A word of advice for new entrepreneurs

Before jumping into entrepreneurship, it’s important to gather as much wisdom as you can to set yourself up for success. We sat down with Stratos CEO Stacy McCall to find out what she wished she knew before starting on the path to owning her own business.

Early in Stacy’s engineering career, when frustrated over a seasoned veteran’s actions in the oil field, a manager told her, “Stacy, you can’t be right at all costs.” Throughout her professional life, she has experienced just how important that advice truly is. When building a business, teams and relationships, one cannot afford to be right at all costs. Leaders must understand the importance of building a firm foundation, which includes establishing a strong company culture that promotes collaboration, transparency and trust. None of this is possible if you focus on being right at all costs.

The key to accepting not always being right is to find humility in the fact that you do not always get it right. Being aware of this concept is one thing, but truly knowing and applying it is where wisdom comes in. At the beginning of Stacy’s career, she knew in the back of her mind that she couldn’t be right all the time, of course, but hadn’t yet grown wise enough to understand how it applied to her entrepreneurial journey. Wisdom is the application of knowledge, and that comes with time and practice, according to Stacy.

Have you struggled with wanting to be right at all costs? Could it be the reason you haven’t been as successful as you’d like?