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How to Work Without Working: 3 Lessons From Three Successful Entrepreneurs

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We want to build business empires, amass a huge amount of wealth, and become a worldwide sensation. Yet, we hate to work hard and show up every day to grind. We simply dread working, but we love the results that our work produces.

What if there’s a formula for working without getting bored with doing the work? In other words, you’re working but you’re not feeling the brunt of the process. Drawing from the experience and expertise of three successful entrepreneurs, below, I give you the three tips for working without actually feeling the stress of working.

1. Mark Zuckerberg: Get moving with the easiest tasks

For the average person, working is something huge—like running a marathon or climbing Mount Everest. Most amateur entrepreneurs and career people often spend weeks preparing for a simple task. And when it’s time to do that task, they’ll end up accomplishing only 30 percent of the work. The other 70 percent is buried in “preparation” or procrastination.

But it shouldn’t have to be so. Work should be fun. Mark Zuckerberg never spends 24 hours preparing for work. The young, smart founder of Facebook developed a simple formula for accomplishing any type of work without feeling its impact.

He always begins with the easiest tasks, as opposed to the difficult ones. “I think a simple rule of business is, if you do the things that are easier first, then you can actually make a lot of progress.” That’s a smart philosophy for a Silicon Valley superstar.

If you start with that simple project, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment. You motivate yourself to get going. You won’t feel the burden of the work.

2. Sean Lourdes: Be generous

Making more money appears to be the first goal of most career and business people. But it shouldn’t be. That’s because “If you’re too much obsessed with amassing wealth, making more profit, selling all your inventories, that will make your entrepreneurial career boring, burdensome, and tedious”, Sean Lourdes, founder of The Lourdes Foundation, observes.

The better way to make your entrepreneurial career fun and exciting is to give more. Struggle to work hard and make more money, but don’t make the money as your end goal. You’re meant to serve your customers. That should be your end goal. And being generous will help you serve them better and, in turn, helps you make more money along the way.

Just begin to give more than you take—whether it’s delivering more value to your customers, giving more discounts than the buyer asks, or simply donating your personal wealth to charity organizations—and notice how you’ll find meaning in your work, career, and life in general.

3. Robin Sharma: See your work as a craft

It amazes me when I visit a hotel and the person at the front desk barely raises their head to look at me. I always ask myself: Why would anyone be in the hospitality industry when it’s obvious that they hate people?

If you’re not fit in an industry but insist on working in it, you’ll not only find peace in your work-life, but you’ll also be at war with your employer’s customers. Unfortunately, most people work at jobs they hate. In other words, they see their work as work, not as a craft—which they’ll passionately harness to satisfy their clients. The productivity guru Robin Sharma argues that “a job is only a job if you see it as a job.”

And if you see your job as a job, you can’t find value and meaning and passion in what you do. If you see your job as a job, you can’t provide that impeccable value to your clients. If you see your job as a job, you can’t deliver top-notch quality service to your customers. You have to shift your thinking.

See your work as another opportunity to practice your craft,” Robin Sharma says. “That will push you to love your craft and release magical products.”

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Entrepreneurs

The Leadership Shift Every Company Needs in 2025

Struggling to keep your team engaged? Here’s how leaders can turn frustrated employees into loyal advocates.

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Bridging the gap between employees and employers
Image Credit: Midjourney

In workplaces around the world, there’s a growing gap between employers and employees and between superiors and their teams. It’s a common refrain: “People don’t leave companies, they leave bad bosses.”

While there are, of course, cases where management could do better, this isn’t just a “bad boss” problem. The relationship between leaders and employees is complex. Instead of assigning blame, we should explore practical solutions to build stronger, healthier workplaces where everyone thrives.

Why This Gap Exists

Every workplace needs someone to guide, supervise, and provide feedback. That’s essential for productivity and performance. But because there are usually far more employees than managers, dissatisfaction, fair or not, spreads quickly.

What if, instead of focusing on blame, we focused on building trust, empathy, and communication? This is where modern leadership and human-centered management can make a difference.

Tools and Techniques to Bridge the Gap

Here are proven strategies leaders and employees can use to foster stronger relationships and create a workplace where people actually want to stay.

1. Practice Mutual Empathy

Both managers and employees need to recognize they are ultimately on the same team. Leaders have to balance people and performance, and often face intense pressure to hit targets. Employees who understand this reality are more likely to cooperate and problem-solve collaboratively.

