Mental Grit & Entrepreneurship + Customers are KING even when Trauma is Involved
Not for the faint-hearted & the ability to have thick skin as a Leader
I’ve made mistakes.
I am human.
But, self-correction is a never-ending journey.
If I did not try and did not make mistakes, then that’s even worse. But lots don’t see this, and see mistakes as the end of the world, and paint a person over one mistake they did.
And that is why…
What entrepreneurship requires: Mental Grit Level 200
I realized entrepreneurship is not for everyone. Not everyone is okay with the mental adversity that comes with it.
Your acquaintances and relatives mocking you? Darling, that’s just the start.
As you journey to your best enterprising capacity, people will hate on you for no reason.
They’ll project their insecurities (some reasons could be is that usually they want to be associated with what you’re doing, but realized why didn’t they tap into doing it — or so I’d like to believe; or they’re just going through rocky stuff in their life) onto you.
You will come to a crossroads, to continue or to turn back.
The people who keep on pushing after adversity and adversity, they’re the real Gs. Like Neelofa and Vivy Yusof (gosh, is this a love letter to them, but now I empathize truly with what they’ve done in the pursuit of impacting society, the good way).
That is why they deserve the credit after the risk they put in.
Entrepreneurship comes with A LOT of risks. Mostly your mental and soul are at risk, every single day.
Top-tier customer service: treating humans as human beings.
At the end of the day, the only way to handle negative vibes, especially if it’s a mistake you did (it’s on you) is to:
Wall it off (a tendency of mine)
Remove emotions from the picture (ethically) — possible when you’re not in the picture, but in a different voice.
Treat them like a king. — I’ve seen a salesperson complained along the lines of “how their customer complained to them when it’s not their fault their product is like that?” What do you mean it’s “not your fault?” That means you don’t believe in your product!
In the midst of quickly resolving crisis management (gosh, while I am certified in crisis management for undergraduate, theory and practice are totally different), I realized the only way this could find its best end is through treating your client like a KING & do things the ethical way.
In the media world, your audience is your client. Even if they do not follow you, they’re angry at your content for no reason.
If you treat them ethically and regard them as human beings with feelings, the crisis will not snowball, and you have the potential to mitigate the murky waters.
Also, this hiccup scarred me because it reminded me of damage control I had, in a different operations context. Seeing this crisis from two lenses of two different lives, at the same time, is damaging. And, of course, no one knows your trauma so who bats an eye that their lashing onto you would spark a trauma within you (aka the one you tried so badly to heal from) right?
Leaders, I feel you when you scar. No one hears us, lick our wounds us except ourselves.
Recently Read & Listened
🎶 A podcast that made me shed a tear while I was walking under the rain in a neighborhood park. Will talk about this in the future.
📝: An article that spoke to my current phase in life.. Let me just share a quote that touched my very core:
On one of those phone calls he said to me “Dad, I think I’m ready to leave Costa Rica.” Then he continued “and while I miss you guys, I don’t think I should come back to London.”
“I want to go somewhere where I won’t be tempted by my old habits, but where I can feel at home, and restart everything,” he said. “Somewhere like Georgia or Indiana.”
The next time you see someone make mistakes, point them out graciously and forgive.
The next time you make a mistake, don’t be so hard on yourself. Celebrate it. Mistakes are good indicators. Progress.
I’d love to know what’s a mistake you recently made. & if it’s too much for the public, reply to this email, and it’ll be our little secret.
F