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5 Counterintuitive Ways To Succeed In Business

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5 Counterintuitive Ways To Succeed In Business

Ask people what qualities, abilities, and habits successful business leaders have and most of the responses you get would likely include thoughts about hustle, drive, hard work, intelligence, and focus. These are all admirable, and stereotypes usually exist for a reason, but the common wisdom about success is often tilted toward what is loud, flashy, and noticeable, because that’s what sells books, TV shows, and magazines. Don’t be fooled, many of the most successful people in business defy the stereotypes. Develop these skills, attributes, and habits and you’ll find yourself more successful not just in business, but in life.

Here are five counterintuitive ways to succeed in business

1Work less

I ran my business for four years without getting a dime out of it. During the same time I piled up hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. I then made one change that resulted in me getting paid a decent salary and paying off $10,000 to $20,000 per month in debt. What was it that made the difference? I made a rule to quit work at 5 pm and not work weekends. You might think my success was the result of all the hard work I had put in for those four years, but if I hadn’t started working less I still wouldn’t be getting paid.

When I had no limit to the hours I worked I made poor decisions about how to use my time. After all, I had all the time in the world to figure things out, right? Once I created an artificial limit for my time, I had to prioritize. I had to figure out what was worth my time and what wasn’t, because there wasn’t time to do it all like there was before. Making better decisions meant I could do more with 40 hours than I previously did with 90.

It’s not just me. A study at Stanford University discovered that people who work 70 hours per week aren’t any more productive than those who work just 55 hour per week. Work less by creating boundaries for your time and watch your productivity soar.

 

2. Be humble

Great business leaders are egocentric, driven, and have a no-holds barred attitude, right? The truth is almost the opposite. In his business classic Good to Great author Jim Collins found that “Level 5 leaders,” or those leaders who drove the most value for their companies, blended humility, will, and ferocious resolve. They had a tendency to give credit to others while assigning blame to themselves.

Humility doesn’t mean putting yourself down and thinking you’re a terrible person, it means seeing things as they truly are, without filters. The more accurate your observations are, the better equipped you are to make intelligent choices. When you drop the ego, you become teachable, which means you can increase your intelligence and ability to succeed.

“Selflessness is humility. Humility and freedom go hand in hand. Only a humble person can be free.” – Jeff Wilson

3. Develop empathy

I’m wrapping up work on my book Chief Marketing Officers at Work: How Top Marketers Build Customer Loyalty. The book contains 30 interviews with CMOs from brands like Target, PayPal, Spotify, The Home Depot, and GE. As I’ve asked these successful marketers what they look for in those they hire, the word “empathy” has come up over and over again.

Successful marketers have a keen understanding of their customers that helps them craft marketing campaigns that work. The CMO role is increasingly a stepping stone toward becoming CEO. Could empathy be just as important for all executives as it is for the marketing department?

 

4. Put exercise above career

Exercise clears the mind, much like meditation, allowing you think more clearly. It helps you feel better about yourself, boosting your self confidence. Excellence in one area of life impacts all other areas. If you’re not taking care of your body and mind you’re hurting your ability to be successful in every other part of your life.

Yes, it’s hard for a success-driven individual to make time to exercise. That’s why exercise needs to come first. Don’t have time? See “Work less” above.

 

5. Be generous

In their best selling book, The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea, authors Bob Burg and John David Mann use a fictional story to illustrate a true principle–those who give a lot of value, get a lot in return. They share five “laws” for achieving success in business:

  1. Value: Your worth, professionally speaking, is determined by how much more you give in value than what you take in payment.
  2. Compensation: How much you get paid is a result of how many people you serve and how well you serve them.
  3. Influence: Your influence grows as you place other people’s needs first.
  4. Authenticity: It’s difficult to provide great value if you have no passion for your work. Successful people are genuinely excited about what they do, get excited about what they do, or they find something else to do. They don’t fake it.
  5. Receptivity: If you don’t know how to comfortably receive from others, you don’t understand how to give value effectively.

The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.” —Albert Einstein

The real key of the book is to not focus on money or your own success. Instead, focus on others and the value you can provide to them. If you provide great value, money and success will take care of themselves. If you don’t believe it, try it for a month and see what happens.

What counterintuitive ways have you found successful? Tell us in the comments section below!

Josh Steimle is a speaker, writer, and entrepreneur. He is the CEO of MWI, a digital marketing agency with offices in the U.S. and Hong Kong. Follow him @joshsteimle or on his blog at joshsteimle.com.

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Success Advice

Mastering Self-Management for Success: Lessons From Peter F. Drucker

With careers no longer following a straight, predictable path, self-awareness and adaptability are essential for success.

