In line with the fast-paced world we live in, here are only 5 of the best things I’ve learned in business. A life compass on the mistakes I made so hopefully you don’t have to.
For me, this list represents the top 5 things I have learned which I now live and breathe, and they represent the keys to maintaining and ensuring success both professionally and personally.
Here we go… the 5 best things I’ve ever learnt:
- To read and interpret financial statements: If you’re not mathematically inclined and you have no financial training this is an easy thing to overlook. Given the Small Business Ombudsman just said, “Small business owners in financial trouble are leaving it too late to seek help,” reading the financials can mean the difference between being in business or not being in business.
- Face your fears and take risks: This correlation is intrinsic: one can’t happen without the other. If you have thought through and planned the hardest thing is taking the first step. Once you’ve done that everything else is easy. Risk isn’t reckless, it’s calculate and it does not equate to disaster. If you fail, that’s OK, you now have a lesson learned.
- Instincts are your experience reminding you of lessons learned:You know that gut instinct? It’s tapping into something you have already experienced or seen before. If you get that feeling, trust it. So many times, I have overruled my instincts because I wanted a different outcome and it has bitten me, even though I knew somewhere down deed the decision was wrong.
- Authenticity and vulnerability are strengths not weaknesses. Being vulnerable is hard, especially if you have built a work persona. It’s hard to be the captain in the storm when what you are actually feeling is hard, cold fear, or deep overwhelming sadness. But no one can cover who they are completely and if you’re doing so, you’re being genuine, authentic, relatable and human and that’s who and what people believe in.
- If you are clear about your expectations people will meet them. I have always hated micromanagement and as a result have avoided being a micromanager, to the point that I wasn’t clear on what I expected and how it was to be achieved. It took me a long time to learn that some people need more precise direction and linear targets. To quote Brené Brown, clear is kind, unclear is unkind.
These are my top 5. I don’t proclaim to be an expert, like the speakers at The Authentic Leadership Summit, but I have learned a few things in over a decade of management. In fact, I have had the privilege of picking the brains of some of our greatest thought leaders in the country at the Summit and some of this advice I have taken to heart.
Back for its fourth year, the Summit taps into case studies from the leaders of Australia’s most successful companies, with real stories in action. You’ll also learn some of the best titbits our best thought leaders have learnt on their own journeys and like me they can become your guiding post for openness and authenticity.
For more, go here.
