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Picture this: Its Black Friday, and the point-of-sale system your thousands of customers depend on keeps crashing. Understandably, those retailers are livid. Complaints pour in day after day, and you start to wonder if the business will survive. Thats exactly what happened to me when I was just starting out as an entrepreneur nearly 20 years ago. And as painful as it was, that near-death experience taught me something invaluable: the power of calm leadership. In todays unpredictable world, whether thats due to economic, environmental, or political eventsit can be harder than ever to stay calm and centered. Company leaders are no exception to this. Yet its critical that they do learn to stay calm, because thats what will set the tone for the rest of their team. Stress and entrepreneurship Theres no escaping the brutal realities of entrepreneurship. As this founder and CEO can attest, stress is an unfortunate part of it. Thats why three-quarters of small business owners are worried about their mental health, while more than half have been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, or stress-related problems. As a company matures, new hurdles and anxieties arise. The average entrepreneur spends almost 70% of their time working in the businessmuch of it putting out fires. Inevitably, there are days and weeks when the failures far outnumber the wins. That makes it easy to get dragged down into negativity. But if the leader operates from a place of calm, it can help everyone else bring their best selves to work. Here are a few principles that Ive learned about that can help you do just that. 1. Youre not the hero of this story So many business leaders feel like its up to them to save the day and feel like theyre the only one who can fix things. But this is a recipe for dizzying highs and crushing lows. And trust me, the lows outnumber the highs. You whiplash back and forth between elation and despair, and rarely find that middle ground of calm that you desperately need to make strategic decisions. A far more useful approach is to think of yourself as just one player in a larger drama. Sure, youre the boss, but youre channeling greater forces. Ultimately, youre an instrument that supports and directs the talents of the team around you. 2. Mission actually does matter Sustaining calm is easier with a sense of purpose. People can accept a tough journey if they know where theyre going and can see progress, however small. This is where your mission comes in. Now, it doesnt have to be earth-shattering. You just need something that everyone can get behind. My companys mission is simple: helping small businesses compete in a world of Amazon and Shein. Using technology to empower customers is our rallying cry. Importantly, this has to be more than a slogan on a website or a poster on the wall. (Theres a reason only 25% of employees actually feel educated on company goals, according to Slingshots digital work trends report). Your company needs to live the mission, and employees need to understand how it translates into tangible goals and also see incremental progress. As gimmicky as it might seem, dashboards and trackers can be invaluable here. We have screens throughout our office showing key KPIs and movement over time. We also celebrate wins in monthly huddles and recognize team members who push the mission forward. 3. Think impact rather than urgency The startup world moves fast. On any given week, there will be dozens (if not hundreds) of time-sensitive tasks that demand your attention.To focus on the things that matter, you need to think in terms of impact, not urgency. Rather than prioritizing your to-do list by deadline, narrow your to-do list down to the tasks that will actually move the needle for you and your company. With a manageable list, its easier to exit panic mode and to start calmly working away on what really matters. Running on adrenalineand treating everything like a five-alarm firemight get results in the short term. However, this is a surefire recipe for team burnout, which is ultimately inefficient and counterproductive. Doing this right isnt possible without long-term priorities. Setting a north star or long-term goal for your company allows you to see what you should prioritize and what you shouldnt. 4. Remember that creation follows in the wake of destruction When Im not running a business, I work in conservation. Ive seen how the terrible violence of a forest fire sets the stage for regreeningand how quickly that recovery can happen. I think of that every time I suffer a setback, like losing a key employee. Of course, it hurts, but more often than not, such departures set the stage for much-needed changes and renewals. From moments of devastation, new opportunities for growth arise. 5. When in doubt, write down the good and the bad Calm leaders focus on the positive, but they also take stock of the negative. Throughout the year, I keep a running list of my gratefuls and lows. The real impact of this approach is retrospective. Looking back, I often realize that some of the lows werent really that low after all. In fact, they needed to happen and sometimes led to a major transformation. One example was losing a particular deal. In the end, that event ended up setting the company up for success by pushing us to explore new markets. Ultimately, every leader must decide how they want to show up for the team. In my experience, calm beats panic every time. Thats especially true when the stakes are high and people are looking to their leader to lower the temperature. And right now, that virtue may be more valuable than ever.
