’s anything I’ve learned, we are all courageous and dedicated. Every entrepreneur I know has a healthy chuckle over the adage, “Entrepreneurs are the only people who will work an 80-hour week to avoid a 40-hour-a-week job.”

    As the owner of a public relations agency, I tend to work with tons of bold, successful entrepreneurs, but I think it’s worth looking at three of the most important mindsets that entrepreneurs in the 1% have taught me.

    Related: 4 Lessons That Most Successful Entrepreneurs Had to Learn the Hard Way

    1. Every experience is an opportunity

    Creative venture builders consider every engagement an opportunity to get a new idea or establish a beneficial relationship. From attending a basketball game to meeting a potential new hire, successful entrepreneurs know opportunities come in the most unlikely places.

    Viewing every engagement as an opportunity, these entrepreneurs stay plugged into the problem-cause-innovation cycle that makes us distinctive. Think about every time you say, “It’s just ridiculous that…” Well, that’s an opportunity.

    The same goes for people. Much has been said about the people you align with and their impact on your success. And yes, that’s true. But pioneers know ideas often start as seeds, and the ability to identify talent and character early in a relationship or early in a person’s career is a differentiator because new perspectives and experience are often a magical combination.

    One CEO whose fast-growing business has been nationally recognized for its creative products once told me, “Ultimately, my business is only a business if it can thrive without me at the helm; my next phase of growth is ensuring the team has everything they need to be a team.”

    Every entrepreneur faces a moment when they realize they must relinquish the reins. After years of being elbow deep in every aspect of the business, it’s challenging to decide where to loosen the reins. Great leaders make it their business to identify and nurture talent.

    2. Look at failure as a spark for growth

    Few founders reach their full potential without some failures on the way. But the differentiator isn’t just getting back up; the innovation comes along with it. Proactive entrepreneurial minds are willing to examine why something failed and identify what they can control and change. Even better, they can identify failure quickly.

    Looking at something that isn’t working and changing direction purposefully and intentionally is a vital skill of successful entrepreneurs. Over and over, I hear a similar story of a burned-out or frustrated entrepreneur making a conscious choice for change, and that becoming a turning point to greatness. From switching up marketing and sales tactics, to a new product offering, failure and frustration is often the mother of invention. So, if you’re at that place, take a deep look at how you can change your plan — after all, isn’t that the grandest benefit of entrepreneurialism?

    Related: How to Turn Failures Into Wins As an Entrepreneur

    3. Recognize your own strengths

    One thing the top 5% of entrepreneurs do well is knowing where they serve the company best (and where they don’t), and they work diligently to carve out the space they need to be that asset to the company’s growth.

    Some CEOs are natural spokespersons, and their story, voice and unique perspective is something only they can share. These CEOs thrive as brand champions and thought leaders. As one direct-to-consumer brand CEO, who stars in his company’s TV advertising, told me, “If I can’t champion this brand, internally and externally, how can I ask anyone else to do so?” These CEOs know how to take the helm of their own storytelling early so they can blaze trails throughout their journey, no matter where they land.

    Some founders are technical visionaries. In these cases, the founder’s journey is critical to understanding the company’s path. No one else can see the future the way they can. One technical Founder and CEO I know was so far ahead of the AI boom he had already seen what would happen with ChatGPT and ensured his technical product answered problems most people didn’t know to ask about. While these founders may eventually step aside to allow someone else to helm the business while they stay engaged on future-proofing the business.

    Arguably, these are skills that are rarely replicated with the same CEO edge and vigor. Excellent CEOs have a vision for the business and their role in success, enabling them to empower a team that supports the CEO’s best and highest use of time. This emotional intelligence about themselves is a differentiator in success.

    Securing a spot in the top 1% of entrepreneurs is a mix of success factors. Still, the mindset remains one of the most critical, and most importantly, it’s one of the influences within an innovator’s control.

    Tara Coomans

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  • How Failure Promotes Personal and Professional Success | Entrepreneur

    How Failure Promotes Personal and Professional Success | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    When it comes to personal and professional growth, failure has always been seen as something to avoid at all costs. We’ve been conditioned to fear failure and view it as a sign of defeat. Whether at school, work or home, we have never been rewarded when we fail. Because of this, we have also never been taught the value that failing holds.

    That’s where the concept of failing forward comes in. This mindset embraces failure as a valuable learning experience. It’s a new movement that encourages growth over perfectionism. And it’s where you’ll find true innovative success for your companies and yourself.

