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According to the World Economic Forum, 40% of employers expect to reduce their workforce where AI can automate tasks by 2030. Thanks to artificial intelligence, leaders are under pressure to raise the bar on what they will deliver to their stakeholderswith the expectation that thanks to AI, companies can (and must) achieve more. That matters for job hunters, who need to get clear on the value they can provide to organizations if they want to get hired. And while we can be reactiverelying on the AI screeners, which many recruiters use, to select us out of the pile of submitted résuméswe should get proactive, smartly deploying our networks to get our feet in the door. With virtual and hybrid work putting screens between us and our coworkers, relationship-based networking can feel like a dying art. Yet its our professional connections that can very well be whats needed to help us break through in the job market in the AI era. Many professionals agree: research from the networking tech startup Goodword finds that 83% of professionals believe the most valuable asset in an AI-dominated future is social capital. That means growing your own social capital. Here are four real-life networking moves to master amid the onset of AI. 1. Invest in mutually-supportive relationships, not one-sided transactions The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that 80% of available jobs go unadvertised, with experts suggesting that these are filled through professional connections. Yet most people dont network on an ongoing basis. One LinkedIn global survey finds that less than half of professionals keep in touch with their networks when things are going well. One of the leading causes for not doing so: not wanting to ask strangers for favors. Consider a mindset shift. Instead of asking favors, consider where you may be able to give someone else value. You may refer someone in your network to a professional who offers a service they need, for example, or connect them to someone who can help them solve a business challenge. According to Ivan Misner, founder of networking organization BNI and the author of Networking Like a Pro, social capital is like financial capital. You cannot make a withdrawal before you make a deposit, he writes. You have to invest time in the relationship. Think about how you can build and foster relationships with your network, especially before asking for help with job searching. 2. Be clear on your unique value with the right audiences We cant provide value to everyone all the time. When we communicate the unique skillsets that we have to the people and organizations that can benefit from them, we increase the opportunities that people can consider us for. In his book The Start-Up of You, LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman offers this advice: networks are not only about who you know, but what they know about what you can do. With 1.2 billion users on LinkedIn, there has never been an easier way to communicate what you do, who you serve, and how you do it through quick posting. While just 1% of LinkedIn users post content on a weekly basis, you can reach connections in your network by putting yourself in front of them frequently. 3. Approach networking as an opportunity for learning Too often, people approach networking as a self-promotion opportunity rather than a chance to learn. Whether its fostering your existing network or building new relationships, we have two ears and one mouth to listen and learn. I personally like connecting people in similar roles at different companies together to be thought partners and learn from each other. If youre wrestling with a work challenge, chances are that others may have been in a similar situation and have insight to share. Networking to learn, rather than to promote, can help spark new ideas, along with new connections. 4. Balance technology with humanity And you can also use AI itself to make your personal networking more effective. As an alternative to LinkedIn, apps like Bizzabo and Brella use AI to match attendees at networking conferences and events with similar interests. In other cases, you might tap AI to find personalized recommendations for virtual events and webinars, ensuring individuals can connect and engage in ways that are most relevant to them. Technology like AI can enable us to scale our impact, including in our networks. By combining the science of AI with the art of relationships, any professional can open doors to opportunities they may not have tapped otherwise.
