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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Businesses, especially startups, are characterized by uncertainty. From the viability of a business idea to investors' decisions, as well as how users would respond to your latest product feature, you're never exactly sure what's coming. Externally, political, technological and competitive uncertainties are causes for worry as well. Studies have shown that uncertainties are constant in entrepreneurship, and a leader's ability to tolerate and manage them will greatly support the success of their venture. However, repeated exposure to high levels of uncertainty can send entrepreneurs into an emotional rollercoaster that could affect their self-image. Early-stage and first-time founders run greater risks of being broken by the twists and turns of rapidly changing business environments. More fascinating, though, is that some — especially serial entrepreneurs — are hooked to the uncertain...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Executive presence is an elusive but powerful attribute. Those who have mastered it command attention the second they enter a room. It seems effortless from the outside, but executive presence is the result of careful cultivation. Typically, executive presence is found in high-ranking leaders, but it takes more than title or rank to gain this influential attribute. There are many presidents and CEOs in the world, but few can match the presence of leaders like Ralph Lauren or Tim Cook, who wield disproportionate influence in the business world thanks to their charismatic, composed air. What is executive presence, really? We all already exude a certain presence, even if we're not aware of it. The way you dress, speak, write and interact socially all create a picture surrounding you that your peers pick up on. Those who have executive presence are intentional about their presence and tailor it caref...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Vitiligo is a skin disorder where patches of colored skin lose pigment and turn white. This cosmetic condition is physically harmless yet can cause "spotted" persons to stand out from the crowd. I've had vitiligo since I was 12. Beginning as a small spot on the side of my mouth, my mother thought I had forgotten to wipe away toothpaste. Now, at age 43, 35% of my body has lost pigment in various patches across my arms, legs and back. Most would think of this condition as disfiguring, socially debilitating and, quite honestly, depressing. Yet my success today has been guided by a journey to gracefully be different. Below are four reasons why standing out has led me to stand up as a stronger leader. Related: 4 Surprisingly Simple Ways to Stand Out From Your Competition 1. It's okay to feel lonely Growing up, I did not know another soul that looked like me. It was clear that people wou...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. I've observed an odd trend in company board meetings. Marketing and sales vice presidents will come in with charts, reports and finely-tuned data. The CFO will fire up a dashboard detailing every penny of revenue and expense. The HR chief will share hiring metrics down to the last employee. But when it comes to engineering, the lifeblood of any modern company, there's little data — just a vague sense of what's working and what's not. The reality is that engineering efficiency and developer experience remain a black box, even at some of the most tech-forward organizations. And inside that box lurk inefficiencies on an enormous scale. I've heard of big banks that employ tens of thousands of developers who are operating at 30% efficiency because of bloated processes and unnecessary toil . This is more than a waste of resources. Frustrated developers quit. Company payroll sags under t...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. The booming numbers of cybersecurity threats have compelled every C-suite executive and board members to pay closer attention to their cybersecurity hygiene. However, they don't share the same lens while watching their information security posture. And here's where a disconnect arises. A recent global survey of C-suite executives indicates that around 71% of board members have severe gaps in knowledge regarding cybersecurity and threats their organizations face. Whether we talk about data breaches compromising sensitive business information or exploiting consumer identities, executives and heads of information security (InfoSec heads) are already geared for the worst. But the senior management isn't sure why they need to spend more on their cybersecurity budget. While InfoSec heads often emphasize security and risk management as a part of their job, board members often link cybersecurit...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Everyone has dreams of being a CEO, so what is the difference between a mid-level employee and a CEO? Chances are, it is the traits that they possess. Whether you believe leaders are born or leaders rise to the occasion, several vital attributes repeatedly enable employees to rise to the top. Most people would like the number one trait to be experience and education because these two factors are within their control. It is satisfying to believe that if you work hard as much as necessary and continue to improve your skills, you will rise to the top — but that is not always how it works. Some of the most prominent tech CEOs of the 21st century are college dropouts, including Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs. This is not to say that education and experience are unimportant, but it demonstrates that while these tools can help you land a job, they do not necessarily help you conquer the tech wor...

Today's employees are seeking understanding, support and flexibility within their roles — and they will leave employers who don't give it to them. Here's what business owners and entrepreneurs need to know. https://www.tausiinsider.com/why-mental-health-and-well-being-should-be-your-top-recruitment-and-retention-priority/?feed_id=332986&_unique_id=6471d9f5c0e82