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When White Lotus first season debuted in 2021 and shot to near-instant acclaim, it was a sleeper hit for HBO. But now, four years later, HBO is well aware of just how enthusiastic White Lotuss fanbase has becomeand, to tap into the shows highly online viewership, its marketing team has decided to officially don their tin foil hats and fangirl right alongside the rest of us. White Lotus recently debuted its own TikTok page dedicated to stirring up conversation around the shows third season, which just debuted. Its the first time that the show itself will have a separate TikTok presence from HBOs broader account. White Lotuss marketing team is in a unique position, given that its joining TikTok after a culture of mining the show for meme fodder has already flourished organically on the app. (See: Jennifer Coolidges unforgettable delivery of the line, These gays, theyre trying to murder me being the soundtrack to dozens of mash-ups and even a few original songs.) @thewhitelotus Vacation doesn't always go the way you planned. #TheWhiteLotus #HBO #StreamOnMax original sound – The White Lotus As a result, the White Lotus TikTok account needs to offer something unique to stand out from the crowdand their strategy includes pulling back the curtain on behind-the-scenes anecdotes, fan theories, actor perspectives, and hidden details from the show. Its a move that taps into the growing culture of using TikTok as a site for exchanging detailed critical analyses of popular media. Especially in the White Lotus, when you see the craft that [director Mike White] puts into the details of everything, people want to dive in, says Pia Barlow, EVP of originals marketing at HBO and Max. Like, Oh, did you see that that statue was turned this way? Or, Did you catch that little aside that some character said that paid off later in the episode? It’s really a way for us to engage fans by tapping into memes and trends, but also theories and speculation. The new account currently hosts about 27,000 followers. Its most successful clips are digging into small anecdotes, like one video with 6.3 million views about how Jennifer Coolidge hated being on a boat in the shows second season, or an in-depth analysis of a confrontation scene in season 1 thats racked up 10.1 million views so far. [Photo: TikTok @theWhiteLotus] These kinds of videos feed fans appetite for close-reading beloved seriesespecially those with a mysterious plot linewithin a community of other viewers. A search for white lotus fan theories on TikTok produces dozens of results from the shows last season, digging into everything from the subtle motifs of background wallpaper to how certain plot points might mirror Homers The Odyssey. TikTok users have similarly used the platform to hash out ideas during recent seasons of Succession, Squid Game, and, currently, the second season of Apple TVs Severance. For TikTok in particular, it’s really about just being aware of whatever trends are happening in real timewhich, as you know, changes weekly, or even daily, Barlow says. So its about behaving like a fan. For White Lotuss marketing team, digging into the shows small nuances on TikTok is a pretty smart way to cosplay as a fan. As of yet, its unclear just how much the account will attempt to harness the meme culture thats bound to pop up around season threea move that might be harder to pull off, given that the new account is pretty late to the scene. And, to be honest, wed take a Gen Alpha teens fan edit of Jennifer Coolidge falling off of a boat over an in-house video from HBOs marketing team any day.
