Women Bring an Empathetic Skill To The Business World
Adam Strong
Adam Strong is without a doubt, the man to be talking right now in the world of business development.As an ultra-high personal productivity authority, a former elite athlete, author and entrepreneur, he has evidently mastered the art of productivity and high performance. I got the pleasure of speaking to him and asked him to tell us more about what drives him, the challenges he has faced, his future plans and more!
You’ve been named a ‘serial entrepreneur’ as you run five businesses.How do you keep the balance in your life while maintaining such high productivity?
The first word that Adam says after a moment of pausing is,“Focus”, adding, “I would say that focus is an important factor.” Adam adopts a segmenting approach to his time management, where his day is made up of thirty-minute divisions. “Allocating my time according to my priorities also helps a lot, as I make sure to put more time towards businesses or projects that need more attention at that given time.”
Leveraging was another aspect that Adam spoke to me about.“Leveraging people is a great aid, be it interns or staff to delegate responsibilities, because I believe that it’s important to empower and manage people in this way.” Adam told me that he also uses applications and programs for keeping track of what needs to be done as well as organisational purposes, as, he says, “it helps makes life easier.”
You are a great advocate for supporting women; can you tell us more about why you choose to do this, and the importance of this in today’s world?
“I think that women in business are often better than men. Women have great attributes and bring a lot of different skills to the business world. One of which is the empathetic skill, which is important, especially in business because it creates a human feel.This in turn then helps to grow trust between those relationships involved in the business, something that I believe is essential to the success of a business.” I learned from Adam that twenty of the top Fortune 500 companies have a fifty percent balance of men and women on their board of executives, and he then mentioned that if this support of women in business is good enough for these successful and most profitable companies then its good enough for him too and should be advocated!
What gives you a sense of purpose to live the life that you do?
Adam states that he is a very results driven individual, and that being able to get results for people gives him purpose. He is especially inspired by the idea of “helping people to become unstuck in business”. He told me that it gives him a sense of satisfaction to empower people who are struggling, that we all desire happiness, and that he keeps doing what he does for his family and clients.
You seem to have merged your love of athletics and health with high achievement in business.What advice would you give to those trying to find their passion?
Adam begins by talking about having clarity, and asking a series of questions that he says one must ask themselves.
“What is the goal?”
“What is it you want to achieve?”
“What is your purpose?”
He then continues on to stress the importance of conditioning your mindset on a regular basis.He personally reads personal development books for at least thirty minutes a day to help with this. Another essential point he discusses with me is learning from successful people, as well as always making sure that you do something that you’re passionate about. Building a team around him to help and being able to leverage off of each other’s strength has been important. “Do things with speed. Having a speed of implementation and just executing at a faced pace is very crucial”. Adam then concluded; “You should never chase the money, always have a higher purpose and you will reap the rewards.”
What advice would you give to women looking to pursue a career similar to yours?
“Be prepared- there will be ups and downs. When you’re down just step away, refocus and move onto the next thing, and when you’re up, keep going. Running a business is not an easy thing, and if someone has told you otherwise, it’s a lie.”
Perseverance was another key piece of advice that he mentioned, along with belief in oneself. Consistency is crucial to work smart and not hard and delegate your weaknesses and leverage people’s strengths. The final piece of advice he gave was on coaching; “Coaching is like oxygen, a very vital part for yourself and your team, as it creates this culture of growing all together.”
What has been the most challenging aspect you have faced in your career, and how have you worked through it?
Adam revealed that he suffered from the all too familiar mental struggle of transitioning from doing what you “should” be doing to doing what you want to do. The ways in which he overcame this challenge was through guidance and support from his coach, as well as having perseverance.Having a commitment to himself and his clients was a great driving force in overcoming this barrier, and most importantly, Adam said that he had to have a “belief in himself in what he was doing.”
Who has been your role model and has supported you on your journey?
“JT Foxx is a great role model. He has gone through a lot of hardships and seems to understand how a lot of people in business feel. Also, Jason Gilbert, my current coach. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be as successful as I am now.”
What plans do you have for the future?
“I am very excited that my consultancy company will be scaling up and recruiting new coaches and consultants, as they will then help more people and more businesses. I will be setting up business and health retreats, that will help business owners accelerate their results through the knowledge and experiences from other successful CEOs and coaches. I want to create further business opportunities through elite networking and partnerships. I would also like to advise and invest in more growing companies, so they can see higher returns and work with shareholders and investors to eventually exit, and to execute some plans that I have with my partner”.