Key Lessons the World Cup Can Teach You in Business

With rabid soccer fans all across the globe, an estimated 700 million live television viewers are watching the World Cup unfold before their very eyes right now as 32 teams battle it out to become champions of the world.  Billions of people love the World Cup – soccer or “football” as it’s referred to in the vast majority of countries is like a religion to most and it only comes along every four years.  One might wonder what the World Cup can teach us about business and, in fact, there are numerous lessons we can take away from it.  Here are a few.

First off, getting good at your craft requires discipline.  Whether your dream is to become a soccer legend or a business legend, the formula and techniques for getting there are quite similar.  You must use measured practice to gradually get better at your craft.  Acquiring good skills through practice often makes perfect or at least great.  Often the most valuable abilities for getting better at your expertise and knowledge aren’t the most fun and easy to develop – they take time to grow and you must dedicate yourself to learning them.  The same way soccer fitness drills can be tedious for soccer players, often putting solid practices in place for business success can be no fun at times.  That said, you have to force yourself to get through the pain and tough times in both sport and business.  If you do so, the rewards can be huge!  As they always say: “practice makes perfect.”  The steady accumulation of a related set of skills relevant to your craft make you become truly great at what you do.

A good coach can have a tremendous impact on your career.  Most athletes realize that having a strong coach can transform merely mediocre individual talent into greatness.  Most people in business thrive under the tutelage of a wise, encouraging boss or mentor.  Looking for a strong mentor in business, while often challenging, is key to a winning formula for success.  It takes time to find a strong mentor and you have to do your homework just as team owners seek long and hard to find great coaches.  But putting in the effort to finding one that helps and challenges you will offer you vast rewards.

Learning to manage your emotional state is as important as managing your workload.  Anxiety is often the most important contributing factor to performance failure in soccer as it is in the business world as well.  Anxiety makes you feel stuck and doesn’t allow you to perform at your very best.  How many soccer stars have missed key penalty kicks throughout the years which should be simple?  However, they put so much pressure on themselves that they’re unable to perform under the stress and with the world watching.  The same is true in business.  If you try to do too much at once or take on too many high-level tasks, you’re setting yourself up for failure.  You need to remember to stay calm during the stressful times so that you can perform at your very best.  In business as in sport, you need to learn to remain calm and stable in the face of difficult challenges.

Checking your ego at the door increases your chance of success.  Teamwork is key to success in both winning the World Cup and winning in business.  Often the teams with the least individual talent triumph because they know how to work together to make themselves great as a whole.  It’s the same in business.  You must trust your colleagues and realize that sometimes it’s OK to ask for help.  Your way might not always be the best way so asking for a co-worker’s opinion on your strategy for success or for their ideas, often creates a winning business team.  To increase the likelihood of the success of your organization, you must be willing to give up individual recognition for the benefit of the team and the long-term goals your business is looking to achieve.

Planning is good but knowing how to improvise on the fly is key.  In sport, coaches often watch the first forty five minutes of a game and make key adjustments at half-time to increase the likelihood of their team’s success.  They have to carefully and meticulously watch what’s going on and make changes on the fly.  No matter how much you try to plan ahead in business and stick to your game plan, often things come up that require last minute changes that deviate from the original blueprint.  To avoid frustration and disappointment when changes occur in a project at work, you must understand that it happens to everyone and that it doesn’t mean you’ve failed.  Make a concerted effort to understand why you must embrace rapid change for the benefits of your business as soccer teams must as well.  If they want to win a match but are losing, changes must be made in order to reach the ultimate goal of victory.  You should also try to look at the bright side and embrace change or see the humor in it.  Beating yourself up that things haven’t gone according to plan doesn’t get you anywhere in business or in sport.  Sometimes you must embrace failure no matter how hard it might be.  Not all soccer teams can win every match just as not every business can acquire every client or customer.  But, you can always learn from botched plans and work on how not to let them occur again.

Additionally, there’s no good in complaining.  Often, in soccer harassing a referee for what you think is a bad call can penalize you by either a yellow card or worse off, a red card that gets you ejected from a game, leaves your team down a man and means you must sit out the next upcoming match.  It’s the same in business.  You need to keep your emotions in check when things don’t go your way or are out of your control.  Everyone has bad luck.  In soccer, there are always unfair or bad calls just as in business but it’s how you deal with adversity that decides whether you are successful or not.

