By the time we’ve been on our own for a few years, many of us have become cynical. It’s an ugly thing, but I’ve seen it happen too often. We all have big dreams growing up, and we make a lot of plans for ourselves. Then life gets in the way, the plans don’t happen the way we thought they would, and we lose faith in our ability to focus on who we want to be. You may not notice it, but it also hurts your ability to make your next moves. I want to get my hands on every single strategy book out there to see the game from a broader point of view so I can learn how to minimize corporate bullying. Did you get that last sentence? You must act like a great company (or a great entrepreneur/intrapreneur) long before you ever become one. Are you following? Let me explain. According to Bet-David, you can build culture by creating a set of company principles (for instance, honesty and diversity) and acting on them (for example, by leading CEO Q&A sessions and establishing a diversity, equity, and inclusion committee). Behaving in accordance with your principles lends you credibility in your team’s eyes.

Shortform note: In How Will You Measure Your Life?, Clayton M. Christensen agrees with Bet-David that it’s critical to enforce your cultural values. If you don’t, the values and methods employees currently use will become the culture. If those values and methods are undesirable (or even illegal), then you’ve lost control of the culture and possibly the company.) In The 5 Love Languages, Gary Chapman divides the ways you give and receive love into 5 categories: You will never reach your goals unless you act like the person you want to be from the very beginning. Working effectively with others will mean the difference between enjoying the process and desperately seeking a day job while hiding under your desk” Barbara Corcoran, the real estate mogul whom you may have seen on Shark Tank, was one of ten children growing up in a blue-collar New Jersey town. In 1973, she was twenty-three and working as a waitress in a diner. While there, she met a man who lent her a thousand dollars to start a real estate company. They fell in love and were set to live happily ever after. Had the script played out, my guess is that Corcoran would have built a decent real estate business. But in 1978, the man dumped her and married Corcoran’s assistant. To rub salt into the wound, he said to her, “You’ll never succeed without me.”

Move 5: power plays

That’s just paranoia, I reassured myself. Give him the benefit of the doubt and hear what he has to say. The best way to gain access to funding is through mentors with connections, claims Bet-David. Explain to them why you must raise money, how you’ll use it, if you want investor input, why you’re worth investing in, and if you plan to eventually sell the business. Knowing this shows them you’re serious and worthy of being connected to investors. How to hire and retain the right people. This involves attracting the right talents and advisers, having a robust recruitment process, and developing an attractive compensation plan to retain people. You want different levels of detail at different times. That's why every book is summarized in three lengths: Your vision must align with who you want to be. Your choices must align with your vision. Your effort must align with the size of your vision. Your behavior must align with your values and principles.

Provide clear metrics and incentives. Let them know what they will get for hitting (or missing) their metrics There are several strategic elements that determine if your business will grow, stagnate, or even collapse. To scale up and achieve exponential growth, you must: Other summaries give you just a highlight of some of the ideas in a book. We find these too vague to be satisfying.

12min Tip

Learning to negotiate, sell, and influence. This requires that you do your homework before every major meeting, build strategic partnerships, and progressively develop your negotiation skills and power. As an investor in entrepreneurs, Corcoran actually looks for people who are fueled by pain. She sees growing up poor as an asset. She said, “A bad childhood? Yes! I love it like an insurance policy. An abusive father? Fabulous! Never had a father? Better! My most successful entrepreneurs didn’t all have miserable childhoods, but somebody said they couldn’t, and they are still pissed.” To be the best you can be, you must first know who you want to be, where you wish to go, and what factors should drive your decisions. Bet-David breaks this down into 3 parts: When you’re working on something you deeply care about, you will find the enthusiasm to make life a great adventure. But to be great at processing problems, you need to take responsibility whenever you can. Great processors see their role in whatever problem has occurred.

To achieve success and fulfillment, you must handle thousands of problems and decisions. Hone your problem-solving skills to get better outcomes and pre-empt problems in the future. This requires that you: The busier you are, the more organized you’ll need to be. There’s this notion that you can’t win at the highest level and also have a great family life. It won’t be easy, but you can find a way to make it work if it matters to you. It’s a choice only you can make. For me, being an example to my kids of fighting to fulfill my vision is more important than being home for dinner every night. My family understands this because we’ve planned for it. Plus, having more money gives you more choices. You may have to work on holidays. Having resources provides you with the flexibility to take your family with you and turn a work trip into a family vacation. As with everything, there are risks and rewards, costs and payoffs. The route you choose will depend on your answer to the question: Who do you want to be?Finally, even when you’re growing steadily, always behave as though a threat could overthrow your business, counsels Bet-David. Stay alert in two ways: Way #1: Don’t Cede Control to Temptation or Your Ego Ayrton Senna, the greatest Formula One driver in history, tested his limits to take his craft to the very edge of perfection. He reminds me to push boundaries and hone my power of concentration (I named my daughter Senna). I want to make the name Bet-David mean something, so much so that my parents will be proud of the decision they made to leave Iran. When you’re small, make yourself appear bigger. Don’t shy away from the challenge and compete as though you’re the one with the advantage