Trust Your Skills

-by Matt Leedham

It may not come as a surprise to you that I speak with a lot of people that do not believe in themselves. It’s probably also not surprising that as a coach and very optimistic person, I see tremendous potential in others.

The shift I see in those that make progress stems from choice. It originates from making a conscious choice to bet on your own abilities. Growth comes from choosing to trust your skills.

Doing it once is usually enough. Trusting yourself to express your unique gifts and talents just once can propel you into a new way to view yourself and how you can contribute to the world. Confidence grows and progress ensues.

How can you step outside of your comfort zone and trust one of your unique strengths? Give it a shot…you may surprise yourself.

Secrets to Successful Partnerships

-by Matt Leedham

I read an article the other day on Entrepreneur.com about successful business partnerships. They talk about the “secrets to success” of famous business partnerships. They highlight that most partnerships fizzle out (or crash and burn), but there are few famous examples of partnerships that have thrived for years. It’s a short, interesting read and I enjoyed the analysis of Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, and Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger (who I’ve seen live a couple times at the Berkshire-Hathaway Annual Meeting).

What’s not so surprising though, is that the “secrets” of a successful business partnership sound eerily similar to the long-standing foundations of a successful marriage, or a successful friendship, or a successful employee-manager relationship. What are these secrets?

Drum roll please…

Trust – this doesn’t refer to obvious issues of trust, like embezzlement, as much as it refers to each partner knowing that the other is 100% invested in the partnership.

Mutual Respect – the understanding that one partner cannot achieve nearly as much without the unique talents and gifts of the other.

Shared Vision and Values – this is a long-term understanding of what is important to each partner and both believing in the ultimate goal of the partnership.

Honest and Open Communication – they actually say in the article that “taking on a partner is like taking on a spouse.” Any partnership depends on truth and open dialog.

Shocking, right?

Whether you are an entrepreneur, manager, or have significant personal and business relationships, how do you think this applies to you?

What I find is that many personal and business partnerships have trust and respect, and work hard at open communication because they know how important that is. But in reality, many partnerships are missing the shared vision and values.

Does your partner/employee/manager/spouse clearly understand what you value and what you want long-term? Is this an area of opportunity for you to gain clarity and share your thoughts?

Don’t wait to share your vision and values – life’s too short to keep it to yourself!

Trust Your Gut

-by Matt Leedham

“There is no such thing as a normal human being.” – Benjamin Carson, M.D. (ground-breaking pediatric neurosurgeon)

By nature, we are extraordinary. We have in us the ability to do amazing things. Stop thinking so much and trust your gut. Then act.

Research indicates you’d be more right than wrong if you just went with your first instinct. In fact, it is believed that humans have learned how to make quick decisions with limited data as a necessity for survival. Maturing as a species over centuries and generations we have become quite good at this.

There is a word for this phenomenon: heuristics. These are methods used to find a solution that is good enough when a more detailed search for information is not practical. Examples include “rule of thumb”, educated guesses, and common sense. (paraphrased from Wikipedia).

So think about where you see yourself in one year. Think about the goals you are setting for yourself. Are you trusting your gut? Are you asking too many questions and getting bogged down in the weeds? Have you always wanted to do something special but talk yourself out of it? Are you denying yourself the use of your innate heuristic abilities?

Trust your gut and take action. Do one thing you believe in today. The world will thank you for it.