I read this amazing little story on Instagram today that I thought I would share.

A father before he died said to his son: “This is a watch your grandfather gave me, and it’s more than 200 years old. But before I give it to you, go to the with shop on the first street and tell him I want to sell it, and see how much he offers you.” He went, and then came back to his father, and said: “The watchmaker offered $5 because it’s old.” He said to him:”Go to the coffee shop.”
He went, and then came back, and said: “He offered 5, father.” “Go to the museum and show them that watch.” He went, and then came back, and said to his father: ” They offered me $1 million for this piece.” The father said: “I wanted to let you know that the right place values you in the right way. Don’t find yourself in the wrong place and get angry if you’re not valued. Those that know your value are those who appreciate you, don’t stay in a place where nobody sees your value”. – Know your worth.

Credit: @thefabulousjourney

Of all the reasons to open your own online business, ease of access is the most compelling. Not only can you set up shop from the comfort of your own home, but you can potentially enhance or replace a 40-hour-per-week-income with a bit of determination. It may not be easy, but you have plenty of tools at your disposal to help you along the way. If you are ready to be on the other end of e-commerce, keep reading for tips and advice to get you started.

Being NAIVE simply strips you from all of these invisible burdens that hold people back from even trying. You are “NAIVE” enough to think that your plan will actually work, that you are going to pull it off. You can´t see how it can be so hard. You can´t see why they would reject your great idea. You haven´t attached any associations to the people that you will compete against, the people you will sell to or the people you will work with – of being either too good for you, too advanced, too powerful, unapproachable, etc.  – What a gift that is.

Strategy implementation and the 4 remaining challenges.

Strategy implementation as well as change management is a very demanding process, which you need to be on top of every step of the way. All the time you’ve spent in advance coming up with the changes or the new strategy will be in vain if you are not able to execute it well. According to the well known 80/20 rule, the implementation part is the 80.

Depending on it’s size and complexity, it is the 80 % chance of failing or succeeding, the 80 % of the total effort with the project, it needs to reach 80 % of the employees and it will propably take 80 % of the time spent on the entire project.

Now, let’s get on with the last 4 stages/challenges of strategy implementation:

I find Strategy as a subject, very interesting. It is made up by so many aspects, but more than everything, it is about understanding the environment in which one operates, being adaptive and forward thinking and being able to lead change.

The implementation of strategy is often where the strategy fails. It’s where everything ties together and everyone comes together to execute change. Needless to say, implementing a strategy in an organization is a demanding process and there are many challenges linked to it. In John P. Kotter’s article ´Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fails he brings up how to lead a change process in an organization and why it so easily fails. He does this by talking about the 8 stages in the change process, which are also the challenges and pitfalls.

Let’s tackle them one by one. Starting in this post with the 4 first stages/challenges of strategy implementation:

So many of us get the terminology confused. I see this especially in my own language, where we constantly talk about leaders, superiors, managers and bosses as the same thing.

I believe that true leadership is an art. Being a leader requires a lot of you as a person. Some people are natural born leaders, yes. But there is also a lot to be learned about leadership.

You step into the role of a leader and leadership when you:

• Deploy empathy
• Have a vision that you work towards and get others to work towards
• Empower others
• Lift others up
• Lead the way
• Act as you want others to act
• Listen to understand
• Take responsibility and initiative
• Let others try and fail
• Help, guide and mentor others
• Play on people´s strengths
• Understand everyone´s uniqueness
• Help people shine, grow and develop
• Motivate and inspire others
• Have others want to follow you
• Have got your people´s back
• Give others honest praise and constructive criticism
• Deploy unselfishness and leave your ego at the door

What is your take on leadership?