Do your research.  Coaches and players in soccer watch endless hours of tape of their competitors that they will have to play in the World Cup.  It’s the same in business.  Always keep an eye on the competition to see what they are doing and how you can beat and outsmart them through your own unique ideas of how to do things better or things they’re not doing.  Both sport and business are all about embracing competition and trying to beat your competition through studying them and learning how to win over them in the long run.  Never underestimate the competition and always keep a close eye on them.

Always remember that it’s not over until it’s over.  Sometimes miracles do occur when you least expect them.  Everyone remembers the great Abby Wambach’s goal in the last few seconds of stoppage time in the match against Brazil in the Women’s World Cup three years ago to tie the game when her team was down a goal and a player but she kept fighting until the very end and never gave up and eventually, in penalty kicks, the U.S. won the game.  Never give in during the tough times whether in business or in sport.  Always keep going and remain positive.  Draw strength and confidence from your ability to rise above adversity and oftentimes, you can beat it.

Lastly, never forget that in the end, all that matters are results and you must do whatever it takes to reach your goals.  The 32 teams in this year’s World Cup are focused on one goal and one goal alone: winning and raising that trophy atop the podium when all is said and done.  It’s exactly the same in business.  Always keep your eye on the prize and do whatever it takes to reach your goal.  There’s always an end result and you want to come out on top!

So what have we learned here today?  Can you see the similarities between this year’s World Cup and sport in general alongside business?  How have you looked at these parallels before and learned from them?  Leave a comment and let me know.  Let’s start up a conversation!

Here are some articles you might want to check out about lessons the World Cup can teach you in business:

“5 Things the World Cup Can Teach Us about Entrepreneurship”: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234960

“What Can Your Business Learn from the World Cup in Brazil?”: http://blog.freelancer.com/uncategorized/what-can-your-small-business-learn-from-the-world-cup-in-brazil/

“What Entrepreneurs Can Learn from the Upcoming World Cup”: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/55377213/ns/business-small_business/t/what-entrepreneurs-can-learn-upcoming-world-cup/#.U6q0-7EXJdA

“World Cup Footballers Can Give Innovation Lessons to Business”: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/retail/413608/world-cup-footballers-can-give-innovation-lessons-to-business

For more information on the real estate services provided by Emerge212, check out our official website at: http://www.emerge212.com

Until next time...

The Pros and Cons of Using Social Media in Business

While there are many benefits to using social media in business, there are also drawbacks that entrepreneurs and other business owners should be aware of and might not be.  Since social media has become the norm and has in some ways seems to have taken over both the professional and personal world, in our euphoria and obsession with it, we sometimes overlook the negatives of it.  Since the inception of the Internet, business have constantly had to re-evaluate how they reach and stay connected to customers and consumers alike.  While using social media for business is a must these days, it’s also a must that you look at the risk versus reward of using it.  There are so many social media sites out there that it’s often hard to find the best ones for your business.  Let’s take a look at the overall pros and cons of social media in general as well as those of some major social media sites.

The most obvious benefit of using social media platforms for business is the ability to instantaneously interact with your target audience.  From a business perspective, this allows companies to get immediate feedback on the goods, products and services they are offering.

Another major benefit of social media is the capability to build brand loyalty and a large following.  Of course, the key is how much engagement you are getting and so it seems there is a need to post new and original content each and every day.  That said, you need to post in a manner that gets peoples’ attention and gets them interested in what you have to say.

One of the great things about social media is that it allows your business to get the word out with low costs unlike using traditional marketing platforms such as television and print ads.  Additionally, the benefits of social media can last for years.  In the past, only companies that had the most money to spend on marketing won but today, the companies that put out the best social media content are often the winners and again, this can be done for little or no cost.

Additionally, many companies aren’t willing to put in the time and effort to branding via social media but if your company is, then you will stand out from the crowd.

That said, one of the negatives of social media is that unless you are on top of your game and are providing new and exciting content, you put yourself in a tenuous situation where you open your company up to getting negative reviews by the general public.  If you provide poor products or services, then social media is definitely not the place for you.  You have to make sure your customer service is the best it can be in order to make social media effective for your brand.  Remember not all PR is good PR so if your product is weak, then negative reviews are likely to follow and no business wants that.

There’s also an unctuous side to social media.  While it might not be true, some people find the need to post negative reviews about a company for no reason.  Maybe they are disgruntled employees or just slimy people in general.  Believe it or not, people are often hired by competitors to post negative reviews about your business on various social media platforms.

Another con of using social media for business is that you don’t often reap the rewards right away.  It takes time and effort to get your message out there virtually.  Often, it can take months before you see a positive bump in business and new customers while using social media as your main strategy rather than immediately.

