Turning Adversity To Advantage

Laura Huang, an award-winning Harvard Business School professor, shows that success is about gaining an edge: that elusive quality that gives you an upper hand and attracts attention and support. Some people seem to naturally have it. Now, Huang teaches the rest of us how to create our own from the challenges and biases we think hold us back, and turning them to work in our favor. How do you find a competitive edge when the obstacles feel insurmountable? How do you get people to take you seriously when they're predisposed not to, and perhaps have already written you off? Laura Huang has come up against that problem many times--and so has anyone who's ever felt out of place or underestimated. Many of us sit back quietly, hoping that our hard work and effort will speak for itself. Or we try to force ourselves into the mold of who we think is "successful," stifling the creativity and charm that makes us unique and memorable. In Edge, Huang offers a different approach. She argues that success is rarely just about the quality of our ideas, credentials, and skills, or our effort. Instead, achieving success hinges on how well we shape others' perceptions--of our strengths, certainly, but also our flaws. It's about creating our own edge by confronting the factors that seem like shortcomings and turning them into assets that make others take notice. Huang draws from her groundbreaking research on entrepreneurial intuition, persuasion, and implicit decision-making, to impart her profound findings and share stories of previously-overlooked Olympians, assistants-turned-executives, and flailing companies that made momentous turnarounds. Through her deeply-researched framework, Huang shows how we can turn weaknesses into strengths and create an edge in any situation. She explains how an entrepreneur scored a massive investment despite initially being disparaged for his foreign accent, and how a first-time political candidate overcame voters' doubts about his physical disabilities. Edge shows that success is about knowing who you are and using that knowledge unapologetically and strategically. This book will teach you how to find your unique edge and keep it sharp.

Laura Huang, a preeminent Harvard Business School professor, shows that success is about gaining an edge: that elusive quality that gives you an upper hand and attracts attention and support. Some people seem to naturally have it. Now, Huang teaches the rest of us how to create our own from the challenges and biases we think hold us back, and turning them to work in our favor. How do you find a competitive edge when the obstacles feel insurmountable? How do you get people to take you seriously when they're predisposed not to, and perhaps have already written you off? Laura Huang has come up against that problem many times--and so has anyone who's ever felt out of place or underestimated. Many of us sit back quietly, hoping that our hard work and effort will speak for itself. Or we try to force ourselves into the mold of who we think is "successful," stifling the creativity and charm that makes us unique and memorable. In Edge, Huang offers a different approach. She argues that success is rarely just about the quality of our ideas, credentials, and skills, or our effort. Instead, achieving success hinges on how well we shape others' perceptions--of our strengths, certainly, but also our flaws. It's about creating our own edge by confronting the factors that seem like shortcomings and turning them into assets that make others take notice. Huang draws from her award-winning research on entrepreneurial intuition, persuasion, and implicit decision-making, to impart her profound findings and share stories of previously-overlooked Olympians, assistants-turned-executives, and flailing companies that made momentous turnarounds. Through her deeply-researched framework, Huang shows how we can turn weaknesses into strengths and create an edge in any situation. She explains how an entrepreneur scored a massive investment despite initially being disparaged for his foreign accent, and how a first-time political candidate overcame voters' doubts about his physical disabilities. Edge shows that success is about knowing who you are and using that knowledge unapologetically and strategically. This book will teach you how to find your unique edge and keep it sharp.

From the world’s foremost blind athlete and a Harvard Business School lecturer comes an inspiring, seven-step program for converting both mundane and dramatic struggles into the kind of fuel that spur personal and professional greatness. Adversity is one of the most potent forces in life. It shapes your character, clarifies your priorities, and defines your path. It can also fuel your greatness. Each of us faces a rich assortment of adversities every day, ranging from minor hassles to major setbacks and challenges, even tragedies. Nobody knows this better than blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer and adversity expert Dr. Paul Stolz. In this exciting new edition of The Adversity Advantage, this dream-team joined forces to offer incredible experiences and practical science to teach you how to turn life challenges into a powerful advantage. Weihenmayer, who is the only blind person to climb Mount Everest and the Seven Summits, shares his struggles on high mountains to turn adversity on its head and do the impossible. Coauthor Stoltz has spent decades decoding the human relationship with adversity and is the creator of the globally acclaimed Adversity Quotient. Fully revised and updated, this new edition of The Adversity Advantage offers lessons from real-life adventure, seemingly insurmountable challenges, and extensive research to help you achieve greatness. This unique book provides an exciting and insightful framework for surpassing obstacles and reaching higher goals. Its seven proven principles will help you harness the adversity in your life and turn it into agility, innovation, energy, and happiness: · Take it on! · Summon your strength · Engage your core · Pioneer possibilities · Pack light, pack right · Suffer well · Deliver greatness, every day Let The Adversity Advantage inspire you to overcome obstacles, no matter how daunting!

