Week 7 - Ascend your Startup

I really enjoyed the flavor of the five decisions presented in this week’s portion of Ascend your Startup.  Ultimately, the entire section is grounded around a single topic – “How are you going to take care of your people?”.  It highlights some very important aspects of business culture and quality-of-life management needs that can make or break organizations.  Trust me, I’ve lived on both sides of this coin.



The first touch point asks how to inspire cultural collaboration?  That’s to say, how do you integrate company values and goals into a positive work culture that encourages collaboration, team-building and constructive relationships?  There’s an entire science behind the “How” here (think organizational behavior), but the importance is not lost through summarization.

The second consideration leans more toward something that feels a bit more specific to this day and age.  “How has your technology connected humanity?”.  Well, most of us have quite a bit of work to do in this arena, thanks in part to the COVID-19 pandemic – which the author describes as a critical factor.  

The last three decision-points are all very interconnected.  “How will you prepare for and handle adversity?”.  “How will you handle the loneliness factor?”.  “How will you take care of yourself?”.  All of these translate directly back to the question I asked in the first paragraph here – “How will you take care of your people?”.  This is incredibly complex, but at center, we need to understand and encourage work-life balance, foster collaborative culture, reward dedication, hard work and success (they are not synonymous) and integrate flexibility.


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