If you’re a founder, or a leader, or aspiring to be either, you know in your bones that building a business is nothing but a boatload of hard work, more hard work, and then more hard work after that. Of course you need to do other things to succeed, especially as a woman. You have to over-prepare. Be the smartest person in the room. Exude persistence, tenaciousness, relentlessness. But if you’ve got all that going on, conventional wisdom tells us that if you put in the labor, you’ll reap the rewards. But what if hard work alone isn’t enough? Laurie and her guest Dr. Laura Huang, a distinguished professor of entrepreneurship and innovation at Northeastern University, discuss Laura’s recent book, Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage. Because hard work alone may not get you to success. But finding your unique edge, in any situation, will.
Key Takeaways
- Hard Work is Important, But Not Always Enough: Although hard work is crucial to achieving success in any field, it does not guarantee success. Existing perceptions and biases influence the ability of an individual to achieve success. By acknowledging and challenging these views, success is more achievable.
- Gaining an Edge is a Perception Not a Task: Understanding the way that others perceive you and how you perceive yourself is a tool that will allow you to understand the context for your work that will benefit the hard work you are putting in. This advantage will apply to all kinds of different circumstances, not just a specific challenge you are seeking to overcome.
- Being Self-Aware and Knowledgeable is a Tool: Knowing yourself will help you identify others perceptions of you that you may want to alter, and what aspects of your authentic self you can highlight to succeed. Once you understand how others perceive you, you can guide those perceptions to benefit you.
- Having a Promotional Mindset Will Steer You Forward: Instead of focusing on the potential risks of an endeavor or the setbacks you have faced in the past, visualizing and planning what you will do in the future will help you achieve your goals.
- Use your Experience to Build Trust in Your Gut: Through knowing yourself and learning from your background you will be able to pursue successful relationships and professional endeavors. Over time you will learn what benefits you and what does not, which will allow you to build trust in yourself.
Supporting Resources
- Edge: Turning Adversity Into Advantage , Laura Huang, 2021
- We Ask Men to Win and Women Not to Lose: Closing the Gender Gap in Startup Funding, Dana Kanze, Laura Huang, Mark A. Conley and E. Tory Higgins, Academy of Management, 2018
- Barriers that Women in Business Face that May Hinder their Success, Herminia Ibarra, Robin J. Ely, and Deborah M. Kolb, 2013
- Overcoming Negative Perceptions of Female Leaders, Forbes Coaches Council, 2024
- Why Hard Work Does Not Always Lead to Success, Utkarsh Amitabh, 2023
- Knowing When to Trust Your Gut, Alden Hayashi, 2001
- Reasons to Trust Your Gut, Kartik Jobanputra, 2023
- The Importance of Knowing Yourself to Help Your Business, Kelly Teemer, 2018
- Overcoming Negative Perceptions, Nicole Lipkin, 2024
- The Steps for Altering Perceptions, Joel Garfinkle, 2024
