KACHARAGADLA

Princeton University lecturers John Danner and Chris Kuenne explain what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Every wonder if there was one type of entrepreneur who is the most successful? I have. So when two Princeton University lecturers came to the Greatness Studio to talk about their new book (about personality types of entrepreneurs), I had to ask. And they told me no, there’s not one. In fact, they’ve identified four successful entrepreneur types, and according to their research, each is equally effective -- but for different reasons. Of course I had to know more, and both John Danner and Chris Kuenne fascinated me with their explanations of these personality types. They identified which one I am right away and gave me great coaching on how I can improve my business strategy. They pointed out that it’s not enough to know your strengths in business -- you need to act on that knowledge, hire people who compliment you in those areas and build your team wisely. We talked

Although organizations spend more than  $24 billion  annually on leadership development, many leaders who have attended leadership programs struggle to implement what they’ve learned. It’s not because the programs are bad but because  leadership is best learned from experience . Still, simply being an experienced leader doesn’t elevate a person’s skills. Like most of us, leaders often go through their experiences somewhat mindlessly, accomplishing tasks but learning little about themselves and their impact. Our research on leadership development shows that leaders who are  in learning mode   develop stronger leadership skills than their peers. Building on Susan Ashford and Scott DeRue’s  mindful engagement  experiential learning cycle, we found that leaders who exhibit a growth mindset diligently work through each of the following three phases of the experiential learning cycle. First, leaders set challenging learning goals in the form of “I need to learn how to…” For some

I’m so tired of seeing young entrepreneurs get screwed by their angel investors on convertible notes and I know I can’t convince you not to do it so I’d like to offer one simple bit of advice to help you avoid getting screwed (at least on one part of your note). When you do a convertible note with a cap that converts into the next round of funding one of the unintended consequences is that if you’re successful and raise at a larger price than your cap the early angels often get “multiple liquidation preferences” on their dollars in. Here’s how it works: Angel gives you $500,000 at a $5 million cap (thus they will own at least 9% of your company if it converts at a price higher than the cap). If you raise at a lower price they will own more than 9%. [This is called a “full ratchet,” which is also historically a term that VCs would be crucified for trying to get away with but I’ll avoid talking about that in this post.] With a normal 1x liquidation preference this investor woul

The best teachers all have at least one thing in common: they ask great questions.  They ask questions that force students to move beyond simple answers, that test their reasoning, that spark curiosity, and that generate new insights. They ask questions that inspire students to think, and to think deeply. As a business leader, you might have years of experience and the confidence of your organization behind you, so it may be tempting to think that your job is to always have the right answers. But great leaders have to inspire the same curiosity, creativity, and deeper thinking in their employees that great teachers inspire in their students – and that starts with asking the right questions. Any answer is only as good as the question asked. As a dean, I find it useful to remember the statement often (perhaps  spuriously ) attributed to Albert Einstein that if he had an hour to solve a problem, and his life depended on it, he would spend the first fifty-five minutes determining t

The   research   is clear: when we choose humble, unassuming people as our leaders, the world around us becomes a better place. Humble leaders improve the performance of a company in the long run because they create more collaborative environments. They have a balanced view of themselves – both their virtues and shortcomings – and a strong appreciation of others’ strengths and contributions, while being open to new ideas and feedback. These “unsung heroes” help their believers to build their self-esteem, go beyond their expectations, and create a community that channels individual efforts into an organized group that works for the good of the collective. For example,   one study   examined 105 small-to-medium-sized companies in the computer software and hardware industry in the United Studies. The findings revealed that when a humble CEO is at the helm of a firm, its top management team is more likely to collaborate and share information, making the most of the firm’s talen

The world tends toward continuums. We order everything from temperature (cold to hot, with tepid in the middle) to wealth (poor to comfortable to rich). Continuity along a linear line, like the inexorable laws of hydrodynamics, helps to capture and comprehend the complexities of science and society, and offers the promise of progress and growth. It’s tempting to think leadership also follows a continuum, one anchored by bad and great, with good somewhere in between. This deeply rooted belief reassures us that leadership follows a predictable pattern, and that through hard work and experience one can progress along the drawn line. That anyone can develop as a leader is not in question. What I dispute is the stubborn resolve that great and good are points along the same stream. That just isn’t so. Great leadership and good leadership have distinctly different characteristics and paths. Leadership is not one-dimensional. It can be great and good, or one but not the other, or neith

The intersection of the secret of happiness, how you don’t get to choose your mission and how different missions call different people different ways leads to some people being happier than others at any given moment. This is why it’s so important to latch on to an unmet need or a new way of connecting with people’s hearts, minds or souls. The Secret of Happiness Happiness is good. We learned from a  Harvard study  that it’s three goods: Doing good for others; Doing things you are good at and; Doing good for yourself. Thus, cherish your most important relationships and be a contribution. Do more of what you’re good at and less of what you’re not so good at. Take care of yourself, your health and well-being, your financial security and your work/life balance. You Don’t Get to Choose Your Mission The lesson from  Kate’s Farms  and others is that mission is not a choice. It’s dictated by others’ needs. Sometimes those others give you a mission or sometimes it hits you over the h

The Roman philosopher Epictetus once said, “Books are the training weights of the mind.” Seneca, Roman statesman and philosopher, opined that, “The most important knowledge is that which guides the way you lead your life.” Combine these two pieces of wisdom and you have an undeniable truth: Reading is an exercise that enriches our minds and our lives and the way we think, feel, and behave. It allows us to gather an assortment of dots, but more importantly, to connect those dots to expand our knowledge. It’s easy to gravitate towards the comfortable, familiar reads. Reading is an exercise in thinking, and to get better at it, it’s important we go beyond our comfort zone and tackle more difficult subjects that seemingly have no relevance. The challenge lies in connecting these seemingly unrelated topics, cross-pollinating ideas and concepts, to reach a new understanding about ourselves and the world. It is through this exercise that we gain new ideas and insights about what we’