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E-Commerce
Mark Zuckerberg was 19 when he started Facebook. Bill Gates was 21 when he started Microsoft; co-founder Paul Allen was 23. Steve Jobs was 21 when he co-founded Apple; co-founder Steve Wozniak was 26. Amazons Jeff Bezos and Nvidias Jensen Huang were 30. Yet theyre the exceptions, not the rule. A study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found the average age of entrepreneurs who start a company and go on to hire at least one employee is 42. A study conducted by the Census Bureau and two MIT professors found the most successful entrepreneurs tend to be middle-aged, even in the technology sector. After compiling a list of 2.7 million company founders who hired at least one employee between 2007 and 2014, researchers found the average age of those who founded the most successful tech companies was 45. And then theres this: In general terms, a 50-year-old entrepreneur was almost twice as likely to start an extremely successful company as a 30-year-old. A 60-year-old startup founder was three times more likely to launch a successful startup than a 30-year-old startup founder, and nearly twice as likely to have launched a startup that ranked in the top 0.1% (in terms of revenue) of all companies. More broadly, a review of studies published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the age at which scientists and inventors reach their moment of genius is rising: While the average age used to be younger, the majority now make their biggest contributions to their fields after the age of 40. As the researchers write: This research consistently finds that performance peaks in middle age: The life cycle begins with a training period in which major creative output is absent, followed by a rapid rise in output to a peak, often in their late 30s or 40s. Makes sense. True mastery typically takes time. As the researchers write: The link between creativity and extant knowledge may depend not just on the acquisition of extant knowledge via training, but may depend on the nature and difficulty of the cognitive processes involved in drawing together and extending sets of extant knowledge. Or in non-researcher-speak: Its not enough to just know things; you have to know how those things fit within larger frameworks in order to make new connections and new breakthroughs. The same premise applies to starting a business. Ideas are great, but execution is everything, and its much harder to execute well when you have limited experience. Thats especially true when leadership experience is a factor. Even if I come up with a truly groundbreaking idea, if I dont have the skills needed to turn a collection of individuals into a team, I will probably fail. But theres a deeper reason. People who succeed at a young age tend to make conceptual breakthroughs. Like Bill Gates and his computer on every desk and in every home. Like Bezos and his “everything store.” Like Lin-Manuel Miranda, who was 28 when he started developing Hamilton, arguably the first successful hip-hop musical. While Gates and Bezos didnt have the skills to run multibillion-dollar companies, they did have breakthrough ideasand then they developed the necessary skills. Miranda didnt have the skills to write Hamilton, but he developed those skills; for example, he says it took a year to write My Shot. Contrast that with people who start companies later in life: Most leverage the skills, knowledge, and experience theyve already gained. Ray Kroc held a number of sales jobs before purchasing McDonalds when he was 52. Sam Waltons experience owning Ben Franklin stores led to developing the skills to run a multilocation retail operation (and to the conceptual breakthrough of launching Walmart stores in small towns instead of large cities). Think of them as examples of what David Galenson in Old Masters and Young Geniuses calls masters: people who early in life may not have been very good in their chosen field, or in any field, but worked to develop mastery. They peaked later in life because they had developed the skills necessary to execute: to turn a string of burger joints into a multinational conglomerate. To turn inefficient and disjointed retail operations into a logistics juggernaut. To write classic show tunes. While others surely had similar ideas, Gates, Bezos, et al. also managed to execute. And survivor biasour tendency to take lessons from people who survived and ignore those who failedhelps us word-associate our way to reflexively thinking young when we hear successful startup founder. But research shows thats rarely the case. Sure, if you truly make a conceptual breakthrough, you may be able to be wildly successful at a young age. Most of the time, though, older entrepreneurs have a decided advantage, even in tech fields, long assumed to be the province of youth. (Theres a huge difference between adoption/consumption and creation.) So, if youre in your 40s, as Sam Walton was, and you want to start a business, do it. If youre in your 50s, as Ray Kroc was, and you want to start a business, do it. If youre in your 60s, as Colonel Sanders was,and you want to franchise your business, do it. While ideas matterespecially genuinely breakthrough ideasexecution almost always matters more. Research shows age isnt a competitive disadvantage; instead, your experience, skills, connections, and expertise are what will make you successful. As long as you put those attributesattributes youve earnedto work for you. Jeff Haden This article originally appeared on Fast Companys sister website, Inc.com. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
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E-Commerce
