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Too often, we get stuck waitingwaiting for a boss, a higher-up, or even a partner to hand us the reins and tell us its our time to shine. But heres the truth: empowerment isnt something youre given. Its something you take. If things arent going your way, theres no one else to blameits up to you to make a move. If youre tired of waiting for someone else to recognize your potential or tell you what to do next, here are three actionable steps to take control and empower yourself today: Stop Asking for PermissionStart Taking Initiative Empowerment begins when you stop waiting for someone to tell you what to do and start taking proactive steps toward what you know needs to be done. Identify a recurring problem at work and propose a solution to your team or supervisor. Even if its not implemented, the act of stepping forward demonstrates your leadership mindset and builds confidence. Instead of waiting for your boss to address a gap in team communication, suggest implementing a weekly check-in meeting. Better yet, create a suggested communication matrix with specific questions to ask to ensure gaps are minimized. Taking initiative shows you care about the teams success and your role in it. This puts you in the best position to shine and to keep top-of-mind when positions or projects pop up that require your skillset. Remember that your boss most likely has a busy calendar with shifting priorities and mounting headaches, if you can make their job easier and alleviate some of their headaches, you will be the hero in their workplace story. Word will travel that you are resourceful. Cultivate Self-Awareness and Lean into Your Strengths Understanding your own strengths, weaknesses, and values is the foundation of self-leadership. You dont need your boss to define your roleyou need to define how you show up in it. This simple reframe will help you take back the influence that many of us give away. Spend 10 minutes each week reflecting on recent wins and challenges. What strengths did you leverage? Where could you improve? Use this insight to guide your actions. Also, assess how you feel at the end of each day for one week and note which job functions you were performing when you felt like you were succeeding and when you felt most stressed. That will help you pinpoint the best positions and functions for you. If youre naturally skilled at relationship-building, consider how you can use that strength to foster collaboration or improve team dynamics, even without being prompted. It will be those relationships that will get you through tough times and could prove beneficial when up for that next promotion too. Dont forget that you are the captain of your own ship and the chief navigator of your workplace and life experiences. You do not need to be the victim or bystander. Embrace Feedback as a Tool, not a Threat Empowered leaders view feedback as an opportunity to grow, not as a personal attack. Seek out feedback proactively, even if its uncomfortableits a critical step in refining your approach and building trust. Without this feedback, you will undoubtedly experience blindspots on your journey. Be open to feedback if you want to minimize painful mistakes. At the end of a project or meeting, ask a colleague or manager, Whats one thing I did well, and one thing I could improve? Listen without defensiveness and take actionable steps to improve. Younger says, We can choose to remove the clay that we place over our brilliance. She points out that being proactive about requesting feedback allows our brilliance to shine through. When receiving feedback that your presentations need more clarity, take a public speaking course or workshop to elevate your skills and demonstrate your commitment to growth. In this example, be sure to ask what specific areas of your presentation lack clarity. That way, you will not waste time on the wrong things. Often, people shy away from feedback, because they are afraid of what they might find. Those who are eager to go into the unknown of feedback and take in the good with the bad quickly discover the benefits. We cannot be our best and become more self-empowered unless we know where to smooth our rough edges. The good news is that we all have them. So, there is nothing to be ashamed about. Instead, look at the courage you display when you eagerly seek the feedback as a badge of honor. Claim Your Leadership Role Empowerment isnt a gift someone hands youits a mindset you cultivate. By taking initiative, leveraging your strengths, and embracing feedback, you build the confidence and competence needed to lead yourselfand, in turn, inspire those around you. Stop waiting for permission. Start leading yourself, and watch how others begin to follow.
