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Future of Work | SUCCESS | What Achievers Read

<p>There’s no way around it: Failure is not fun. However, it’s an important part of life as an entrepreneur—even successful entrepreneurs like<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3026253/5-famous-entrepreneurs-who-learned-from-their-first-spectacular-failures"> </a>Bill Gates and Vera Wang have colossal failures under their belts. I’d argue that if an entrepreneur has never experienced a failure, he or she isn’t taking enough risks. Fortunately, this unpleasant experience is not futile. Especially in business, failures can be used to your advantage—but only if you learn how to bounce back from them effectively.</p>



<p>I’ve experienced my fair share of failures. One example is Zeadoo, a personalized homepage. It’s no longer available today, but it was a failure in that it lacked the proper strategy to support it and a method for monetizing it. This experience, and others, have contributed to my understanding of failure and<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/what-to-do-when-you-fail"> </a><a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/11-tips-for-letting-go-of-past-failures-and-embracing-the-future/">how to recover from it</a>. Here are some tips for getting back on your feet after a business idea flops:</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-1-recognize-and-admit-your-failure"><strong>1.</strong><a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/john-c-maxwell-how-to-make-the-most-of-your-mistakes"><strong> </strong></a><strong>Recognize and admit your failure.</strong></h2>



<p>This is the hardest part of<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/how-to-handle-fear-and-failure-like-a-boss"> </a><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/03/17/16-top-tips-for-bouncing-back-from-failure/?sh=11a6511e5126" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recovering from failure</a>, but also the most important. Shock and denial are normal feelings, especially if you were really invested in your idea. It can be challenging to sift through these potent emotions to identify a failure.</p>



<p>Remember that, as a business owner, you might be too close to see the situation clearly. Listen to your partners, employees and friends. Sometimes they will recognize when it’s time to cut losses long before you do. Only by identifying and <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/why-failure-is-good-for-success/">accepting a failure</a> can you move on from it.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-2-practice-self-care"><strong>2.Practice self-care.</strong></h2>



<p>Failure is an emotional experience. Shock and denial might be followed by disappointment and even dramatic physical changes, such as a drop in serotonin.</p>



<p>Allow yourself to <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/5-strategies-for-working-through-difficult-emotions/">feel these feelings</a>, and then get over them. Don’t wallow, but don’t deny the emotional consequences of failure, either.</p>



<p>Failure makes us feel<a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-squeaky-wheel/201307/the-essential-guide-recovering-failure"> </a>weak and unworthy. This in turn reduces our <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-practice/202101/7-tips-when-youve-lost-all-motivation" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">motivation to try again</a>. To fight this, we must nurture our inherent abilities. Remember what you’re good at and surround yourself with inspiration.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-3-identify-why-your-business-failed"><strong>3.</strong><a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/5-reasons-your-startup-might-fail"><strong> </strong></a><strong>Identify why your business failed.</strong></h2>



<p>After coping with the initial emotions associated with failure and getting yourself on solid ground again, the real work begins. Analyzing what went wrong with your failed business idea and why your efforts weren’t successful is the most productive and fruitful part of a failure. Without understanding exactly why you failed, you can’t use that failure to inform future decisions.</p>



<p>Zeadoo taught me important business lessons about profit strategy, but failures can also teach you crucial lessons about your <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/5-important-traits-for-entrepreneurs-to-have/">personality as an entrepreneur</a>. For example, Elance-oDesk VP Matt Cooper learned from his first failed venture that he had a tendency to move too quickly with business ideas. Knowing this, he set clear deadlines for himself with future startups to ensure he was moving at a sustainable pace.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-4-redefine-success"><strong>4. Redefine success.</strong></h2>



<p>After reexamining your failure with a clear head, it’s time to leave it behind. Carry the lesson with you, but redefine<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/17-motivational-quotes-to-inspire-you-to-be-successful"> </a><a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/success-on-your-own-terms/">what it means to be successful</a>.</p>



<p>Choose a new project. Engage in something you’re passionate about. Creating new goals will excite you and provide an opportunity to apply what you have learned from your failed venture.</p>



<p>Within a year of saying a sad goodbye to her first web startup, CEO Kathryn Minshew threw herself into developing The Muse, a now-thriving career development platform. After facing failure, she recovered and found a new channel for the creative and entrepreneurial energy that ultimately fueled her success.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-5-stay-vigilant"><strong>5. Stay vigilant.</strong></h2>