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This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here. Imagine turning your reading history into a treasure map. By feeding a list of your favorite books and movies to an AI assistant, you can uncover hidden patterns in what you love. From your subconscious attraction to unreliable narrators to your love for stories that begin at the end, you may be surprised by what an AI assistant can reveal. Building a personal taste atlas helps you understand your reading self better. It can also surface blind spots in your cultural diet and point you toward unexplored literary territories youre likely to love. Why analyze your preferences? This isnt just another recommendation engine. Netflix or Amazon may suggest what to watch or buy next based on viewing history, but a taste atlas goes much deeper. It analyzes themes, narrative structures, and emotional resonance across media formats. It can reveal connections between novels you adore and foreign films youve never heard of, or help you articulate why certain stories stick with you while others dont. You can tune the atlas by adjusting the info and examples you give it. You can customize the analysis with your prompts, asking for particular kinds of observations or recommendations. With AIs help, you can map out your own universe of awesome. As you scout out gaps in your reading or movie watching, you can discover authors and films that expand your horizons. Start by gathering your favorites You need to provide an AI assistant with a list of at least 10-15 titles that resonate with you for meaningful insights; 30+ is better. Here are the fastest ways to gather them. Physical books or DVDs: snap a photo of your bookshelf. AI can read the titles. Or write a list of titles on paper. AI assistants can read handwriting surprisingly well. Digital readers: refer to your Kindle library, your read shelf on Goodreads, listen history on Audible, timeline on Libby, or any doc or spreadsheet you maintain with your favorites. Streaming: Apps like Likewise, Sofa, Listy, Listium, Letterboxd, Trakt, and Reelgood let you compile lists of favorites. You can use those collections to train your AI assistant. Use your voice: If talking jogs your memory, use conversation mode in ChatGPT, Claude, Googles Gemini, or Microsofts CoPilot. Let the AI interview you about your favorite books or movies. Scan award lists: If you cant think of favorites, check a list of Oscar-winning movies or book awards for reminders of what youve enjoyed. Criteria: Consider titles you often revisit or recommend. Include recent favorites and older resonant ones. Give extra weight to those that provoked emotion, changed your perspective, or prompted action. Ideally, note not just the title but one or more aspects of a work that particularly resonated. Prompt AI to analyze your list Once you’ve compiled your list, use your preferred AI tool to uncover patterns in your literary tastes. Prompt the AI assistant for insights to advance your self-understanding. After that, ask it to help you discover more books/movies you’ll love. Start by writing a detailed prompt to elicit a thorough, subtle analysis of your taste in books or movies. Heres an example you can adopt or adapt: You are a perceptive literary critic and cultural analyst with deep knowledge of literature across genres and cultures. Carefully analyze the attached list of my favorite books for patterns. Think deeply about connections between titles and topics that might not be immediately apparent. Where you notice interesting patterns, explain your reasoning and cite specific examples. Please analyze this list of my favorite books. Create a detailed literary taste profile that identifies: Core Elements: Primary themes and topics Genre preferences and style patterns Narrative approaches and structure choices Character types and relationships Tone and emotional range Upload a file with your list or paste it. Which AI tool to use? ChatGPT 4o worked well for me in importing Google Docs and PDFs with my favorites. Its analysis and recommendations were nuanced and helpful. Limitation: Occasionally, it suggested authors who were already in my existing lists, despite being prompted not to. Claude Pro provided an excellent overview of the kinds of books Ive selected for the book group I facilitate over the past eight years. It helped identify gaps in our reading list and offered useful suggestions for future titles. Limitation: Some documents I tried to import, like my Readwise reading highlights, were too large to fit in a Claude Project I created for my taste atlas. Gemini 2.0 Experimental Advanced, Googles newest model, was an excellent voice partner in analyzing my current reading interests. Limitation: 2.0 couldnt yet import documents, but Gemini 1.5 could. It helpfully analyzed the Google Doc with my complete Readwise Highlights archive. Use either free or premium AI tools for this analysis. For long book lists or extensive highlights, use a pro model for nuanced analysis. Expand your taste horizons Once an AI tool has analyzed your book or movie preferences, prompt it to suggest new authors and titles. Ask about specific connections between the titles you liked and its recommendations, so you understand the rationale. Cultural leaps: Ask AI to identify authors who write like your favorites but in different languages or cultures. Whats missing? Try a prompt about negative space what authors, titles, topics or genres are missing from your favorites. What notable titles might stretch your literary horizons?
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