Category:
E-Commerce
In an era where nearly everything we do carries a digital footprint, experts warn that our freedoms are increasingly under attack. But the average internet user can take steps to fight back against threats that range from mass surveillance to the decline of net neutrality to changes to the very architecture of the internet. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is calling on people to become involved in the nonprofit’s wide-ranging work at the intersection of technology and civil liberties. Last month, for example, it filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking transparency about DOGEs access to Americans personal information and has a petition for people to sign that will be sent to Congressional members. There’s such an important space for everyone to be involved in defending and continuing to advance rights, Nicole Ozer, technology and civil liberties director for the ACLU of Northern California, said during a discussion at the Fast Company Grill at SXSW. This is not a moment where we just have to crawl into a ball, this is a moment where we have to be aggressively using our entire toolkit to be doing what’s right for ourselves and our communities. Fighting for what people want is important, especially because many people may not appreciate the access afforded by the internet, added Alissa Starzak, deputy chief legal officer and global head of policy at Cloudflare. We sort of take it for granted, but now is a time when it’s starting to fall apart, and so really thinking about what we can do to sort-of make sure that doesn’t happen is going to be important. What’s scary right now One sign that Western democracies are moving closer to their versions of a restricted internet was the recent, temporary ban of TikTok, said Stan Adams, public policy specialist at the Wikimedia Foundation. As a precedent, that is not a great thing for Western democracies. The TikTok ban also raised important questions about who implements that type of banand how, Starzak added. People are going down into the internet’s architecture and they’re changing things so that they can limit access, and that is a very scary world if you think about the open internet as a good thing. Whats more, in a time when were all living incredibly digital lives, the ACLU is focused on ensuring that all of digital informationabout who we are, where we go, what we do, and what we knowis safeguarded and isnt weaponized against us, Ozer said. For example, the ACLU is working to pass laws to limit the use of geofence warrants so the government cant find out every single person who has been somewhere at a given timebe it SXSW, a protest, or a reproductive clinic, Ozer added. That is so scary, particularly in this current moment. Even age verification laws for certain websites, which Adams pointed out are ostensibly intended to keep children from viewing harmful content, also have implications for digital freedom. Thats because they serve as a partial block to people who don’t have a government ID, people who cannot prove who they are, or people who don’t want to submit a facial scan. It’s still a trend in the wrong direction, Adams said. Its just a soft way of saying don’t go there, which is bad for internet freedom generally. Why activism matters If Cloudflare gets pressured to block something, the company prioritizes transparency and tries to advertise whats happening so that people know, Starzak said. The reality is if you live in a democracy, you should care about these issues. Whats more, she said, there have been some victories that show the power of activismsuch as early-2010s opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), which the U.S. Congress ultimately decided not to pass that legislation. We all have a role to play, Starzak said. Adams and Ozer echoed this sentiment. People like the internet, we all use it, it’s a valuable tool for everyone, Adams said. And when we get upset about things that the government does or the companies do, we should speak out about that. Finally, Ozer emphasized that people have more power than they may realize, especially when it comes to issues people care about. Democracy doesn’t defend itself and laws don’t pass on their own, she said. We have to have the power as people to move those issues forward.
Category:
E-Commerce
Since the Trump administration took office on January 20, immense changes have overwhelmed business owners of all sizes. Perhaps most impactful are the tariff policies President Trump was touting before election and is now enactingtheoretically to prioritize American business, but possibly upending businesses of all sizes. As the founder and CEO of Percent, a private credit investment platform that has facilitated over $1 billion in financings for small businesses, I’ve had a front-row seat to how policy changes directly impact financing needs and capital access for small businesses across the country. Slated to go into effect before being postponed twiceand recently implemented on steel and aluminum imports, with more threats by the daythis back and forth has only added to the uncertainty facing business owners trying to plan ahead. The ongoing ambiguity is itself a major burden, leaving many businesses in a lurch as they wait to see whether to adjust pricing, inventory, and supply chain strategies. Trump has sought to throw 25% tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican imports, and double the tariffs on Chinese goods to 20%. Such action would heavily impact all goods shipped into the U.S. from these countrieswhich accounted for 40% of all imports in 2024mainly including oil and petroleum products from Canada, and electronics from China. The idea behind these heightened costs on imports is to push American consumers to buy goods made in the U.S. and encourage companies to establish their headquarters and operations in the country rather than outsource overseas. Trump has also said that these three countries havent done enough to stop the flow of fentanyl into the U.S., and these tariffs are a repercussion. Unsurprisingly Canada, Mexico and China are already retaliating with their own tariffs on U.S. goods, including a 15% border tax on coal and liquefied natural gas products imported from the U.S. Other direct