<p>Failures can cause us to become more risk-averse or decrease our self-confidence, even after we <em>think</em> we’re fully recovered.</p>



<p>When you start a new project after experiencing failure, it’s important to monitor your behavior.<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/afraid-of-risks-how-to-be-bolder"> </a><a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/5-truths-about-taking-and-not-taking-risks/">Are you avoiding risks</a> or being particularly hard on yourself? These habits could hold you back. Be aware of ways a past failure might be impacting your productivity. Identify these bad habits and fix them.</p>



<p>As CEO Allison O’Kelly writes, “Victory is a matter of recognizing failure, adjusting course to move through it, and coming out on the other side a little bit stronger and a whole lot wiser.” With these tips, you can turn your failure into a stepping-stone that leads to success.&nbsp;</p>



<p class="has-small-font-size"><em>This article was published in September 2017 and has been updated. Photo by </em><em>@yaroslav.photography</em><em>/Twenty20</em></p>

Shock and denial are normal feelings, especially if you were really invested in your idea. It can be challenging to sift through these potent emotions to identify a failure.

Shock and denial are normal feelings, especially if you were really invested in your idea. It can be challenging to sift through these potent emotions to identify a failure. | SUCCESS

Your Business Failed, What’s Next?

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Your Business Failed, What’s Next? | SUCCESS

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Simon Slade is CEO and co-founder of Affilorama, an affiliate marketing training portal with over 100 free video lessons; SaleHoo, an online wholesale directory of more than 8,000 prescreened suppliers; and their parent company Doubledot Media Limited, which provides seven different training and software applications to over 1 million customers worldwide. Through these companies, Simon provides the education and resources for e-commerce professionals to start their own businesses and achieve occupational independence.

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Simon Slade

What to Do When Your Team Isn’t Working Together

Relationships

Relationships Archives

Relationships | SUCCESS | What Achievers Read

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<p>Business owners, entrepreneurs, managers—anyone <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/4-ways-to-be-a-more-collaborative-leader/">in charge of a team</a> will be required to mediate at some point in his or her career. Even if this is a rare occurrence and you have great team rapport, there will come a time when two or more colleagues can’t see eye to eye.</p>



<p>Mediation is not a responsibility one can take lightly. Unresolved conflicts don’t only affect the involved parties—they affect the entire team. Without proper mediation, these conflicts can lead to a hostile work environment that can dramatically impact productivity.</p>



<p>When you have an invaluable group of excellent employees, you have to find a way to <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/3-ways-to-practice-radical-kindness-with-your-employees/">make them all happy</a>. Here are the three most important steps to take when co-workers can’t co-work:</p>



<h2 id="h-1-collect-reliable-information">1. Collect reliable information.</h2>



<p>Depending on how you learned about the disagreement, one of the first steps for any mediation will be to collect information to ensure you understand the perspective of everyone involved. This might mean sitting down together in a group or touching base with each employee separately.</p>



<p>It’s important to be sensitive while collecting information about a conflict. If an employee aired his or her grievances to you in confidence, it obviously isn’t appropriate to relay those grievances to another employee.<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/ask-these-6-questions-to-make-rational-decisions"> </a><a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/10-ways-successful-people-make-smart-decisions/">Use your best judgment</a> when deciding how you can best understand the issue at hand.</p>



<p>Furthermore, it’s important to ensure that your information is reliable. Take biases into consideration when listening to each side of the disagreement and be careful to separate fact from opinion.</p>



<h2 id="h-2-identify-potential-solutions">2. Identify potential solutions.</h2>



<p>One mistake often made in mediation is identifying general solutions rather than specific ones. Ask each involved party to identify clearly what would leave them more satisfied. While these solutions often won’t immediately align, it will offer a starting point for finding a viable solution that pleases everyone.</p>



<p>Be sure to avoid “Band-Aid” solutions. If two employees are having <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/8-tips-to-improve-team-collaboration/">trouble working together</a> on a project, a “Band-Aid” solution would be to separate them. While this fixes a symptom of the problem, it doesn’t solve the problem itself, which is that these two employees struggle to interact with each other. Find out why and fix it. You can’t spend valuable time trying to keep two of your employees separated.</p>