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Organizational structures have been a hot topic of debate in the business world recently, due in no small part to the events of the last few years. Many companies simply lacked the agility to respond to all the disruption. However, others were stuck in place as conflicting leadership decisions pulled them in different directions. These companies' chains of command got so bogged down that decisions began to slow and communication experienced delays. According to MIT Sloan Management Review, almost 40% of workers felt that the level of bureaucracy at their companies was especially problematic during the first six months of the pandemic. Employees also noted the stability of priorities (36%) and amount of red tape (34%) as hindrances to employers' abilities to respond to pandemic-related changes. Ironically, these impediments are the unintended consequence of successful growth. If you think abo...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. We live in times when personal development and growth have transformed into one of the most important topics that intrigue our minds. Together with establishing healthy self-esteem, proactivity and productivity skills, confidence has turned into a viral subject that interests virtually everyone who aims at elevating their personal development. In today's dynamic and competitive world, it's the confidence that enables us to showcase our strengths, what we are good at and what helps us stand out in a sea of individuals sharing the same passion. In the context of leadership and management, confidence certainly goes hand in hand with success. Anyone who expresses leadership aspirations should start working on their confidence levels — in the end, it's the fuel that drives our determination. Let's focus on confidence in leadership. Here's why it is so important to establish and maintai...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Economic headwinds and changing customer expectations after the pandemic have caused many CEOs to scratch their heads about how to get maximum value from their customer experience programs. Teams are held accountable for net promotor scores and desperately try to retain customers and improve the interactions, but many don't see the impact on their bottom line. Having been in this industry for 25 years now, I have seen a shift in customer expectations. Here's how you can ask a different set of questions to get beyond score chasing and demonstrate more empathy, how you can combine various metrics to measure how customer-centric your teams are, and three tips on how to combine operations, marketing and people performance to achieve more with less effort. Related: Are You Giving Your Customers Personalized Experiences? Here's Why You Can't Afford to Ignore It Any Longer. 1. Moving beyond ...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. I have built several businesses in my life, and my foremost task has always been to assemble a primary team to set the foundation for the main business processes. Skilled professionals that care about what they are doing and are dedicated to ensuring the success of whatever venture you're undertaking. After all, 80-90% of your business success depends on having the right people with you. Related: 10 Time-Tested Secrets of Serial Entrepreneurs Role delegation My first task when launching a new business is finding the "right" people so the team can scale in size and skill. My second order of business is to find someone who can handle the bulk of management for me. After that is taken care of, I can step aside and only get involved in strategic development as a founder. I went through this model several times in my life, and it has proved itself invaluable. Scaling a business from 20-30 em...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Life in business is a never-ending series of ebbs and flows. The moment we learn to surf one wave, conditions change and we must paddle furiously to catch the next. Change is a constant, not a single passing event. As leaders, we need to prepare accordingly. No matter how high the swells or how many times we get knocked off the board, we can't afford to take our eyes off the wave we're on or those looming on the horizon. Great change leaders know how to live in the present and the future, they know when it is and isn't appropriate to implement change, and lastly, they know how to embed change resilience into their organizations. Related: How to Become the Change-Enforcing Leader Every Company Needs to Scale Stay laser-focused on the now, but live in the future To be effective, leaders must learn how to distribute their focus between the present and the future. They need to be able to pour...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Inventory management sounds simple enough in theory, but real-life logistics can quickly become very overwhelming and complicated. The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the supply chain overnight, affecting everything from consumers' ability to buy toilet paper to a skyrocketing housing market. We're not completely out of the woods yet, but we're getting closer. But even if we aren't in the midst of a global pandemic, you can still encounter a situation that creates a supply chain nightmare. Inclement weather, trade restrictions, work strikes and geo-political events can all lead to inventory challenges for businesses. It's really a matter of when — not if — a supply chain problem happens, which is why it's crucial to prepare your business ahead of time. These six strategies can help you secure the inventory you need when facing a supply chain disruption: Related: Inventory Managem...

Elon Musk enters Twitter headquarters in San Francisco carrying a sink on Oct. 26. The Associated Press Goran Calic is an associate professor of strategic management at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business. It would be easy to characterize Elon Musk’s approach since taking over Twitter Inc. last month as rash, messy, destructive and unplanned. While such descriptions would be accurate, they would certainly not be complete. What we have been witnessing, in public and in real time, is a live demonstration of the way Mr. Musk runs a business. He has generally managed his other ventures very successfully – especially in terms of growth, if not always in terms of profit. Tesla Inc. continues to build factories and deliver cars and SpaceX rockets continue to supply the International Space Station with materials and astronauts. It’s important to keep two things in mind while following the Twitter drama: The company was already in serious trouble and Mr. Musk’s style, though vol...

Most of us work with a jerk—toxic people who seem hellbent on making our lives, well, hell. But here's the good news: You don't have to be completely beholden to their poisonous ways. It turns out toxic coworkers often operate by the same tired playbook. And once you identify and understand what type of work jerk you're dealing with, you'll have more ammo to neutralize them. In her book, Jerks at Work: Toxic Coworkers and What to Do About Them , NYU psychology professor, Tessa West, lays out some of the most common archetypes of toxic coworkers and then offers strategies for confronting them and taking back your peace of mind. Here are four common foes. Related: 12 Ways Successful People Handle Toxic People 1. The Kiss Up/Kick Downer These poisonous people have one singular goal: "To climb to the top by any means necessary," West says. Kiss Up/Kick Downers (KUKDs) operate strategically. They mistreat or sabotage the people on their level or belo...