responses include a 10% tariff imposed by China on American crude oil, and 25% tariffs from Canada on $30 billion of American goods including poultry and produce. Disruptions in the Near-Term Immediately, if the rest of these tariffs do go into effect, small businesses relying on imported materials from these three countries will see costs rise across the board. The U.S. sources nearly half of its foreign fuel from Canada, which will have a ripple effect for all businesses and consumers using any type of fuel. (Hint: Its almost all of them.) Pricing strategies take time to adjust and as a result, businesses will have to face cash flow challenges stemming from these higher costs, creating a strain on consumers with higher prices to help offset impacts. Small businesses will be hit the hardest, as they often lack the market power to fully pass any sort of price increase onto consumers without economies of scale. Inventory management will get complicated as businesses big and small have to decide how and when to allocate capital. Should they stockpile inventory before more increases down the line? Or minimize inventory to preserve cash? With the way things are shaking out, and big changes happening every day, theres no steadfast right or wrong answerespecially as the administration vacillates back and forth between implementing or rescinding the tariffs. Competition between businesses is also going to grow between larger companies (who can better absorb these tariff costs or negotiate alternative supply arrangements) and those who cant. These kinds of sweeping changes to operations take time, resources, and administrative skill to navigate, but this is all happening at the drop of a hat. Small business owners will need to navigate sourcing new suppliers, deal with increased paperwork and compliance costs, and decide how and when to use cash reserves to navigate these new regulations. Effects Down the Road These international tariff policies arent just going to have short-term effects on the global economy. If they stick around, its going to transform business models, market dynamics, and innovation across the globe. President Trump has offered a counter argument that tariffs are designed to help domestic industries as it pushes consumers to buy from U.S. brands but that has largely been proven to be incorrect. Historically tariffs have led to higher domestic prices across the board as imports become more expensive, thereby reducing competition, and subsequently causing prices to increase again as U.S. companies will be able to charge more. Were going to see forced supply chain disruption away from previously reliable partners, product reformulation to use different inputs unaffected by tariffs, and strategic repositioning in the market based on new cost structures. Requirements for investment will have to adapt to the new normal of trade flow. Market sectors may consolidate or close completely based on who can adapt or get acquired. Building relationships with domestic suppliers is going to become crucial, and barriers to entry for small businesses are only going to increase with higher initial capital requirements. Uncertainty will also dole out an economic toll, as investments stall while waiting to hear whats next. For small businesses in particular, this “wait and see” environment is more than an annoyanceit drains time, resources, and momentum. Each postponement forces owners to revisit plans, weigh supply chain shifts, and hold off on investments. The repeated reversals create policy whiplash, compounding inefficiencies and heightening the risk of missed opportunities. At the same time, we will likely see a faster adoption of automation and utilization of AI to offset input costs, and domestic alternatives to imported materials. This will create new business opportunities and potential market segmentation shifts as price pints change. These price point changes will have lasting financial implications, especially for small businesses. When tariffs increase costs for a small business that cant absorb the financial hike, the structure fundamentally changes. Typically this means increased capital requirements due to fronting inventory costs that they cant always expect their customers to cover with higher prices. Supply chain disruptions also cause larger inventory buffers, tying up more capital. These lengthened cash conversion cycles will affect not just businesses, but the institutions providing the capital, as well. Further Evolution of Banking Relationships Even further into the future, were going to see a shift in banking and investments from these tariff increasesand retaliatory effectswith Canada, China, and Mexico. There will likely be a shift from transactional to strategic partnerships; credit structure changes; alternative financing and risk management; and capital structure reconsideration (where businesses will have to reassess their balance between debt, equity, and internal funding to better weather prolonged trade disruptions) as the global economy adjusts. For small businesses, banking will need to be with institutions that understand their industrys specific tariff impacts. What this means for banks is that being familiar with international trade dynamics becomes a valuable competitive edge, and more trust-based, consultative relationships will become necessary with increased complexity. Many businesses, not just smaller ones, will also need to shift from short-term revolving credit to longer-term financing solutions to manage the extended period of adjustment these tariffs will bring. In fact, financing sources all together will change, and businesses might turn to alternate sources such as community development financial institutions (CDFIs) that offer specialized programming for trade policy complications. New approaches to financial risk, the increased need for documentation and compliance, and rethinking debt-to-equity ratiosthe entirety of approaching finances in businesses will be affected, potentially negatively. The one predictable thing over the course of this administration will be unpredictabilityand unfortunately it will likely be small businesses that will have to bear the brunt of this uncertainty.
Category:
E-Commerce
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