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Strategic patience is the key to growth and long-term success in business. But what actions can you take today that will pay off now, and in the long run? In this week’s episode Dorie Clark, Wall Street Journal bestseller and renowned business coach...
Strategic patience is the key to growth and long-term success in business. But what actions can you take today that will pay off now, and in the long run? In this week’s episode Dorie Clark, Wall Street Journal bestseller and renowned business coach is here to guide you through a series of short-term decisions that will have lasting impact.
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3:05 - Thinking in waves
You can’t keep doing the same thing, and thinking that magic will happen. You need to prepare yourself for the next wave.
Start working on getting clients, but don’t focus on sales to the detriment of marketing. If you want to grow exponentially instead of incrementally, you’re going to need a plan to introduce yourself to the broader world.
5:42 - The importance of taking time to think strategically and allow yourself white space
The fact that few people take time for strategic thinking means that you have an easy competitive edge.
You don’t need a year in an ashram — you need just enough distance and breathing room to be able to ask yourself good questions.
8:08 - How to protect your white space without losing out on valuable networking opportunities
Early on, you are going to want to say yes to every invitation. But over time, you’re going to want to start saying “no” more.
Ultimately, your success is not judged by number of coffees, emails, or Zoom brain-picking sessions. It is judged by the projects that you create and put out into the world. So you need to protect that time and energy.
Pro tip: When someone asks for this networking time, ask for more information to weed out people with not-so-useful intentions.
11:41 - What should you focus on?
Optimize for interesting. Sometimes you reach a fork in the road with multiple good options — choose the most interesting one.
13:58 - Strategic patience
Dorie started her first online course in 2014, with the help of an outside partner. She approached it as an experiment, albeit one that took enormous effort.
Even though these initial courses weren’t highly profitable on paper, they provided her more times at bat. That learning curve allowed her to try things for herself, including her flagship Recognized Expert course which has brought in over a million dollars in the last five years.
17:50 - How to deal with setbacks
Dorie isn’t valorizing things taking a long time, but it is a reality that building something big often takes time.
Strategic patience is not passive patience. It doesn’t mean just waiting for things to take care of themselves. It’s about placing little bets, and watching what happens, then adjusting your plan based on the results.
It’s also good to remember that no matter what level you get to, you’re still going to face rejection and setbacks.
Too many people give away their power by assuming that the gatekeepers know what they’re doing. If 100 people tell you no, sure it might be a sign. But one person or a handful? You’ve barely gotten started.
22:35 - Reflecting on current success to adjust your future strategy
Recapping helps you think of the things you can control, and let go of the things you can’t.
Often the starting point is something small (reaching out to someone to meet up, saying one small yes), and it leads to a chain of events that end in success.
25:37 - Networking well
Dorie recommends Infinite Horizon Networking, which means networking with people who you have no expectation of helping you.
This is helpful in several ways
27:38 - In all of our busy, why is it important to focus on the long game?
There are small actions that we can take today that will make all our tomorrows better and easier. It’s not about making huge shifts, it’s about strategic change.
Dorie is an executive coach, a professor at Duke University, a key note speaker, and author (most recently of The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World).
Dorie’s Instagram
Dorie’s LinkedIn
You can also find more about Dorie, her work, and her courses on her website.
