Entrepreneurial Journal: Week 8

Lessons Learned

This week’s reading and video assignments helped me to see the importance of trusting others and being trustworthy.  A Message to Garcia was very eye-opening to me.  It shared excellent principles and guidelines to follow as we are given responsibilities and assignments.  It also pointed out common things that we probably shouldn’t do – things that I am guilty of.  One of the things that stood out to me was the fact that few people will simply carry out a project once assigned – they have to ask questions and receive help in doing so.  I often ask several questions when I am asked to do a special project or assignment, but they are for clarification and to ensure we are on the same page.  This reading indicated the importance of moving forward, presenting progress, and revising if needed.  I guess that is something I could work on – instead of needed all the details and instructions, I should just move forward and report on my progress to make sure I’m doing things right!

I also loved Guy Kawasaki’s thoughts about trustworthiness, especially the quality of always defaulting to yes.  He said that “Defaulting to yes means that when you meet people, you are always thinking, ‘How can I help that person?’ which is very different than when you meet people, you're always thinking, ‘How can that person help me?’”  I think this is a great quality to have and is something I could definitely work on in my own life.  I tend to help people only when needed rather than always asking myself “how can I help this person?”  I am going to strive to develop this quality by mindfully asking myself that question as I interact with others.  I’m sure that I will benefit and live a fuller life as I apply this!