I'm a startup CEO — here are 8 lessons critical to success I've already started teaching my kids by Brian de Haaff on Jan 1, 2017, 11:15 AM Advertisement
 - Brian de Haaff is the CEO of software company Aha!.
- He's found the same lessons that make people successful in business can help make them good people, too.
- That's why he teaches some of these insights he's gathered while leading a company to his children, like the fact that integrity matters, and that it's important to be gracious.
How comfortable are you with the unknown? Scientists say that successful entrepreneurs have a strong tolerance for ambiguity. But most company founders also know that the opposite of success is failure. The stakes are high and losing hurts. And that is a good thing. If it did not hurt — we would not try so hard to avoid it. At least this is what my wife and I tell our children. But it can be a tough lesson for young minds. My own kids experience it through sports. Instinct tells them to try their hardest to win, but their brains do not always know how to react to a loss. Take it too hard and it could feel like that single loss drowns out everything else. Come to think of it, I have seen some "grownups" act this way as well. I once saw a VP of sales break down and start crying hysterically when he was told that the customer was going to go with a different solution. I think most of us want to see our kids succeed in whatever they choose to do in life. And that means sharing our beliefs and lessons to help guide the way. I am the CEO of Aha! — which is one of the fastest-growing software companies in the U.S. — so I enjoy talking to my kids about leading teams and working exceptionally hard. Obviously, you do not need to be a CEO to share important lessons. The values and traits that will make kids better human beings — integrity, grit, empathy, and teamwork — are integral to almost any role. Here are some of the business lessons I have used to teach my own kids about success and setbacks: SEE ALSO: A former Stanford dean reveals 7 ways parents can raise successful kids Go after big goals  Winning is not everything. But it is not nothing, either. We compete out of a desire to achieve something great. For businesses, that means defining your vision and relentlessly pursuing your plan for realizing it — a lesson that easily translates to anything your kids want to achieve. Taking a goal-first approach is the best way to do that.
Integrity matters  I do not believe in winning at all costs. No victory is worth the price of your integrity. When people make that trade-off, they hope to get away without being discovered. Instead, knowing that you would not deserve the win should be enough to keep you from acting dishonorably in the first place.
Care deeply  When I see somebody who takes a big disappointment in stride, I do not think, "What a graceful loser." I think, "That person does not care enough." In fact, a recently published study shows that an emotional response to a failure can lead to a better outcome the next time around. For my kids, this means acknowledging both excitement and disappointment as part of the process.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
| 
0 comments:
Post a Comment