A common fear in business is the fear of rejection. Many people avoid making sales calls out of a fear of rejection. Avoidance seems to be a common approach to addressing possible rejection. Author and speaker, Jia Jiang, however, took a different approach. Jia performed a 100-day rejection experiment where he sought out rejection each day for 100 days. He ...
In this series, we’re identifying lessons from Jesus on passing the baton to future leaders. One of those lessons relates to failure. When you groom leaders for the future, they are going to make mistakes. Those mistakes may undermine your trust in them. However, failure is the best lesson plan if one is to learn the lesson. Peter betrayed Jesus. ...
My wife, Kathy, had a disappointing experience with a restaurant server recently. Our server was very pleasant, but he made several significant mistakes. Significant enough that Kathy discussed the issues with him and with his manager. Some managers are rash enough to terminate someone immediately, especially if they’re having a bad day themselves. It made me ponder the best way ...
When I was 25 years old, I started a faddish used car rental agency. After a year of struggle, a friend wisely recommended I close the business. After working through my pride and fears, I finally mustered the courage to close the business. But, I discovered that I carried a great deal of shame. I was ashamed of the mistakes ...
At 25 years old I foolishly started a car rental agency during the most challenging economic time in my lifetime. Within a year I had closed the business, feeling like a failure. That fostered a fear of failure that almost prevented me from launching what today is Unconventional Business Network. In retrospect, I learned my failure had better prepared me ...
A 2017 Monster.com poll found that of the over 3,000 participants, 61% say they have been snubbed for a promotion or an award at work. That means that over half of the working population believes they did not get something that they believe was well-deserved. But is being “snubbed” always a bad thing? Being skipped over for a promotion does ...
Early in my consulting practice, I bid on a consulting project for a mortgage lender named Tom. When I shared about my Biblical approach to consulting, Tom’s eyes went cold and the meeting ended abruptly. I didn’t get the project. And, I chalked it up to failure on my part. Two years later, Tom’s brother informed me that Tom instead ...
Many businesspeople are hesitant to set goals, personal or professional. The reasons for refraining from goal setting are vast. One of the most common reasons is the fear of failure. The Institute for Faith, Work and Economics concurs, noting that only 8 percent of New Year’s resolutions are completed. Why do we set goals if failure is inevitable? 2 Corinthians ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
