23.02.2024 Today’s Insights from Inc: Why Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos Still Uses a Door as a Desk
Dear Students,
Who among you doesn’t glamorize the individuals and companies you see on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, etc.? While eyeing carefully-curated images and videos online, it’s easy to forget what might have led to the apparent success and/or fame of a specific individual or organization. Yet, as our coaches know well, such visibility represents only the “tip of the iceberg”, with a metaphorical foundation being shaped by years of risks taken, circuitous paths, false starts, market competitors, “trials and error,” and long periods of hoping that such achievements might potentially play out.
As this Inc. article highlights, successful individuals (and not only entrepreneurs!) should and do take pride in the efforts that preceded their victories, because these experiences reinforce the value of their dedication, resilience and self-efficacy. Jeff Haden, Inc. columnist, conveys this well: “Their early struggles forged resolve. Their early struggles forged perseverance. Their early struggles continue to inform even the most successful entrepreneurs’ professional and personal lives, providing an almost inexhaustible foundation of willpower, confidence, and perseverance.”
We encourage the ambitious young professionals like you to embrace the “messiness” in new projects, roles or business initiatives – and to never forget what it may have taken to get you to the heights you might attain – as humility will always trump hubris in addressing new challenges.