<p>Also, consider how the work environment or distribution of responsibility might be contributing to the conflict. For example, maybe these employees are under a narrow deadline that is causing tension. By lengthening that deadline, or identifying smaller milestones for each employee within the project, you might remove some of that tension. As a supervisor, you might be able to directly contribute to the solution by <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/336044" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">restructuring the work environment</a>.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><a href="https://bambee.grsm.io/SUCCESS" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"><img src="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Female-Get-a-Dedicated-HR-Manager-728090.jpg" alt="Bambee - Get a Dedicated HR Manager" class="wp-image-65734"/></a></figure>



<h2 id="h-3-always-revisit">3. Always revisit.</h2>



<p>While you should trust your employees to take the actions they have committed to during mediation, you should never assume this has happened. A conflict always needs to be revisited. Not only will returning to the issue allow you to learn if the solution has been effective, but it will also allow for a discussion of how to avoid future disagreements.</p>



<p>After agreeing to a solution with the involved parties, schedule a time for a progress report. Touch base individually with each person in the following days or weeks, between the mediation and the progress report meeting. If someone is still struggling, they might be more willing to admit their concerns to you in private than at a group check-in.</p>



<p>If your solution doesn’t appear to be working, scrap it and try something else. Once you are monitoring the disagreement, it may become easier for you to identify a single factor—or a single individual—who is contributing to the issue most heavily. If this is the case, it’s your responsibility to address this accordingly.</p>



<h2 id="h-mediation-should-be-rare">Mediation should be rare.</h2>



<p>While it’s not healthy to let bad feelings simmer among your team, sometimes the best course of action is to do nothing. One of the<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/4-bold-ways-to-be-a-confident-leader"> </a><a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/everything-you-need-to-know-to-become-a-great-leader/">hallmarks of leadership</a> is knowing when to intervene and when to step back.</p>



<p>Though unavoidable in some cases, it should be rare that you are <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/11-strategies-for-handling-conflict/">required to mediate</a>. Most of the time, your employees should be mature and professional enough to compromise and settle disputes on their own. Your involvement should only be required after the involved parties have exhausted their attempts at resolution.</p>



<p>But when it does come time to step into your mediation shoes, follow these three steps to ensure you <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2021/11/08/how-to-recognize-conflict-and-select-the-right-resolution-strategy/?sh=256a6f6a3efb" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reach a solution</a> quickly.</p>



<p class="has-small-font-size"><em>This article was published in January 2018 and has been updated. Photo by fizkes/Shutterstock</em></p>

Mediation is not a responsibility one can take lightly. Unresolved conflicts don’t only affect the involved parties—they affect the entire team. Without proper mediation, these conflicts can lead to a hostile work environment that can dramatically impact productivity.

Mediation is not a responsibility one can take lightly. Unresolved conflicts don’t only affect the involved parties—they affect the entire team. Without proper mediation, these conflicts can lead to a hostile work environment that can dramatically impact productivity. | SUCCESS

What to Do When Your Team Isn’t Working Together | SUCCESS

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Gail Nelson

Discover why startups fail and how learning from common mistakes in funding, timing and planning can set future ventures up for success.

Rather than trying to think outside the box, think about how the box can be made better. | SUCCESS

Why Do Startups Fail? Here Are 10 Major Reasons

Why Do Startups Fail? Here Are 10 Major Reasons | SUCCESS

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Within every industry there are thought leaders: people who recognize trends before they happen and provide insight, leadership and education to their peers. These thought leaders are powerful people with opportunities and leverage both within their industry and outside of it.
<p class="rteindent1"><em>Related:</em> <strong><a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/3-practical-tips-to-become-a-thought-leader">3 Practical Tips to Become a Thought Leader</a></strong></p>
Although it’s a long road to this level of authority, you should constantly strive to <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/6-tips-to-become-a-thought-leader-aka-how-to-be-a-big-deal">achieve thought leadership</a> because of the many benefits. Here are five steps to take in your pursuit of influence:
<h2><strong>1. Find existing thought leaders in your field. </strong></h2>
Who has paved this road before you? Find out who the admired trendsetters are within your industry. Sites like <a href="https://home.kred/rules/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kred</a> and <a href="https://klout.com/corp/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Klout</a> allow you to search for influencers by industry keywords, see their reach and also assess the influence of your own social media accounts. Also search for highly ranked, industry-specific blogs.

