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Success Advice

Self Love Is Vital for Any Type of Success

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Self-love is rarely linked to success or achievement in one’s life goals. Unfortunately, when most of us were taught how to accomplish life goals, we were never taught that self-love was a necessary ingredient. 

I used to think success was about staying up late, aggressively working hard, and minimizing sleep. In fact, this is the wrong way to think about sustainable success.

This path left me stressed, unhappy, burnt out, and less willing to stress others because I thought I had to do it myself. And even more important, it cost me my health and my relationships with my family and friends. This was not the success I was craving.

I didn’t realize the power behind cultivating self-love for the genuine success I was craving. Because I lacked self-love for myself, I chased my goals out of fear of losing them, my self-esteem depended on accomplishment, and my inner voice became my fiercest judge.

Self-love can be associated with your inner voice. Your inner voice judges or encourages you in every facet of your life. It can be your biggest cheerleader or your own worst enemy. Unfortunately, many people have not taken the time to listen and hear their inner voice that governs their behaviors, how they treat themselves, and how they treat others. 

More often than not, most people’s inner voice is not very nice at all. If you don’t consciously cultivate a healthy inner voice that ultimately contributes to your self-love, it won’t be expressed in your life.

Here’s the truth: How can you enjoy your success, happiness, and relationships if you constantly beat yourself up inside or feel like you are not worthy of them? 

So many people try to go out and conquer their world for material success but haven’t even conquered themselves yet. This type of success is not enduring and, quite frankly, exhausting.

And if your inner voice was anything like mine, you can become number to it over time as if we are supposed to just live with it. My inner voice – which was very condemning and overly critical – was so normal that I almost became unconscious of it. Yet, unbeknownst to me, it was affecting my future success, behaviors, and how I treated myself, how I treated others, but I didn’t even know it.

Our inner voice is our judge that lies deep within our mind, commonly referred to as self-esteem. And as most of us know, self-esteem – confidence in one’s abilities and respect for yourself – plays a massive role in one’s success, happiness, and fulfillment. Without confidence, we stay stagnant, and growth isn’t possible.

“Love yourself unconditionally, just as you love those closest to you despite their faults.” — Les Brown

How does self-love affect your future success in life? 

Think of your self-love as a direct reflection of how you treat others around you. In fact, that’s precisely what it is. Your self-love mirrors how you treat those closest to you in the workplace, in relationships, and in friendships.

If you marginalize yourself, you marginalize the people around you. If you don’t think you can do something or accomplish a task, you unconsciously won’t trust others to get it done either.

If you don’t have the patience or condemn yourself when you feel like you did something wrong, this behavior will be reflected in how you treat your coworkers or your significant other. You will be less forgiving when they’ve made a mistake. You will condemn those close to you, just like you condemn yourself.

Why is this? It’s because how we treat ourselves internally is an exact reflection of how we treat others externally.

Most people would say, “well, I don’t need others to succeed.” If you think this is true, just ask any successful person how they became successful, and I am sure they would tell you their success would have been futile if they did not have the cooperation of others around them.

And cooperation, agreement, and trust – how lasting companies and true sustainable success is built – are all derived from the self-love and compassion you’ve cultivated within yourself first.

Everything is built and destroyed externally by how you feel about yourself internally. So, when you want to accelerate your success in life – hitting the gym, eating right, and reading self-blogs are great – but don’t forget about cultivating more compassion, self-love, and patience for yourself.

If you don’t, your life can feel like you’re taking 1 step forward in material success and two steps back in your inner success. And trust me, the inner success of self-love, contentment, and a calm poise is what your soul really craves. This is the only way how you get to enjoy your success and make your life worth living.

So, forgive yourself for your mistakes, be patient with your pitfalls, give yourself the self-respect you deserve, and picture yourself as already successful internally – once you’ve practiced this every day, you have found the secret to a sustainable and worthwhile success.

Chazz Scott is a keynote speaker and mindset expert. He trains entrepreneurs, leaders, and professionals to achieve their potential personally and professionally. Chazz is also the Executive Director & Chief Creative Optimist of Positively Caviar, Inc., a grassroots 501(c)(3) nonprofit, focused on using optimism and positive thinking to build mental resilience and disrupt mental health stigmas in underserved communities. For more info, check out his weekly blog at: www.chazzscott.com or download his latest workbook designed to help you build good habits and break bad ones to achieve your goals faster: download here.

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Success Advice

Why One-Size-Fits-All Leadership Will Always Fail (and What Works Instead)

The surprising truth about leadership styles that can make or break your team’s success.

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Why one-size-fits-all leadership doesn’t work
Image Credit: Midjourney

Leadership has always been as much about people as it is about performance. Ken Blanchard, in his influential book, “The One Minute Manager”, put it simply: different strokes for different folks. (more…)

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Success Advice

What Every New CEO Must Do in Their First 100 Days (or Risk Failure)

Your first 100 days as CEO could define your entire legacy, here’s how to make every move count

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leadership tips for new CEO
Image Credit: Midjourney

When Tim Cook took over from Steve Jobs at Apple, the world watched with bated breath. Jobs wasn’t just a CEO; he was a visionary, an icon, and a legend of innovative leadership. (more…)

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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
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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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entrepreneurial leadership skills and traits
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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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