Laura Wolfe Coaching LLC

Supporting the Evolution of Careers, Leaders,

& Climate Consciousness

In the Beginning

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noA recent Entrepreneur article boiled down the startup process into five things that must happen before you launch:

  1. ensure it’s a good idea
  2. plan and budget
  3. create the team
  4. have a support system
  5. solicit feedback and refine

Yes, all are critical steps that must be done but here’s one more thing I’ve discovered is just as important – harden yourself for rejection. Not everyone will want what you have to sell. In fact, very few people may want it. The key is finding those that do and not wasting your time and energy on those that don’t.

In an interview on the Jim Engster show, songwiter Don McClean (American Pie) talked about the 72 times his first album Tapestry was rejected by record companies. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter was rejected by twelve publishing houses before one agreed to give it a go. Chances are good that whatever your new startup is selling will be rejected as well and it may be rejected a lot.

Learn to appreciate the information rejection provides. Adjust your offering or your target market. Holding tight to what you’re sure will work in light of evidence to the contrary wastes valuable resources. Awhile back I wrote about letting go of those things that aren’t working for you. Operate like a scientist. You have a hypothesis; test it; collect data; formulate your next hypothesis based on what the data tell you and start the process again.

Be prepared for rejection and don’t let it phase you. In fact, turn it around and be grateful for it because it is guiding you to success.

And go for it!!! Entrepreneurship is great!

What lessons has rejection taught you? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

Are we connected? Find me on facebook, linkedin, google+, & twitter if one of those is your preferred network. I also keep in touch through my (usually) twice monthly newsletter – sign-up below.

My goal is to write 30 blog posts in 30 days the month of September.

#30in30

Did you see the look on his face?

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Are facial expressions interpreted the same way all over the world? You may think so and for years scientists believed it to be true as well.

Several new research studies featured the April 2014 APS Observer find people from Western cultures do interpret facial expressions similarly. Emotions interpreted tend to fall into six categories, those of the classic emotions (e.g., happiness, surprise, fear, disgust, anger, or sadness). However, considerable overlap was found in the way East Asian participants categorized fear, surprise, disgust, and anger.

Of course, facial expression is only one source of information used to interpret emotions. Other emotional context cues include vocalization, body language, and emotion words. Other research has found certain cultures may rely more on one particular emotion context cue than others. For instance, Japanese focus more on vocal cues than the Dutch when interpreting emotion.

These studies are important because the results suggest individuals from different cultures may convey and perceive emotions in different ways – yet one more piece of the cultural fluency puzzle. To be most effective in our global village, knowledge of this type is key. I’ve written about cultural fluency several times before – here and here and here.

Wondering if these differences apply to emoticons as well??? 🙂

How well do you interpret emotions via facial expressions? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

Are we connected? Find me on facebook, linkedin, google+, & twitter if one of those is your preferred network. I also keep in touch through my (usually) twice monthly newsletter – sign-up below.

My goal is to write 30 blog posts in 30 days the month of September.

#30in30