Entrepreneurial Leadership

It’s always best to face mistakes squarely, do your best to address them, and move forward.

Consider the process of writing the job description, sourcing candidates, interviewing them, onboarding new hires, giving assignments and feedback, reassignments, and coaching your most important jobs as an entrepreneurial leader.

Learn from your mistakes. No one gets hiring right all the time.

“People are going to fight for you only if they like you,”

“Even in such technical [work] as engineering, about 15 percent of one’s financial success is due to one’s technical knowledge and about 85 percent is due to skill in human engineering—to having the personality and ability to lead people,”

each night, people write down three events of that day for which they were grateful. “Writing about why the positive events in your life happened may seem awkward at first, but please stick with it for one week,” he says. “It will get easier. The odds are that you will be less depressed, happier, and addicted to this exercise six months from now.”

Comparison is the thief of joy.”)

Unhappy people carry an inconsolable bitterness that is an organizational cancer. I’ve seen cultures heal simply by encouraging those who are unhappy to be miserable elsewhere.

be happy in your day-to-day work life—and if you’re not, find something else to do.

‘You’re in charge of yourself, and you get to decide who you want to be. Other people matter a lot, so take time to care for and be kind to them. Work hard at something that’s meaningful to you. Tell the truth. And bear in mind that your reputation follows you everywhere.’”

Intellectual humility recognizes that no matter how much you’ve achieved, there are likely others smarter than you.

Moral humility recognizes that “no matter how self-assured you are about your moral compass, you are vulnerable, under stress or in certain contexts, to losing your way,”

“No matter what you accomplish, always remain humble.”

Team members who are funny lighten burdens and make work fun. Self-deprecating humor—particularly from leaders unafraid of laughing at their foibles—comes not from self-doubt but from self-confidence.

Of course, not every leader will be likable, grateful, happy, humble, and humorous. Some leaders are just plain jerks.

If attitudes don’t include likability, gratitude, happiness, humility, and humor, consider using the techniques discussed in Rewriting Your Operating System

Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body; it calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. —Winston Churchill,

The aim is to build a culture in which people feel confident about sharing feedback without fearing that it will be taken personally. Honest, thoughtful feedback can build trust, strengthen bonds, and generate progress. Done well, it’s the breakfast of champions.

good coaching: successful people continue to seek it out, no matter what level they have reached.

Learn to give—and to receive—regular feedback,