According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), about 33 percent of all businesses will fail during their first two years. This is why it’s important that business owners are guided by principles to reach company goals every day. We asked the experts to share the business philosophy they live by that helps them stay focused as decision makers.
Here are the top 30 best business philosophies from the pros.
‘Your level of self-awareness is the number one predictor of your business success.’
Jason Treu, Executive Coach, Jason Treu Executive Coaching
Only 10 percent to 15 percent of leaders are self-aware, but 95 percent believe that they are. If you don’t understand your blind spots, patterns, emotions and how those affect others, you’ll make many mistakes, lose clients and have poor employee retention. Self-aware leaders deal with conflict much better and enter into difficult conversations on a regular basis. They let their ego cloud their decisions much less often. They seek to understand first by listening vs. trying to tell others why they are right. Self-aware leaders are vulnerable, and they share with others, which builds deep relationships much quicker.
Here is one I really liked:
3. ‘The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it took place.’ — George Bernard Shaw
Jessica Welch, Marketing Content Associate, BigSpeak Speakers Bureau
Every month, Dr. JP Pawliw-Fry surveys more than 30,000 people in the workplace through the Kellogg School of Management’s Executive Education program to narrow in on the traits and qualities that differentiate the top from the poor performers. He found the best leaders never avoid the hard part of a conversation. Most of us will omit the last 8 percent of a difficult discussion, assuming the other person understood what was implied. This creates tension and frustration when nothing changes since the two didn’t fully understand each other. For everyone to work at maximum efficiency, it’s crucial to finish up that last 8 percent of the tough conversations.
