Great business ideas stem from finding gaps in the market and the company’s competitive advantage.
Understanding external factors is critical.
There are also internal factors, such as the company organisational structure, roles and responsibilities, communications and employee engagement.
But what about what makes the business leader or entrepreneur tick?
In my experience as a fund manager and equities analyst I noticed that sometimes when the CEO made it to the cover of the business journals the company began to slide. Many business titans who were convinced of their own vision, preferences and intelligence weren’t able to sustain success because they were not humble and didn’t seek other’s perspectives.
Indeed, Jim Collins, author of the seminal book “Good to Great” identified the leaders’ humility and what he called ‘Level 5 Leadership’ as key differentiators in companies that succeeded in the long term.
Such leaders are self-aware. They recognise that their preferences are not universal. In our book, “Humble Crumbles: Savouring the crumbs of wisdom from the rise and fall of Humble Pie”, Paul O’Donnell and I shift the perspective on failure and self-awareness for entrepreneurs.
We explore how a lack of self-awareness, biases and blind-spots lead to sub-optimal decision making. We share crumbs of wisdom from Paul’s experiences starting up and voluntarily closing down his retail pie business. We also provide insights from my clients and a series of questions for entrepreneurs and business leaders to develop their ability to distinguish their own assumptions, habits and default positions.
What practices do you have to uncover your blind-spots?
How do you seek impartial perspectives and advice?
If you would like to explore what makes you tick and how you can become more self-aware contact me sylvana@sylvanacaloni.com or +44 (0) 7952 068133.
