8 core beliefs that EVERY entrepreneur MUST learn from Mark Zuckerberg

I have just finished watching Zuckerberg testify in front of Congress and was struck by his conduct and attitude which are all guided by his beliefs. As a result of watching Zuckerberg I could see 8 vital beliefs that every entrepreneur MUST have.

Now, before we kick off let me be open and up front – I believe that Facebook is a powerful force for good across multiple areas including:

- Connecting people from all over the world enabling loved ones and relatives to stay in touch with one another.

- Allowing positive ideas, concepts and fund-raising attempts to be spread faster gaining significant momentum.

- Acting as a powerful HQ for communities, groups and businesses to engage with those that they love and serve and keeps individuals connected and supported.

- Enabling people to run businesses from the platform, to make money and to transform their own lives, the lives of their families and to give back in powerful ways.

- Providing a place of support and relief when disaster or danger strikes re-assuring us all that loved ones are safe and allowing the opportunity to connect individuals with much needed relief, such as, food, water, shelter to those who need it when danger or disaster hits.

FULL DISCLOSURE: It is equally important for me to disclose that I have generated $1millon+ in sales off of Facebook as a result of helping coaches, experts and change-makers to build tribe that shape the world.

With all that being said let’s dive into the 8 core beliefs that every entrepreneur MUST learn from Mark Zuckerberg

Creativity

The only way to build a successful business is to first identify a need. Zuckerberg saw a need at his University, a need to connect one another and, from his dorm room, he created the business that we have come to know as Facebook, changing the world in the way that it is today.

Successful entrepreneurs come from many different backgrounds and it’s easy for us to say that a business owners is successful because they already had access to money. It’s equally too easy to state that an entrepreneur is successful as a result of the determination that they discovered within as a result of not having money, such as Oprah. We can align ourselves to various behaviours, characters traits, experiences and backgrounds so that in our mind we decide we are not “like them”, the successful ones, because they are not like us and therefore we can’t be a successful entrepreneur.

Money or no money.

Tough upbringing or not.

Irrespective of colour, gender, sexuality or creed.

All successful entrepreneurs have one thing in common…

The saw a problem and they set about to get creative to provide a solution to that problem.

That’s it.

Self-Belief

But creativity isn’t enough.

How many people do you know who have had a “great idea” – to everyone around them, it’s a game changer, but they just don’t have the belief that they could make it happen.

Creativity without action is useless. Picasso could have been one of the greatest painters in the world, but if he painted his first picture and didn’t think it was good, did not persist then history would not know Picasso as they do today.

Mark Zuckerberg had the CREATIVITY to see a problem and the SELF-BELIEF that he could provide a solution to that problem.

Determination

Creativity and self-belief are vital. So is determination.

Determination to turn that idea into a reality irrespective of the hurdles that you may face.

Mark Zuckerberg has a lot to answer to, he has a mammoth task to bring about change and it’s a damn exciting one.

The Zuckerberg that I saw today was a character of steely determination. This is not a hurdle that he is going to give up on, this is not a challenge that he is going to back down from. Quite the opposite, Zuckerberg knows that WHEN he figures out this problem, this situation it will IMPROVE the concept, it will enable his original vision to excel and will result in him impacting the world in an even greater, more positive way.

In the life of every entrepreneur there are hurdles and challenges. The most successful business owners are those who don’t give up when the going gets tough but who rise above those challenges to ensure that their vision comes to fruition.

Acceptance

If we go into business thinking it was going to be easy, then we are na?ve, if not foolish. Lord knows I have been both of these!

When you build a global business from your college dorm you accept the fact that there will be hiccups, you understand that you will make mistakes, that you will hire the wrong staff, that all manner of problems will arise.

You don’t have to have created Facebook to experience these problems.

Every business owner must accept that there will be teething problems, news skills to master and areas of painful growth to experience, even when you are banging your head against a brick wall.

As business owners we must ACCEPT and even EMBRACE that we can’t see the road ahead. If we accept rather than wrestle with what lies ahead we will only excel.

Humility & Ownership

Most people, whether they be large companies, Presidents or shamed cricket teams, attempt to dodge the bullet when things go wrong, blaming someone else for the “mess’.

Zuckerberg has a showed nothing but humility in stating that he created the Company, that he runs the business and therefore he is responsible for the conduct, behaviour and resulting actions that have taken place.

Mr Z has had the humility to accept the errors that have taken place in his business and has taken ownership of the fact that he is the person to change them.

I see many business owners who get things wrong, who mess up, blame everybody else without humility and showing no ownership and when that happens it is the beginning of their own downfall.

Commitment

Zuckerberg has shown commitment to;

- His original vision to bring together the world in a positive way

- Ensuring that the problems within Facebook simply do not happen again.

When the going gets tough business owners lose sight of why they were in business in the first place, of the problem that the saw needed solving and they simply walk away. When we walk away from the problem that we originally saw, we give up not only on ourselves, but others.

The world has never been changed by people who give up but by those who show commitment to their vision, irrespective of what comes their way.

Trust

Running a business is damn hard.

Mark Zuckerberg dealt with the problems that his business has faced, head on and he trusted that the resolution will come good.

Having had significant negative media exposure, the criticism of many (even from those still using his free service, on his free service to complain about his actions), he trusted that everything would work out if he remained committed to these beliefs.

As a result, as Mark Zuckerberg spoke to congress with truth, honesty, humility and respect. Facebook shares soared 5% to the highest price that the shares have been in the last two years.

Running a business is damn hard but here’s the truth….

The current problems that exist in the world are only solved by those who are creative, who have the self-belief and determination, who have acceptance, humility and ownership and who trust enough to see that situation turn around.

One of these world changing entrepreneurs could be you.