    Related: Why You Must Embrace Failure to Succeed in Business

    A modern take on an old tale

    So, how have you become conditioned to avoid failure? Traditionally speaking, we need to turn our attention to capitalism and productivity. Over time, the concept of “failing” was not seen as being synonymous with “productivity.” Rather, it’s the complete opposite. When looking back on factory workers and laborers, there was no net gain from workers failing at their jobs. What’s more, failing could mean the difference between life and death. If you failed to grow a harvest in the spring, when winter comes, you might have nothing to feed your family. The avoidance of failure served an enormous purpose in basic survival, and this is where the distinction lies.

    Where perfectionism limits, failure will overcome

    Ultimately, your attempts to be perfect limit you. It signals whatever objective you are trying to become perfect at is an ultimate goal in itself. It gets you to think inside the box. It restricts you and confines you to a set of thoughts and behaviors that are only prescribed toward its objective. Essentially, it is the opposite of innovation. And innovation is not exclusively for the highest levels of business — it can be deployed anywhere.

    To be innovative means to look at your repetitive tasks and say, “I can see how this can be done more efficiently.” It is about going out to your field and thinking, “I can see how I can grow more produce this year, but it’s going to be different, and it’s going to need me to take a risk.”

    Related: 5 Ways Fear of Failure Can Ruin Your Business

    You need safety to innovate and security to fail

    I want to challenge your traditional idea of what safety means. Safety is a psychological climate in an organization that allows for certain actions without harm. It means if a team member tries something new and fails, the organizational structures in place will support their growth. It also means norms and beliefs in business culture. It’s when you create a working culture that helps teams to feel secure in stepping out and taking a risk. There are systems that need to be in place to nurture the growth aspect which follows learning through failure. These are the systems you need to think about employing in your business to achieve team growth.

    An acceptance of failure creates an organization of success

    When we were younger, we were taught how to do anything through failure. Riding a bike, climbing a tree or baking a cake: None of us got it right the first time, and that’s how we grew. We knew if we fell off our bike, we could jump back on, and we knew more now than before how to ride it. When we try to remove the processes of failure from an organization, it creates a false reality of stagnant growth. Teams try and conceal where they are struggling, therefore, they never improve. They just try to look like they’ve got it because they feel they must get it. And this generates systemic lies. The business itself starts to operate from this place, too.

    However, when you embrace failure, you embrace the humanity of yourself. You accept your imperfections. This is the real process of perfecting your skills — not the other way around! As leaders, we must create cultures in our organizations that allow and encourage failure as failure is a truth of ourselves. To deny it would be to deny a part of ourselves. When we embrace failure, we promote our teams to think creatively, take risks and start to innovate rather than replicate. It is through providing environmental safety for imperfection that we start to see superstars shine. Through this organizational flexibility, our businesses shine as well.

    Related: How to Develop a Positive Relationship With Failure

    Put those backward habits of yours away — it’s time to fail forward

    The beauty of this approach is that it really is up to us to shape how we see it.

    “Yes, that business idea I had four years ago which cost me more than my first car did not work out (failure) — but it did lead me to the idea that ignited my current organization (success).”

    “It is true, I totally flunked out on that project I was assigned to years ago and humiliated myself in front of my entire department (failure) — but ever since then, I have always known how to give a successful presentation (success).”

    “I know I lost that sale with one of the most important clients I ever had (failure) — but I’m stronger now and wiser, and I am more developed than I ever have been before.”

    Every “failure” is another step in your journey — you decide whether you place it behind you or in front of you. Your perception will shape the outcome, and you hold the key. Go on, I dare you to try failing forward. I promise you won’t look back!

    Mikey Lucas

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  • 8 Tips to Help Entrepreneurs Find Success After Failure | Entrepreneur

    8 Tips to Help Entrepreneurs Find Success After Failure | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    As an entrepreneur, failure is not something you want to experience. However, it’s a natural part of any business journey, and it’s wise to learn from it. Some of the biggest success stories have come from those who persevered through various failures to become the best in their respective fields.

    In this article, we’ll discuss how failure taught us, as entrepreneurs, some valuable lessons for achieving success in our ventures.