Social media platforms often change quickly.  How many times in recent months has Facebook changed their interface?  If you’re not in the know about the changes, you can incorrectly use the platforms which hurts you in the long-run and grand scheme of things.

Social media often reduces the amount of face-to-face interaction you have with customers.  Often the best way to build a following and brand loyalty is through one-on-one communication which can’t be done behind a computer screen.

Then there are the pros and cons of the most well-known social media sites.  First off, most business usually turn to Facebook as a start.  While it most definitely has an upside, it also have downside.  The benefits of Facebook is that it has well over one billion users worldwide so that gives businesses a great reach to their target audience.  Facebook offers advertising and very specifically, as well to certain age groups and other drill downs.  It’s easy to promote posts with the “like” and “share” buttons.  The cons are that it takes a significant amount of times to build a following and maintain a page.  You need to have a reasonable advertising budget to use it effectively as well.  Often you need a staff member who can monitor statistics and page traffic and respond to posts on a regular basis.

Next, there’s Twitter.  It is primarily used as one-way communication for delivering short and real-time information.  One pro is that you can choose to auto-follow people who are interested in your niche.  Twitter also offers statistical data that shows you what’s happening as it’s happening such as the number of “retweets” your posts are getting.  You can also automate your tweets.  The most obvious and major drawback is that posts are limited to solely 140 characters unless you use sites such as Twitlonger.  It can be hard to track conversations as often posts are replied to so quickly with questions and a flood of information that users can often feel up ending ignored.  The biggest drawback, however, is that unless you are posting quite often, your tweets can easily get lost in your followers’ timelines when they follow thousands of people.  When that’s the case, it’s hard for people to view the content you are posting.

Of course, there’s well-known LinkedIn which is used mainly for creating connections for professional networking.  The pros are that it offers massively rich content for details of companies and individuals’ backgrounds.  You can easily make contacts and research company information.  That said, with a free account you get merely 10 “in-mails” and in order to increase that, you need to pay which can become very expensive.  Additionally, if you try and connect with too many people at a time and they reject your invitations, you can be penalized by the platform.

YouTube is a great virtual way to interact with consumers and a very rich, effective way of sending messages as people enjoy visuals.  One pro is that you can offer explanative tutorials.  It also has the largest viewership of any site and is the second largest search engine next to Google which you may be unaware of because it is owned by Google which allows all its content to be indexed in the Google search engine.  A major con is that each video is limited to 15 minutes or less unless your channel gets so many followers that you are upgraded.  I have a very successful channel and so I was granted permissions for videos longer than 15 minutes but it takes time to build that success.  Lastly, a major con is that you cannot use your own ad network.

Lastly, many companies rely on blogs as we do once a week.  A major pro is that it’s great for SEO purposes.  It’s also a great way to engage your target audience and create a conversation with consumers by giving them value-added information which helps increase brand value.  Additionally, it’s easy to post more content.  The biggest negative is that it’s time consuming.  You also have to think smart and make sure you are posting new and original content every time you post a blog.  There’s also the potential to invite criticism.

So what have you learned here today?  With everyone pushing social media and with it often being a necessity to the success of your business, did you realize there were also vast cons?  How have you avoided those cons?  Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!

Here are some articles you might want to check out about the pros and cons of using social media in business.

“Pros and Cons of Using Social Media”: http://www.ftadviser.com/2013/10/10/ifa-industry/your-business/pros-and-cons-of-using-social-media-SkbvID6nN1vpXodkEQtjeL/article.html

“The Impact of Social Media in the Workplace Pros and Cons”: http://www.ftadviser.com/2013/10/10/ifa-industry/your-business/pros-and-cons-of-using-social-media-SkbvID6nN1vpXodkEQtjeL/article.html

“Pros and Cons of Social Media for Small Business”: http://growmybiz.com/pros-and-cons-of-social-media-for-small-business/

For more information on the real estate services offered by Emerge212, check out our official site at: http://emerge212.com

Until next time…

How to Become an Effective Leader in Business

Being an effective leader is key to the success of your business.  In fact, it can mean the difference between success and failure.  While we would all like to believe we are strong leaders, not all are.  Leadership is a learned skill and takes time to craft and grow and it needs be constantly readjusted and updated to make your business run smoothly.  To be an effective leader you must first learn who you are and identify your strengths and weaknesses to understand how to operate effectively.  Here are some steps to becoming an effective leader.