Some consider self-employment a soul-crushing grinda pit of despair one falls into after being laid off, or after graduating into a job market where entry-level jobs have evaporated. Chasing clients, following up on payment requests, and working into the night, all for little pay . . . its a stopgap until you find a full-time job. Who on earth would choose it? But freelancing doesnt have to feel like gig work. And in fact, plenty of people, especially Gen Zers, do deliberately choose it. If youre skeptical about freelancing or struggling to earn enough to pay your bills, it might be time for a mindset audit: Instead of thinking like a paycheck-chasing hustler, think like a CEO. That means defining your service offerings, pricing them deliberately, and targeting them toward the right clients, says freelance business coach Treasa Edmond, founder and podcast host for Boss Responses. She has 20 years of self-employment experience, and shes noticed something about those who do this well. The people who truly flourish at what they dothe ones who can make the incomes that other people only dream about or have the business structure that we all strive towardtheyve really dialed in on mindset, she says. Theyre confident about what they do and how they do it. Here are the steps you need to take to shift your mindset and successfully run your business. Let go of the scarcity myth The stereotype of the starving freelancer is similar to that of the starving artist. But self-employment does not have to mean lower income. Edmond, who shifted into self-employment from full-time work, earns more from 20 hours of client work per week than she ever made at her brick-and-mortar job. She also knows freelancers who make a full-time living from five hours of client work per week. Still, she offers a word of caution to anyone who thinks freelancing will be easy: Those professionals have spent years honing their business models, and most put in a lot of hours outside of their billable client work to develop that stability. To Edmond, the foundational building block for success is how you perceive and communicate what you do. If your pitching strategy feels like begging prospects for money, its time to develop a succinct way to express how your services can make clients lives easier. You have to understand where your value comes from, Edmond says. It has very little to do with what you actually do. Its the return on investment the client can get on the work that you do. In other words, freelancers earning potential comes down to how they think about their work, as well as how they frame those services to clients. Freelancers who devalue their expertise or talents will face an uphill battle securing the work volume and compensation levels they need to run a sustainable business. Tap into your inner CEO and approach discovery calls with clear, confident talking points. Youll likely find far more stability. Identify (and balance) your business personas Counter to the popular image of freelancers stooping over laptops in coffee shops, successful freelancing takes more than locking in and completing assignments. As a freelancer, youre essentially a team of one. Sales, marketing, and billing are just as much a part of your job as what you actually do. This is where thinking like a CEO becomes critical. Digital artist Caroline Beavon slips into boss mode by channeling her inner CEO into a persona she created since she went freelance in 2009. As Beavon describes it, the executive mindset can be like a hat you can put on. (She imagines hers is probably something like a bowler hat.) She sometimes wears hers while doing business management work like pitching, networking, and talking to clients. But like any well-rounded CEO, success also means knowing when to switch hats, and switch roles. There are some days when I wake up and I am not Queen Bee, and instead a worker bee, Beavon says. I do not have the energy, the focus, the time, the whatever, to be all dynamic. Yes, she could do it if she forced herself. But on those days, she sometimes finds its more productive to put her head down and get the actual work done. That balance is key: Lean too far into worker bee mode, and you might run out of work to do. Swing the other way, and you might not have time to finish all the work youve secured. For Beavon, financial management is a crucial tool to stay in the middle. She keeps her freelancing income in a business account and pays herself a set salary each month. By keeping buffer funds set aside, she saves herself a lot of stress during leaner monthsmaking room for the high-level thinking that her Queen Bee, bowler hat-wearing boss persona needs in order to thrive. Banish the employee mindset Even if youve never held a full-time job, theres a good chance youve come into freelancing thinking like an employee, not a big cheese. That can be a real problem when youre building client relationships. As Edmond points out, freelancers who think of themselves as employee substitutes often form lopsided partnerships where clients dictate everything like bosses. Freelancers should act like their own bosses: Set their own terms, prices, and ways of working. The client is the expert at what they do, and freelancers are the experts at what they do. Were working with them, were collaborating with them, we hopefully have a really good relationship with them, Edmond says. But were not working for them. Think too much like an employee, and youll stifle your inner CEO, reducing them to a demanding, overburdened middle manager, instead of an empowered advocate for what you need. But if youve painted yourself into an employee-shaped corner until now, rest assured that youre not alone. Breaking that employee mindset is hard, Edmond says. I know people who havent done that, and theyve been freelancing for 15 years. No matter what your working life has looked like until now, its never too late to rewrite the rules. After all, the chief reason to be a freelancer is in the name: Its the freedom to choose the working conditions that work best for you. As Edmond puts it: You are creating the business you need so that you can live the life you want.
Category:
E-Commerce
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