The Selfless and Selfaware Leader

Welcome to this week's edition of the Business & Entrepreneurship digest newsletter, a bi-weekly digest newsletter published exclusively on LinkedIn that highlights tips and strategies for accomplishing your career goals and achieving your entrepreneurial dreams and ambitions.

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This week, we focus on the importance of?selflessness and self-awareness in leadership and entrepreneurship.

Top Story of the Week

From Selfish Freelance Writer To Selfless Business Owner – Exclusive Interview With William Ballard

Introduce yourself! Please tell us a little bit about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.

First of all, being here is a pleasure and an honor. I’m genuinely humbled by the opportunity to share a little about myself. But most of all, I’m thrilled by the opportunity to provide some great value to your readers.

I was born and raised in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, but I’ve had the privilege of traveling to many different places. Traveling has always been a joy of mine. I enjoy going to new places and meeting new people. I now live in the cute rural town of Ada, Oklahoma.

When it comes to my passions, my first love has always been writing. I value learning, so I’m more than just an avid reader—I’m ferocious.

I’m also very passionate about real estate and photography. I operate a commercial photography business, but I also like to go out in nature and take photos of landscapes. It’s the perfect mix of art and exercise.

I also served in the military for a few years before becoming medically retired. I ended up breaking both of my hips, which ended my military career. Despite that, I always find great joy in being able to serve my fellow veterans and military personnel.

Finally, I am single, recently closed on a new house, and, more importantly, adopted a three-month-old Golden Retriever named Peanut.

Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.

To tell you the truth, quite a few pivotal moments in my life have contributed to my current state, but for the sake of time, I’ll just share one of the most important ones.

An English teacher in high school asked me a life-changing question, but I didn’t pay much attention to it back then. She asked, “William, have you ever thought about writing for a living?”

The answer was no back then because I was more interested in becoming the first Hispanic in the NBA. It wasn’t until I got into college that I found out I didn’t have what it took to make it to the pros—no matter how hard I worked or how many after-practice hours I put in.

It took some serious soul-searching to realize that that was not what I was created to do.

Around that time, an English professor asked me the same question the English teacher back in high school asked: “William, have you ever thought about writing for a living?”

That was when I began to think to myself that there must be something to this.

I started reading everything I could about the writing and publishing industry and journalism, and then I came across the beautiful world of freelance writing and copywriting.

It wasn’t long before one of my writing mentors gave me a little kick in the butt to pitch my first article idea to a publication, which happened to be a piece I wrote for Entrepreneur , and then that is when my whole world changed.

Read the full story HERE .

Tips and Strategies

How To Go From Idea To Monetization – 3 Stages Of Business Creation

In business school, you may have heard about the five stages of business development: ideation, startup, growth, expansion, and maturity. Today, I’m going to introduce you to what I refer to as the three stages of Business Creation.

That said, do any of you know what the highest-paid business activity is?

Some might say it would be sales or even marketing, but the truth is, it’s none of these.

The highest-paid activity in business is thinking.

If you’re unfamiliar with who I am, I’m mostly known for the phrase: “Dreamers fantasize; thinkers materialize.” That isn’t to say I’m against dreamers or against dreaming; quite the contrary. I’m a big dreamer.?

As you are about to read, the dreaming phase is a significant step of the business creation process. And to go back to the point of thinking mentioned above, Jordan Peterson said, “Dreaming is the birthplace of thinking.”

As a new entrepreneur, it’s probably hard to fathom what it would be like to enter a business's startup, growth, expansion, and maturity stages if you haven’t mastered the three stages of ideation, or what I am referring to as Business Creation.

Stage one: Business idea – Don’t be afraid to dream

Read the full story HERE .

The Self-Aware Leader – Know Your Strengths And Equip Your Team To Enhance Your Weaknesses

As a leader, I firmly believe that self-awareness is the cornerstone of building a solid team. You cannot give what you do not have, and you cannot add value to your team without first adding value to yourself. That said, my leadership success is primarily attributed to my acute self-awareness.

In his book, The Self-Aware Leader , John Maxwell said, “The single greatest obstacle leaders face in their development, effectiveness, and advancement is the lack of self-awareness.” He goes on to say, “When leaders don’t see themselves clearly, understand their strengths and weaknesses, or recognize their negative interactions with their team, they limit their influence and undermine their own effectiveness.” This understanding has enlightened me and empowered my leadership journey, and I believe it can do the same for you.

Moreover, it was Sun Tzu, in The Art of War, who said, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.” He goes on to say, “If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

That said, during a two-day professional development training session at a local university, some colleagues and I participated in Gallup's Strengths Finder assessment workshop. The following is what I learned about my strengths and how I apply them to my entrepreneurial pursuits.

Learner

Read the full story HERE .

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This newsletter is curated and written by William Ballard, MBA – connect with him here on LinkedIn.