First off, always maintain a positive attitude.  Be self-confident and decisive and believe in your business and its potential growth and success.  Self-confidence leads to certainty and the ability to have faith in your judgment and take risks.  Always be determined and resilient and persistent.  Don’t dwell on the past; learn from your mistakes and move forward.  Constantly be thinking ahead.

Love what you do and be passionate about it.  Even though starting up a new venture is hard and you can have setbacks, always enjoy your work and the challenges it provides.  Remember work shouldn’t be a drone; it should be fun and that’s likely why most entrepreneurs start up their own companies to get out of the mundane and boring corporate world.  Enthusiasm generates a strong work ethic which then becomes part of the culture of your business.

Delegate and trust others.  Don’t be a micromanager.  It’s impossible to do everything yourself and it’s OK to ask for help.  In fact, it’s a must.  Don’t think of the business as solely your own.  Think of it as a team effort.  Delegating responsibility takes unnecessary tasks off your plate and allows you to focus on more pressing matters.  The ability to get your employees to work as a team is a great starting point for any business.  Recruit high-quality staff and utilize their brain power and ability.  Most importantly, trust them to get the job done without constantly looking over their shoulders. 

 

Focus on what you do best.  Be a specialty and niche business.  You can’t do everything at once or please every consumer if your target reach is too broad.  Start by focusing on one industry and one or merely a handful of products.  Always maintain your core business model.  It’s better to dominate a niche market than attempt to serve multiple markets before you are fully established and up and running.  At least stick to one idea for the first few years of your business.  Trying to do too much can lead to failure and you obviously don’t want that; you want to succeed.

Have systems in place especially in case of emergency.  Have an offsite backup for your work.  Hire an outside tech company to run your computer needs.  Try to outsource when you can but look for cheaper ways to do it as cost savings is huge when just beginning a business.

Work smart.  Don’t become so consumed by your business that you burn out.  Make time for outside interests and family and friends.  Continue to pursue your outside interests and hobbies.  Take time during the day for a break.  You always need to recuperate mentally and recharge your battery in order to work more effectively and efficiently.

Supply yourself with a good support base.  Find a mentor and network.  Attend seminars and speeches.  Constantly be making connections.  Lean on friends and family when the going gets tough.  Seek out advice when necessary.

Listen.  To your gut, to your employees, to the marketplace and to your customers.  Any great leader listens to what people need from them or takes suggestions or constructive criticism.  Listen to your colleagues who might have new and promising ideas.  You can’t be the entire brain trust of your organization or success won’t follow.

Be a storyteller.  Show your colleagues and others in the industry that you are in the know.  Do your homework about happenings in your industry and the greater marketplace.  Start a blog or write guest articles for well-known publications.  Get on the radio or create a YouTube channel.  Jump on the social media train and tell your stories to the broadest audience reach you can get your hands on.

Be authentic and transparent.  Great leaders are who they say they are.  They have integrity and humility.  They create positivity and attract strong energy.  Being authentic and transparent leads to trust – trust from your colleagues, trust from your consumers and trust from your industry.  True leaders are transparent especially as there’s nowhere to hide anymore.  If you keep secrets, you’ll eventually be exposed.  Openness and honesty lead to better business values and your community of customers will most definitely pick up on that.

Always be responsive to customers, staff and investors alike.  A culture of responsiveness makes a winning leader.  Get back to people quickly.  Follow-up.  Send thank you cards or gifts when necessary.  Let the world know that you are available to them for whatever they need.

Lastly and most importantly, be flexible.  Adaptability is key to being a successful leader.  Don’t get stuck in your ways or shut others or their ideas out.  While you always want to stand behind your convictions, don’t be so bull-headed that you lose sight of the bigger picture.  Stubbornness can only harm you in business so avoid it at all costs.  Humility and the willingness to adapt and be flexible are the cornerstones of being a great and effective leader.

So what have we learned here today?  Have you found these tips useful or have you used other methods to become an effective leader?  What do you think are the most important traits and qualities that make a good leader?  Leave a comment and let me know.  Opinions are always welcome!

Here are some articles you might want to check out on being an effective leader in business:

“Top 10 Qualities That Make a Great Leader”: http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/

“The One Thing You Need to Know to Be a Great Leader”: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-be-a-great-leader-2013-8

“Be seen as a Leader”: http://hbr.org/2013/12/be-seen-as-a-leader/ar/1

“How to Be a Great Leader”: http://www.stylist.co.uk/stylist-network/how-to-be-a-great-leader

For more information about the real estate services provided by Emerge212, visit our official website at: http://emerge212.com

Until next time…