Leaders are no strangers to challenges; in recent years, businesses have experienced unprecedented layoffs, dismal sales, dwindling retirement accounts, and the bankruptcy of once-heralded institutions. While these uncertain times are difficult, they also provide the opportunity for great leadership. Over three decades of research, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, the bestselling authors of The Leadership Challenge, have asked thousands of leaders to describe their personal leadership best. Across the board, people say their greatest moments arise out of the most difficult periods of their careers. Turning Adversity Into Opportunity reveals how leaders at any level can transform difficult circumstances into opportunities for growth and success. Kouzes and Posner offer a clear set of six actionable strategies, showing how extraordinary leaders navigate through uncertainty, hardship, disruption, transformation, transition, recovery, new beginnings, and other significant challenges. Exemplary leadership disrupts the status quo, and Kouzes and Posner show how to awaken and pursue new possibilities and opportunities, no matter what the circumstances. Wherever you find yourself in your organization or community, Turning Adversity Into Opportunity will help you embrace the chance within any challenge to make a real difference.

Sometimes you feel like you're in a boxing match with life and adversity is trying to knock you out? You are constantly knocking on doors looking for opportunities, but no one is answering. You feel like there has to be more to life than just existing, but the lack of confidence and the fear of rejection is holding you back. This book is to help not just students, but anyone who reads it believe in themselves and understand that nothing worth having is going to come easy. However, if you push through adversity and embody certain traits you too can excel to higher heights. In this powerful book, Raven passionately dives into her journey sharing glimpses of rejection and failed pursuits and how for her confidence, perseverance, and belief in God kept her pushing through difficult challenges. Regardless of age, every student aspires to be great and successful in life. Through a high powered lens, this book captures the importance of how the power of being underestimated and counted out really works in your favor and how confidence and affirmations will help you rise above your fears. This book opens the door to practical techniques and principles that Raven embodied and since seen major improvements in her life. It also gives insight to inspiring stories of some of the world's most esteemed figures and how they went from being counted out to counted in.If every student reads this book thoughtfully and persistently practicing these principles, they too can experience an amazing change in their life.

Praise for Adversity Quotient. "With AQ, Paul Stoltz has done something remarkable: He synthesizes some of the most important information on how we influence our own future and then offers a profound set of observations which teaches us how to thrive in a fast-changing world!"-Joel Barker, President, Infinity, LTD, author of Paradigm Shift. "Adversity Quotient will show that you have more control over events than you think. The key is changing your beliefs. Believe it or not, that can usually be done in One Minute." -Ken Blanchard, co-author, The One Minute Manager. "Paul Stoltz's AQ explains why some people, teams, organizations, and societies fail or quit, and how others in the situation persevere and succeed. With this book, anyone or or organization can learn to reroute their AQ and hardwire their brain for success." -Daniel Burrus, author, Technotrends. "AQ is one of the more important concepts of our time. Paul Stoltz's book provides the direction and tools necessary for putting this idea into practice. It is a must read for anyone interested in personal mastery, leadership effectiveness and/or organizational productivity." -Jim Ericson, Program Director, The Masters Forum.

#1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller The Obstacle is the Way has become a cult classic, beloved by men and women around the world who apply its wisdom to become more successful at whatever they do. Its many fans include a former governor and movie star (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a hip hop icon (LL Cool J), an Irish tennis pro (James McGee), an NBC sportscaster (Michele Tafoya), and the coaches and players of winning teams like the New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Chicago Cubs, and University of Texas men’s basketball team. The book draws its inspiration from stoicism, the ancient Greek philosophy of enduring pain or adversity with perseverance and resilience. Stoics focus on the things they can control, let go of everything else, and turn every new obstacle into an opportunity to get better, stronger, tougher. As Marcus Aurelius put it nearly 2000 years ago: “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” Ryan Holiday shows us how some of the most successful people in history—from John D. Rockefeller to Amelia Earhart to Ulysses S. Grant to Steve Jobs—have applied stoicism to overcome difficult or even impossible situations. Their embrace of these principles ultimately mattered more than their natural intelligence, talents, or luck. If you’re feeling frustrated, demoralized, or stuck in a rut, this book can help you turn your problems into your biggest advantages. And along the way it will inspire you with dozens of true stories of the greats from every age and era.

Most people see trouble as something negative and seek to avoid it whenever possible. But what if it’s those troubles that actually lead to greater blessing and purpose? In The Blessing of Adversity, a retired U.S. Navy admiral and the 62nd chaplain of the U.S. Senate distills the wisdom gained from thirty years as a counselor, theologian, and psychologist. Barry Black offers a blueprint for removing the sting of life’s trials, showing us how to let God use our pain for his glory by blessing others—and how that can actually help heal our own pain. Drawing on Scripture and his own experiences as a counselor and chaplain to some of the most powerful people in the world, Black teaches us how to deal with seasons of God’s apparent silence, offers techniques for staying encouraged in the middle of life’s storms, and shows how to find advantages in adversity.