2. Maintain Professional Boundaries

Superiors should separate personal issues from professional decision-making. Consistency, fairness, and integrity build trust, and trust is the foundation of a motivated team.

3. Follow the Golden Rule

Treat people how you would like to be treated. This simple principle encourages compassion and respect, two qualities every effective leader must demonstrate.

4. Avoid Micromanagement

Micromanaging stifles creativity and damages morale. Great leaders see themselves as partners, not just bosses, and treat their teams as collaborators working toward a shared goal.

5. Empower Employees to Grow

Empowerment means giving employees responsibility that matches their capacity, and then trusting them to deliver. Encourage them to take calculated risks, learn from mistakes, and problem-solve independently. If something goes wrong, turn it into a learning opportunity, not a reprimand.

6. Communicate in All Directions

Communication shouldn’t just be top-down. Invite feedback, create open channels for suggestions, and genuinely listen to what your people have to say. Healthy upward communication closes gaps before they become conflicts.

7. Overcome Insecurities

Many leaders secretly fear being outshone by younger, more tech-savvy employees. Instead of resisting, embrace the chance to learn from them. Humility earns respect and helps the team innovate faster.

8. Invest in Coaching and Mentorship

True leaders grow other leaders. Provide mentorship, career guidance, and stretch opportunities so employees can develop new skills. Leadership is learned through experience, but guided experience is even more powerful.

9. Eliminate Favoritism

Avoid cliques and office politics. Decisions should be based on facts and fairness, not gossip. Objective, transparent decision-making builds credibility.

10. Recognize Efforts Promptly

Recognition often matters more than rewards. Publicly appreciate employees’ contributions and do so consistently and fairly. A timely “thank you” can be more motivating than a quarterly bonus.

11. Conduct Thoughtful Exit Interviews

When employees leave, treat it as an opportunity to learn. Keep interviews confidential and use the insights to improve management practices and culture.

12. Provide Leadership Development

Train managers to lead, not just supervise. Leadership development programs help shift mindsets from “command and control” to “coach and empower.” This transformation has a direct impact on morale and retention.

13. Adopt Soft Leadership Principles

Today’s workforce, largely millennials and Gen Z, value collaboration over hierarchy. Soft leadership focuses on partnership, mutual respect, and shared purpose, rather than rigid top-down control.

The Bigger Picture: HR’s Role

Mercer’s global research highlights five key priorities for organizations:

  • Build diverse talent pipelines

  • Embrace flexible work models

  • Design compelling career paths

  • Simplify HR processes

  • Redefine the value HR brings

The challenge? Employers and employees often view these priorities differently. Bridging that perception gap is just as important as bridging the relational gap between leaders and staff.

Treat Employees Like Associates, Not Just Staff

When you treat employees like partners, they bring their best selves to work. HR leaders must develop strategies to keep talent engaged, empowered, and prepared for the future.

Organizational success starts with people, always. Build the relationship with your team first, and the results will follow.

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Entrepreneurs

What Makes an Entrepreneurial Leader? Traits of the World’s Best Innovators

Inside the mindset of entrepreneurial leaders who transform risk, passion, and vision into world-changing results.

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When you think of Richard Branson (Virgin Group), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Rupert Murdoch (News Corporation), and Ted Turner (CNN), one thing becomes clear: they are not just entrepreneurs, they are entrepreneurial leaders. (more…)

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Entrepreneurs

Building a Business Empire: Lessons from the World’s Boldest Entrepreneurs

Learn essential lessons, success strategies, and mindset shifts every aspiring entrepreneur needs to overcome challenges and build a thriving business.

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how to build a business empire
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Back in July 2017, I attended a business seminar on entrepreneurship in India. With my appetite for learning and meeting new people, I wanted to explore the latest developments in the entrepreneurial world. (more…)

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Change Your Mindset

Why Ideas Are More Valuable Than Resources for Entrepreneurial Success

Discover why ideas, not resources, are the true driving force behind entrepreneurial success, innovation, and lasting growth.

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Power of ideas in entrepreneurship
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History shows us that the greatest minds, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Walt Disney, Stephen King, and countless others, faced failure early on. Yet, instead of seeing failure as the end, they treated it as a comma in their story, not a full stop. (more…)

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