The strangest career advice that actually works, from 300 entrepreneurs

The strangest career advice that actually works, from 300 entrepreneursThe strangest career advice that actually works, from 300 entrepreneursThree years ago I starteda startup podcastbecause I thought founders were crazy. Why would a sane person willingly endure such intense risks? Part of my curiosity welches personal As a recent college grad just setting out to navigate the workforce, I wanted to understand how they coped withlevels ofuncertainty that felt to me, anyway, like a bag of bricks on my chest.More than300 interviews later, Ive learned that the most successful entrepreneurs real strengths arent necessarilytheirproduct visions or executional abilities. Those certainly matter, but their habits and mind-sets might carry even moraweight. And as Ive discoveredthrough all myconversations, those arent always what you might expect them to be. Here are four of their best, yet counterintuitive, bitsof advice.1. Specialize in more stuff than you think you have toWhen Packagd founde r and Kleiner Perkins partnerEric Fengseeks inspiration, he looks to tennis legend Roger Federer. The thing I love about Federer is that there is nothing he doesnt do well, Feng told me. He plays on all surfaces. He can serve, volley, hit a strong forehand and backhand. That observation has inspired Fengto develop skills outside his cut-and-dried job descriptionas a technical founder and the former CTO at Hulu and Flipboard.I dont want to have a weaknesssomething I have to avoid because I cant do it, he says. My day job at Flipboard was leading the engineering team, but I think the biggest contribution I made was working as an account manager on our Samsung partnership, which he notes was a much more specialized undertaking.RelatedFive Habits Of The Most Creative EntrepreneursFounders are eventuallyadvised to stop wearing so many hats, to delegate so they can spend more time making strategic decisions. But Feng has never stopped immersing himself in new fieldsidentifying skill sets he lacks and devising clear plans to develop them. That may seem like a misuse of energy, but hes found ithas realhidden value.Its particularly important to be an all-court player in startups because you never know how your company will change or where the biggest opportunity will lie, Feng explains. Thats not just a temporary, early-stage thing, he believes, its a key part of the overall experience. If youre only specialized in one domain, you might miss it.So rather than sitting in on a design meeting, mock up a design and present it. If youre trying to make some strategic decisions about your companyscustomer support, respond to support emails for a month. The goal isnt toobservea skill. Its to practice it enough so, that if needed, you can perform it.2.Share what makes you tick, then have your team do the sameSince her founding days at Gilt, Fitz cofounder and former Glamsquad CEO Alexandra Wilkis Wilson has kept going back toone key exercise with her team Everyone completes the statement, Heres what you need to know about me to influence me . . . Its a trick she learned from executive coach Barry Carden for creating an opportunity to share professional pet peeves with one another and say, Look, if we are going to work together this is what you need to know This is what I respect. This is what drives me nuts. This is what I will deliver, to you and what I expect you to deliver in return.A companys cultural values usuallydictate what successful communication looks like. But thoserarely get deep or personal enough to expose what employees actuallydislikeabout their work experiences or personal interactions. And as Wilkis Wilson sees it, addressing those head-on isthe greatest way to decrease friction. When youre working in a high-stress environment you have to be honest with each other, shesays. You cant make assumptions, because everyone is coming from a different place.Try this exercise with your team and start with your own statement. Urge everyone to be as honest and descriptive as possible. It may feel uncomfortable at first, but it might be a great way to promote trust andcollaboration faster.Related8 Entrepreneurs On The Magic Moment When They Knew Their Startup Had Made It3. Forget your competitionCompetition doesnt matter, Andy Rachleff, who cofounded both the fintechcompanyWealthfront and the VC firm Benchmark Capital, told me. The only way to win is to delight the customer. You cant better delight the customer by paying attention to your competition.Its human nature to think about competitors, so as a leader it can be hard to get your team to switch their focus. Butthe next time your competitioncomes up, Rachleff advises shiftingthe conversation toward a concrete action you can take to improve your product.Since Rachleffs return as CEO last November, Wealthfront has aimed to widenthe gap with itscompetitors by launching seven new features, with aneighth forthcoming, he explains, not to mentiona complete brand redesign. Accor ding to Rachleff, clients responded by depositing more money and referring friends to the service, leading Wealthfront to see about $12 million a day in new capital.As a leader, it is imperative that you help your followers understand that reacting to your competition wont get you to the leadership position. Youll only lose less quickly, Rachleff says. I love to joke that I come from the Ricky Bobby school of management If youre not first, youre last. You cant become first by doing a better job of what your competition does.4. Stop making things happenJennifer Rudolph Walsh is the head of the Worldwide Books Department at WME, where she represents authors like Oprah Winfrey and Sheryl Sandberg shes also the founder of an event series called Together Live. Youd never question her ability to get stuff done.I was so busy hustling, making thingshappenand making themrightin my 20s and 30s. Then, in my 40s, Rudolph Walsh says, I discovered this magical place of making things happen and th enlettingthem happen. Thats the secret space for me Trying a little easier. Listening a little more. elend rushing to get to the end of the story or control the outcome. Just living inside of it.This state of mind can feel unrealistic managing a team and hitting deadlines. It might strike some entrepreneurs as too passive or laid-back. But as Rudolph Walsh sees it, it isnt a mandate to leave things to chance. Its a conscious decision to make room for serendipity, revealing opportunities that are right in front of you buthidden by tunnel vision.Without this mind-set, she explains, its a lot harder to turn small ideas into meaningful outcomes. As a result of the work Ive done around this, Im as happy as Ive ever been, Rudolph Walsh explains. The level of peace I can have in the middle of a storm amazes me.Jenna Abdou is the host and producer ofBeyond the Headlineat33voices,a podcast where founders and investors share their stories and highlight the tactics they use to build industry-c hanging companies. Jenna also works closely with startups and venture capital firms to produce unique content series in addition to writing about startups, consumer trends, and women in business.This post originally appeared on Fast Company.