Global Marketing: trait

What is needed to successfully start a new business? Most people think it's all about the initial idea or the founding team. And while those don’t hurt, few great companies grew simply because of those elements.

There is one attribute, however, that is present in all successful new ventures and the entrepreneurs who launch them: Persistence.

How could it be that one trait has such an outsized impact on success? Let’s think about it.

It breaks down doors.

Back in 2013, I received an email from a young entrepreneur from Nigeria who was creating a business similar to the education technology company I was busy launching, 2U. He was looking to ask me about the business to gain insight and advice for his own venture.

I ignored the email.

He sent another one. When I declined because I was too busy, he emailed again. He kept up his requests, asking four separate times if we could meet. Finally, I gave in.

Ten minutes into our conversation, I knew I wanted to invest in him. The fact that he was undeterred by my attempts to brush him off impressed me. I became a mentor to him and we swapped notes for more than a year about scaling our ed-tech businesses. Later, we co-foundedAndela together.

If he had taken “no” for an answer, his career would be in a very different place. From finding a mentor to finding investors, people will always want to tell emerging entrepreneurs “no.” Without persistence, getting a “yes” is impossible.

It demonstrates innovation.

Investors are not looking to invest primarily in a big idea or strategy as much as in the character of the entrepreneur.

Starting a business is a venture into uncertainty. Predicting obstacles the startup will face and what the winning idea or strategy will be from the start is impossible. An investor needs to know whether or not the founding team has the tenacity to stick to its vision through all the ups and downs, and if they will learn from them.

Persistence can lead to innovation and new, successful ideas. If entrepreneurs are too stubborn to give up, they will be forced to learn from their mistakes, adapt and advance in order to succeed.

It fuels hard work.

Starting a business may seem impossible at first. But those who win are not just those with the most power or money, but rather those who are willing to work the hardest and care the most. When faced with likely failure, the only ones left are those who care too much to give up.

This conviction was instilled in me by my father, Marty Johnson, who began his nonprofit Isles, Inc. in 1981 with a staff of three and a $10,000 budget. Venture capitalists weren’t interested in pouring money into community development and youth empowerment. But with continued hard word, the organization succeeded.

Today, the nonprofit continues to help build self-reliant families and communities in New Jersey.

Success is the result of continued hard work in the face of what may seem to be incredible obstacles.

It harnesses natural abilities.

Grit, tenacity and resilience are increasingly becoming part of our criteria for talent, and are often valued more than traditional predictors of success like academic performance.

A report published in February 2013 by the U.S. Department of Education named these three qualities as the most critical factors for success in 21st century. Further, a study published in 2007 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that grit, defined as perseverance and passion, predicted success better than IQ among undergraduates enrolled in Ivy League schools or in a military academy.

Talent and intelligence are not enough. Persistence is needed to focus and develop talents, and continually apply them to reach goals.

How has persistence helped you along your business journey? Let us know in the comments below.

Jeremy Johnson

There’s a misconception that great leaders are born, or that talented professionals can decide to be leaders and, overnight, step into the role with grace and excellence. Of course, the tenets of great leadership can occasionally be stumbled upon, but for the rest of us, leadership demands hard work and constant refinement.

Some of the characteristics of great leaders are easy to identify, and most emerging leaders are aware of them enough to actively work toward them -- traits such as respect and authority. But there’s one particular characteristic that commonly gets overlooked, and it’s critically important if you want to build trust and camaraderie within your team: transparency.

There are a few possible definitions of transparency, so before I go any further, I’ll clarify what I mean by “transparency” as it relates to leadership. In this context, transparency is a degree of honesty and openness, executed so consistently that your workers trust in your candor. To a further application, that commitment to transparency often spreads to the wider company culture, promoting more honesty and candid expression among your team members.

While the ethics of transparency are generally positive and transparency can be argued as an ethically superior quality, ultimately, its use in leadership is geared toward achieving certain benefits for the entire team.

Relationships can form

Allowing more transparency in your style of leadership opens yourself to more meaningful relationships -- both with the team as a whole and with the individuals of that team. Forming friendships with your employees isn’t typically a productive course of action since it can distort your working relationship, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have healthy, mutually respectful, sociable relationships with each individual on your team.

Being transparent makes you more approachable, and makes you seem more like a human than a robotic boss. The end result is an environment where positive working relationships form easier and last longer.

People trust you more easily

Consistent transparency is the easiest way to build trust -- though it still takes a long time. Being completely open and honest will eventually give your employees a powerful sense of trust, which leads to a more unified team and a healthier work environment. Furthermore, you’ll be able to assign tasks, give criticism and provide direction to your team, and employees will respect and unanimously follow you.

Problems reach a resolution faster

Transparent leadership allows employees to be more honest about their individual viewpoints and more open about expressing them in a public dialogue. The more openness and honesty you facilitate in the context of your team, the faster you’ll be able to work together to achieve a common end goal.

People are more willing to work together

It’s easier to assign teams cohesively when you’re honest about your motivations for the assignment. If paired with a more seasoned employee, a lower-ranking employee may feel that you don’t acknowledge his/her ability to complete the job independently. Simply being honest and acknowledging your motivations for the pairing -- such as strengths and complementary weaknesses that will allow the job to go smoothly -- will push both workers to contently engage in the mutual effort.

Encouraging an atmosphere of transparency will also promote transparency at all levels. Employees will feel more comfortable expressing their opinions, submitting their work and openly engaging in progressive dialogue.

People work harder

Under a transparent leader, people will be more satisfied, and they’re going to work harder for you as a result. Even if they don’t work any harder, they’ll at least work more productively. This is the bottom line of effective, transparent leadership that you cannot afford to ignore.

Becoming more transparent

It’s easy to talk about the benefits of transparency. Achieving that level of transparency is more challenging. Fortunately, there are a handful of strategies you can use to improve your own transparency as a leader, and cultivate a working environment that rewards equally transparent employees:

Express your opinions openly. You may find this difficult, especially when expressing dissatisfaction, but honesty is crucial.
Keep your messaging consistent. Expressing two different ideas on the same topic to two different employees can damage your credibility as a transparent leader.
Keep all your commitments. If you can’t promise something, don’t promise it.
Listen to the feedback of others. Even if you disagree with it, show your appreciation and respect for it.

Simply engaging in these strategies on an occasional basis isn’t enough. The key to building long-lasting trust is consistency, and only through consistent execution will you be able to see the benefits of transparency amongst your team.

Jayson Demers

Global Marketing

Thursday, March 19, 2015

The One Trait All Successful Entrepreneurs Have