    Related: 10 Strategies for Entrepreneurs Dealing With Failure

    1. Embrace failure as a stepping stone

    When you fail, it can be hard to pick yourself up and keep going. It’s natural to feel discouraged, demotivated and even ashamed about the result. However, as an entrepreneur, you cannot let this feeling force you to give up. Instead, use it as motivation to keep going. Failure should be considered as a stepping stone to a successful venture. It’s essential to recognize that most entrepreneurs have failed in their businesses at some point in their journey.

    If you’re not failing, you’re not growing. Failure is not the end; it’s the beginning of the next chapter.

    2. Find the root cause of failure

    Once you’ve embraced failure, how can you improve and ensure it doesn’t happen again? Analyzing the root cause of failure is crucial for entrepreneurs. For instance, if your business fails due to a lack of market demand or limited capital, it’s essential to apply these lessons to your next venture or business idea.

    It’s essential to analyze each aspect of your previous venture to have a more in-depth understanding. It would help if you had an inclusive, honest and critical view of your venture to understand the root cause of failure, avoid it the next time or improve.

    3. Risk vs. reward

    Being an entrepreneur requires one to be willing to take risks. However, it’s essential to evaluate the risks to ensure they are viable and worth it. Risk is inherent in any business venture. Knowing when to take the risk and when to hold back can be the key to success for an entrepreneur.

    For example, starting a business without prior experience or support can be a significant risk. It’s important to consider the many challenges of starting a business and the odds of success. You must weigh the risks against the potential reward and decide if it’s worth investing time, money and resources.

    4. Know your market

    Your target market plays a crucial role in the success of your venture. Entrepreneurs need to invest time in understanding their market, what their customers want and what their target audience likes. Knowing your market’s trends, behaviors and preferences will set you up for success.

    For instance, if a business idea is based on an unsustainable market, it’s bound to fail. Understanding what the market needs and adapting to meet those needs is essential to keep up with the competition and stay relevant.

    Related: Why You Must Embrace Failure to Succeed in Business

    5. Put your audience first

    It’s essential to put your audience first when starting a business. Entrepreneurs need to create products and services that meet their customer’s needs. Too often, businesses are built around the founders’ ideas and not centered around the audience’s demands.

    Your audience is what will make or break your business. If they feel listened to and value their feedback, you stand a better chance of creating a successful venture. It’s essential to have a customer-centric approach in everything you do.

    6. Take action

    There’s so much you can do with planning, research and strategy. At some point, you must take action to see if your idea turns into the successful venture you envision.

    It’s okay to be cautious and measure your steps, but eventually, you’ll need to start building the business. Putting your plan into action is the only way to create something from your idea. You’ll never know how successful your venture could be unless you give it a chance.

    7. Surround yourself with a supportive network

    Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey, especially when starting or experiencing failures. Surrounding yourself with supportive people can make a real difference. A supportive network can help you overcome setbacks, provide necessary feedback and encouragement, and hold you accountable for your goals.

    You can find or create a supportive network by attending networking events, joining professional organizations or online communities, or contacting mentors in your field. You can also seek out co-founders, advisors or employees who share your vision and values.

    Having a supportive network helps you during tough times. It gives you access to new perspectives, opportunities and resources that can take your business to the next level. So, don’t be shy to ask for HELP and collaborate with others along your entrepreneurial journey.

    8. Failure is inevitable

    Accepting that failure is inevitable may not sound like a positive affirmation, but it’s an essential mindset for an entrepreneur. Whatever your experience or knowledge is, there will be setbacks and failures. How you react to these setbacks and what you learn from them will make you a successful entrepreneur.

    As an entrepreneur, failures are never fun, but they’re also not the end of the world. Embracing failure, understanding the root cause and taking action to avoid repeating it is essential for fostering success.

    Related: How to Overcome Failure and Build a Thriving Business

    Taking risks, knowing your market, putting your audience first and accepting that failure is inevitable are part of building a strong entrepreneurial mindset. The knowledge gained from these experiences puts you ahead of those who haven’t learned from their failures.

    In conclusion, we hope these insights help you approach your entrepreneurial journey with renewed vigor and success. Always keep in mind: Every mistake is an opportunity to learn and improve. Go forth, conquer your fears, take risks, and don’t give up after a setback. With the right mindset and lessons learned, you can succeed in even the most challenging circumstances.

    Finally, always maintain a positive attitude, even in the face of failure. It’s not easy, but negativity will only hinder your ability to succeed. Believe in yourself and your abilities. Know that with each failure, you are one step closer to achieving your goals.

    Now go out there and take the business world by storm — failure and all!

    Chris Kille

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