Pay close attention to the people you find in whatever way you can: Follow them on social media, tune in to their podcasts and do research on their history and career. Look for strengths you share with them and be aware of areas in which they outdo you. Are they posting to their social media accounts and blogs more often? What kind of comments and insights are they providing? Where are their articles being published? Use their achievements as a benchmark for you to reach and surpass, but also learn from their mistakes and weaknesses.

Furthermore, identify the audiences of these thought leaders. Connect with those followers to share ideas and grow your own following.
<h2><strong>2. Narrow your focus. </strong></h2>
Your field has multiple niches. Find out exactly where you fit. <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/podcast/ep-31-the-5-most-common-strengths">What are your strengths</a> and accolades? What do your colleagues find impressive about your work? Thoroughly understanding your expertise—and what you still need to learn—is a strength in itself. A generalist is never considered an expert. You want to be an expert? Stop being general. Hone in on the area <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/podcast/megyn-kelly-on-finding-your-zone-of-genius">where your passion and your talent intersect</a> and run with it.
<h2><strong>3. Network aggressively.</strong></h2>
Between conferences and the internet, there are so many opportunities to connect with thought leaders, industry peers and up-and-comers. Networking is often touted as a way to advance your career and land you a job. But <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/content/ep-9-networking-101">networking is an important part of becoming a thought leader</a> due to sheer numbers. As your network expands, your influence expands.

But growing your network takes legwork. Hunt down <a href="https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/375-social-networking-entrepreneurs-communicate-in-person.html">in-person networking</a> events where you can meet people face to face, which increases your likelihood of being remembered. Follow up by connecting via social media channels and finding other meaningful ways to interact, such as commenting on their blog or website or sending them an article you think they’d enjoy. Engaging with other professionals in your field will help you get noticed and generate more attention for your industry insight. The more people who know your name, the more people who can generate buzz about your thought leadership.
<p class="rteindent1"><em>Related:</em><strong> <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/6-powerful-personality-traits-of-influencers">6 Powerful Personality Traits of Influencers</a></strong></p>

<h2><strong>4. Self-publish.</strong></h2>
Your blog or website is the gateway to thought leadership. This provides a place for you to share your opinions and demonstrate your knowledge. <a href="https://blog.kissmetrics.com/ingredients-of-great-content/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Great content</a> comes in many forms, but at its root, it’s just well-curated information. Find out what questions people are asking about your niche and answer them with new insight.

Regularity is a vital part of self-publishing. It’s not enough to produce a few sporadic articles every few weeks, even if those articles are excellent. Create a schedule that your audience can follow. Make sure they know when they will get another blog post from you so they can be looking forward to it. Becoming an industry leader takes commitment and effort. It won’t happen with just a few posts.

Self-published articles will increase your credibility and provide you with a portfolio of thought leadership pieces. A robust blog can also increase your likelihood of being accepted as a guest poster and subsequently extend your reach. Once you have established a solid portfolio of self-published articles, you will have something to reference when pitching yourself to other outlets.
<h2><strong>5. Guest post. </strong></h2>
Guest posting is one of the most powerful ways to establish yourself as a thought leader. When people see your name on trusted publications, your credibility increases tenfold. This is one of the final stages of obtaining thought leader status and perhaps one of the most challenging.

Pitching is not something you want to enter into lightly. It’s an art within itself. Do your research about every individual to whom you send a pitch. Set guest posting goals and start small. Think about where you’d like to see yourself published and <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/10-tips-for-setting-your-greatest-goals">set a timeline to achieve that</a>. Do research about industry-specific blogs with smaller readerships and contact the editors. Refer back to your networks and see if you have any connections to well-respected publications. Once you have a set of external clips (not your self-published ones), you can work your way up to more recognizable outlets.

The benefits of thought leadership are obvious. It’s the road to getting there that can be daunting. Watch existing thought leaders, hone in on your expertise, network, self-publish and guest post, and you’ll eventually find yourself among the ranks of these highly respected influencers.
<p class="rteindent1"><em>Related:</em> <strong><a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/5-ways-to-be-more-influential">5 Ways to Be More Influential</a></strong></p>

Be the person other people look up to. | SUCCESS

5 Ways to Increase Your Influence

5 Ways to Increase Your Influence | SUCCESS

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Simon Slade

Latest Articles

Your Business Failed, What’s Next?

What to Do When Your Team Isn’t Working Together

Why Do Startups Fail? Here Are 10 Major Reasons

5 Ways to Increase Your Influence