Describe five ways that you have human capital that is truly unique:
1) I am good at making long term connections and friendships with people in short periods of time. Frequently when I meet people I quickly form a connection with them which often leads to a long term friendship which is extremely useful for networking.
2) I am well-spoken and able to speak publicly and confidently relatively easily. I am able to speak in-front of a room with ease and explaining and describing ideas or asking for things that I feel I deserve or want have never been a difficulty of mine.
3) I thrive in group exercises. I thoroughly enjoy working with a group and problem solving with others. I am good at compromising and voicing my opinion in a respectful, polite yet stern and confident manner.
4) I am persuasive. I have work experience in sales and have always been persuasive. I am good at arguing my points and convincing others of my opinions or beliefs.
5) I am hard working. While being hard working is not a unique trait, staying level headed, being dependable and always working longer hours than my peers has always been a trait I take pride in. Many hard workers become consumed by stress and burn out, however my ability to maintain a level head and stay focused, calm and collected is a unique trait that I believe I possess.
Interview five people who know you best and ask them what makes you different:
1) Ophir (Best friend)-
Ophir is my best friend from childhood, while he lives in California now he and I still talk everyday. I was surprised that he thought my most different trait is my optimism. While I never really noticed it, I guess I do take things in stride and not let them affect me too seriously. To be honest, I am not sure how much this helps as an entrepreneur but I imagine it definitely has benefits.
2) Layla (Sister)-
My sister said that my work ethic is what makes me different. It seems as though while we were growing up she consistently would notice how hard I worked and motivated her to work hard. I did not really think I worked that hard when I was younger, but that is all relative and at the time I imagine what I was doing did feel and look like hard work.
3) Param (roommate)-
Param said that the trait that differentiates me is that I am fair. He believes that I am trustworthy and always will admit when I am wrong. This is something that is hard to recognize about yourself, even though I definitely try to embody those traits.
4) David (Dad)-
My Dad believes that the trait that separates me is my charisma. He said that I am good at making friends and making people feel important. He thinks that I am very friendly and social and it is very useful in business.
5) Carlos (roommate)-
Carlos, my roommate, said something very similar to Ophir. He said I am happy and optimistic and don’t let things slow me down. I am always focused on the present and future rather than letting setbacks get me down. He believes this is an excellent trait for business and very unique.
Reflect on the differences:
Overall, I think that what I said and what they said are very similar. I did not expect two of them to say my best trait is my optimism, but I suppose this is expected considering I am usually talking to them when relaxing rather than working. Most of them do not see me when I am working on group projects or private assignments and studying. However, I think that there are not many differences and they assess me very similarly to how I assessed myself. I believe this is a sign of self-awareness, which is a good thing to have. If I were to change my list, perhaps I would replace my persuasiveness with my optimism. I believe that persuasiveness could be shown in some of the other traits, while being optimistic and having the ability to overcome setbacks is very valuable and something I hardly realized I possessed.
Hi Ben,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed listening to your interviews and I would also like to say that I wish I was good at talking to a lot of people so kudos to you! I also found it very cool how I thrive in group activities, even though I am very hardworking sometimes it is hard for me to stay focused on exceeding as a team, because I am so individualistic. I definitely need to work on that!
Hi Benjamin,
ReplyDeletePublic speaking is a great characteristic to have, especially in terms of being able to pitch and deliver a business model many times, to many people. The same is true for liking and working well in group projects- as many assignments in careers and jobs require a collaborative effort among all team members. It is interesting to see that your interviews and your own perceptions lined up relatively well.
Hi Benjamin, I enjoyed reading your post and listening to the interviews. You a really good set of skills that make up your human capital and I think that they really make you stand out amongst others. I think that the skills of public speaking and persuasiveness combined together can help attain great success for your current business idea as well as at other points in your life. Also, optimism is really handy trait to have which can help you face challenges in a better way.
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