Transcription
And you know, one of the main components of success is not intelligence, not charisma, not level of education, and not even the starting opportunities a person came with. All of this can help, but it's not what decides. What really decides is the inner attitude, how a person relates to themselves, to growth, to difficulties, to feedback, to moments when nothing works out for them. Today, it's exactly about this. Let's go. But first, allow me to introduce myself and explain why I'm sharing this with you at all. My name is Vera Tkach. I am an entrepreneur, investor, and founder of the Inovi Academy. 19 years ago, I moved alone from Belarus to the USA with 100 dollars in my pocket and grew to be among the top 2% wealthiest people in the USA. I graduated from a top MBA, then worked for 14 years at McKinsey, the most respected business consulting firm in the world, with the top executives of the largest businesses. These were dozens of projects, thousands of hours in an incredibly intensive environment of growth, decisions, and stakes. And today, I want to talk about one most crucial principle that I definitively strengthened at McKinsey. And how it applies to everyone who wants to grow and take from life. That's it. Let me tell you a little about McKinsey. It's a unique place. It's like serving in special forces for minds. An environment where the bar is incredibly high. And the workload is such that every day you feel like your habits, patterns, reactions, and thinking are literally being torn apart. Because you have extraordinary clients, CEOs and their teams from the most significant businesses in the world with their ambitions and complex questions that, for some reason, their teams are unable to solve. There is no possibility of staying the same there. And that's precisely why growth happens quickly, but not for everyone. McKinsey operates on the up-or-out principle, meaning you either grow or you leave. And in this culture, there was one question that we always discussed within the team or during annual employee performance reviews, especially when we saw someone not coping or stuck. We didn't ask if he or she was smart enough, what their diploma was. We always asked, does this person have the right attitude? And the second question: can they be helped? That is, does this person have that very inner vector that allows them to move forward, even when it's tough? That person could be anyone. I'm sure this question was asked about me too, and quite possibly more than once, and that's normal. What is this attitude? It's not about ambition and not about wanting to appear successful. It's the readiness to grow, to go into the unknown with openness and readiness to overcome. Readiness to hear uncomfortable feedback about yourself and not get defensive. Readiness to actually change, not pretend. Readiness to rebuild habits, change your approach, admit that you need to keep working on something. While not losing yourself and your uniqueness. Plus, not breaking from all of this, but becoming even stronger. Let's be honest, we've all gone through stages in life when we wanted to quit everything, when you're not sure you'll cope, when you have almost no strength, when it feels like the key people don't understand you, that circumstances are against you. Or perhaps none of this happened, but we painted this picture in our heads. Well, it's precisely at these points that everything becomes clear. Who takes all of this and moves forward? And who gives up or shuts down? Who takes responsibility, and who resorts to explanations? Who is ready to go beyond the old self, and who clings to the fears and limitations of the current level? And perhaps lacks the muscle of curiosity to think, "Hmm, what is this situation trying to teach me? And if there's something here, and in the end, they stay in place." But here's what I definitely understood. Every new, uncomfortable, non-standard situation is not a hindrance, but an entry point to the next level. It's not always pleasant, but it's precisely through such moments that resilience grows, the ability to see more broadly, and to be better. I learned to perceive such situations not as a threat, but as an invitation to grow. Yes, sometimes I wanted to brush them off, defensiveness kicked in, but over time I learned to take a step back and ask, what is this teaching me? What is here for me? Where is my responsibility and where is my growth? I know for sure. It is precisely this approach that made me stronger. Not motivation, not ideal conditions, but practice. Again and again, choosing a position, being open to what comes, looking at the essence, not running away from feedback, not clinging to old patterns if they no longer work. And there is more in this than in talent. And there is a huge point of support. When you have lived through this, you will not roll back, because you know that strength lies in the readiness to learn, in the readiness to rebuild when needed, and in the ability to remain in growth, even when it's hard. And now the most important thing. As you've already understood, this works not only in the professional world. This is a universal principle for life in general and for any area where growth is possible: business, career, investment, relationships. It doesn't matter, each of us who doesn't stand still sooner or later finds ourselves at a point where our previous level is not enough. And there, this inner attitude, inner and outer mindset, openness to the world and to one's own growth, is what decides. And the main question there is: am I ready to truly grow? If you feel that you are stuck, spinning your wheels, ask yourself these questions. Can I listen to feedback without defensiveness, or do I immediately start justifying, proving, getting offended, or completely shutting down and staying silent? Can I accept feedback without losing my self-worth, but with the attitude that it is the best gift? Am I actually growing, or just thinking about it? Can I distinguish a call to growth from a dead-end situation that does not serve me and my long-term goals? Do I invest when it's not easy, or do I wait for ideal conditions? Do I want to be right, or do I want to become stronger? Add your questions. The answers to these questions are the mirror of your current growth potential. And it doesn't matter what you do, if inside there is this attitude that you are open and you will cope, that the world is not against you, but for you, you will move forward. As I say, forward and upward. Slowly or quickly, confidently or not, but precisely forward and upward, because everything else can be acquired: knowledge, experience, support, resources. But if there is no attitude, openness, and readiness to grow, everything else sooner or later stops working. I also want to mention what is very inspiring in my daughter's American school. In one of her classrooms, there is a poster that says that mistakes are just proof that you are doing something. And it is precisely such guidance that creates this very attitude from childhood. And it's also cool that the brain is neuroplastic. And this means that with desire and the right approach, and most importantly, attitude, you can always reprogram yourself. And it is precisely from such reprogrammings, like the attitude towards mistakes and so on, that this very vector is formed: not to be perfect, but to be ready to learn. Not to appear strong, but to become stronger. And if you feel this, you will never go back, because you will grow even when everyone around stops.