Be a Startup Superstar

Chapter 3Develop Your Leadership Skills and Self‐Confidence

Brilliant thinking is rare, but courage is in even shorter supply than genius.

—Peter Thiel, entrepreneur and co‐founder of PayPal

In the small environment of a start‐up, the higher‐ups see everything you do, and nothing will make you stand out faster than leadership skills and self‐confidence. Often, working for a start‐up, you'll have a chance to step into a leadership position much earlier than you would at a large company, and you need to be comfortable and confident as a leader to eagerly take advantage of those opportunities. You cannot excel without both of these traits. I've worked with tremendously skilled employees who lacked the self‐confidence to implement their ideas. I've also worked with those who were full of confidence, but couldn't walk the talk. Neither made it to the top of their fields. In this chapter, I share how to develop each one within yourself.

Visualize Your Success Until It's Real

If you haven't, you need to create a vision for what you want, and visit it often. Write a narrative or make a vision board. I know, it might sound hokey to tack up a picture of a reclining chair on the deck of a yacht anchored in a gleaming ocean. Or a composite image of you on a stage, smiling big, arms raised, as you inspire thousands in the audience before you. Or a photo of a glass of red wine on a stone table at a hillside café overlooking Florence, Italy, at sunset. But wait, those images don't feel ...