Masterclass: Transforming Adversity into Competitive Edge
How your weaknesses and negative perceptions can be your strengths
Dr. Laura Huang, the author of Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage, suggests that each of us has the power to control how we are perceived by others even when those perceptions are rooted in bias. After studying hundreds of Olympians, corporate executives and entrepreneurs including the likes of Elon Musk, Dr. Huang has put forward a three-pronged approach to flip stereotypes and perceptions.
First, figure out your unique edge and learn to surprise your stakeholders. Working hard isn’t enough. We need to learn to add specific value to our stakeholders and add an element of surprise/delight to our endeavors. This begins by knowing ourselves and understanding what we bring to the table.
Second, deliberately guide assumptions about your worth. Dr. Huang has studied the venture capital (VC) space and found a wide range of uncomfortable truths. Women receive only 2% of venture funding, attractive men get funded far more than unattractive men and people with non-standard accents have a particularly hard time getting VCs to back them.
While it is illegal to discriminate based on gender, race or accent, VCs subconsciously justify their funding choices based on intangible aspects like networks, interpersonal influence, political capital etc. These are the things that minorities, women and people with accents tend to be rated the lowest on.
When encountering such meetings or situations, one must address the elephant in the room upfront by providing specific examples of overcoming perceived negative biases. This needs to be done tactfully, at the appropriate time and in a benign way.
Third, help people see your future potential. When people make snap judgments, it is never based on a static quality. They project where we are likely to be in future, form a perception and figure how to react. This instant cognitive calculus matters because most people take important decisions based on snap judgments. That is why it is critical that we guide people, especially those unfamiliar with us, about who we are, how we will add value to them and what our growth trajectory will look like.
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