Edge
Turning Adversity into Advantage
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4.4 • 16 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
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.
Customer Reviews
Fantastic book
I have finished reading the book and listening to the book. I loved it so much so I got both versions. This is a book full of valuable insights and interesting findings. Throughout the book, you will see numerous stories from her personal experience and research findings from a large array of scientific studies. What I appreciate most is the theory that Laura proposed to explain how preconceived biases might disadvantage people, and what individuals can do to mitigate and overcome such biases. The theory is compelling because she helps people understand their own agency, and the possibilities of growing and becoming better at shaping the social environment to their advantage. The messages from the book are incredibly positive and encouraging. At the end of every chapter, she listed practical advices, what she calls “edge principles” for how to enrich, delight, guide, and make effort.
It was interesting that I was reading Edge and another book “Grit” at the same time. I was initially puzzled by the two seemingly contradictory theories from the two books but eventually I figured that they are in fact complimentary. The book Grit talks about how hard work and mindful practice lead to success. The book Edge talks about what you need to know about the “plus” in addition to the hard work required for success. Given the tremendous research out there emphasizing hard working, Edge offers fresh insights into what extra we need to know and understand in order to achieve success. A truely insigtful book. Highly recommend