Wisdom Nugget: Entrepreneurs know your weaknesses!

Published November 13, 2008 @ 06:58AM PT

Talking about the value of LinkedIn key feature "Recommendations," LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman said:

"If you look at my profile…you'll notice a thread. I've got 39 recommendations. They all say things like "brilliant," "dealmaker," "collaborator." But none of them say "excellent at process." None of them say the "best manager." None of them say the things I'm not so good at. You can actually see the shadow."

I think there's a wisdom nugget there. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to know not just what you're good at, but where you flop. Whether your enterprise is social or financial, you need to have a level of self-awareness that demands you surround yourself with folks with complimentary strengths. In today's world especially, there's nothing more important than the team. Lose the pride, figure out what you suck at, build from there.

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Comments (1)

Spot on, I think. When people ask me what success looks like for people coming through the School for Social Entrepreneurs programme, I say that if they come out of the year knowing what they are not good at, being prepared to admit it, and being confident / resourceful / networked enough to know how to go and get it (or add it), then that's a good outcome.

Very much chimes with what you say here.

Posted by Nick Temple on 11/14/2008 @ 02:09PM PT
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Author

Nathaniel is the founding Director of the Center for Global Engagement at Northwestern University, which works annually with hundreds of students in dozens of countries around the world through curricular programs and student project incubation.