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Peter f drucker lessons
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In today’s dynamic professional world, self-management has become increasingly important. With careers no longer following a straight, predictable path, self-awareness and adaptability are essential for success. (more…)

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How to Ignite the Spark Within for Future Success

All of us come to this world with our own reserve of magic unfortunately, not everyone can unleash it

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What is it that makes some people great leaders while others remain followers? What magic do they have that others don’t? What special blessing gives them the power to bring significant change?  (more…)

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How Your Beliefs Can Supercharge or Sabotage Your Success

Your life is dictated by beliefs and biases that drive your thinking, behaviors, and decisions

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Pause for a moment and ponder two pandemic-era beliefs: First, closing schools will control the spread of a serious virus. Second, the consequences of such school closures—particularly social interruption and the prevention of immunity—are worse than becoming sick with the virus. (more…)

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How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity

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Image Credit: Midjourney

In just a few weeks, we will be wrapping up 2023. Can you believe it? This year has been absolutely incredible for me.

I have seen amazing doors opened, new relationships formed and I am seeing dreams realized in my life. While this seems like the hallmarks of a great year, this has also been the most challenging year of my life. With all of the change happening in my life, I have been forced out of my comfort zone and challenged to grow in every area of my life.

I can truly say that I have made the most of my moments this year and I have used everything as a catalyst for maximizing my greatest potential.

As a revolutionary leader, I have the pleasure of consulting and advising leaders around the world to fulfill purpose, realize their greatest potential and make an impact.

I want to share some insights with you that will help you to break cycles of mediocrity and manifest your greatness

Everything legal must come through the matrix

I am sure that some of you are wondering why I am using the term matrix. However, what you have to understand is that I am trying to make a highly complex spiritual principle practical to understand.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, every life has an origin and I believe that origin is divine and begins with eternity. You are birthed from eternity and into time to fulfill a unique purpose and assignment in your lifetime and generation.

The matrix is simply the portal or vehicle that brings something out of the invisible realm and into tangible form. The problem with much of the teaching today is that it excludes the matrix. We are told to believe that success is instantaneous and overnight.

Nobody talks about how a dream progresses through stages beginning with visualization and ultimately culminating in manifestation. Without a matrix or portal then everything that you attempt to birth and build will be illegal.

The matrix not only makes you legal but it gives you the authority and power to function as the greatest expression of who you were created to be. 

Every matrix has an incubation process

While many people admire and respect me today, I remember a time when nobody knew who I was or the significance of my message. How did I get to where I am today? I got here through an incubation process.

In other words, everything that has been destined for your life is incubating and awaiting a set time of manifestation. The problem is that most people live their entire lives idle and never initiate the incubation process.

What do I meany by that? Most people are living reckless and very few people are living intentionally. I am amazed at the number of people I have conversations with that have no vision, goals or strategies for their lives. They show great promise and they have undeniable potential.

However, without development they will die with their dreams still in them.

Everything that has been destined for your life must be incubated and converted to become realities born to time. 

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier

You must give expression to that which is not yet born to time

When you think about a matrix or a prophetic incubation process, you have to understand that potential is often unrealized and untapped. In other words, your potential is in raw form and your potential cannot serve you as long as it is untapped.

The thing that makes me valuable is that I have the ability to convert potential into power. I have done it in my own life and I have empowered leaders around the world to do the same. How do you convert potential into power?

First, it is important to note that you have to perceive potential. If you cannot perceive your potential then you can never cultivate your potential. In addition, you must take the time to cultivate your potential. We often get excited about our capabilities; however, we never expand our capacity in order to realize our greatest potential.

In other words, the strength of your potential is only discovered through your willingness to stretch. The more we are challenged the more we are empowered to expand our capacity for greatness. Most of all, you must begin to express your potential. The expression of potential is different for every person.

For example, the expression of my potential is best demonstrated through the thoughts, ideas, products, services, books, etc.

For another person the expression of potential may look like a screenplay, artwork, sports, scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, etc.

Regardless of the form of expression, I know that you will live empty and unfulfilled until you make the decision to express your potential. The expression of your potential gives voice to your dreams, life to your vision, significance to your moments and activates your true power.

You must manifest your greatness

As a revolutionary thinker and leader, my work has impacted people around the world. I am grateful that my life is a source of empowerment to so many people. However, before anyone could ever benefit from my life, I had to make a non-negotiable decision to become who I was born to be.

I wish I could tell you that this journey is easy and that you will get there overnight. However, in a world that celebrates us for doing we are often criticized for being. As a result, I wasted a lot of time trying to be who other people wanted me to be instead of being who I was born to be.

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity. It is through our bravery to be vulnerable that we ultimately manifest our greatness. We do not bless the world by being a duplicate. We bless the world when we honor our difference. When you honor your difference you honor your potential.

Ultimately, your difference is how you manifest your greatness.

When you present anything but your authentic self to the world, you are playing small and you are robbing the world of your significance. Manifesting your greatness requires you to master your gifts.

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