Laura Huang | Find Your Edge: Learning How to Turn Adversity into Advantage

In Episode 125 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Harvard’s Laura Huang about her research into intuition and behavior as it relates to investing and entrepreneurship. Rather than focus on our shortcomings, Laura teaches us how to turn adversity into advantage.

The title of Laura’s book is an acronym that stands for four different words: Enrich, Delight, Guide, and Effort. The foundation of our edge, according to Laura, comes from our ability to provide value to and enrich those around us. Those who have an edge find ways to enrich and bring value to others rather than posturing about the supposed value they bring (we all know people like that). Those who have an edge, however, are also able to demonstrate and effectively communicate the value they bring, rather than leaving it up to others to guess. However, before we can enrich others, we have to be let in. Those who already have an understanding of how they enrich are most equipped to delight. Delighting isn’t synonymous with being charming or entertaining, or charismatic in the typical sense. And everyone has the power to delight. Delight can help pacify skepticism and misgivings. The third letter stands for “Guide.” When we know (and can figure out) how others see us, it gives us the capacity to guide and redirect that perception, so that we can influence how they grasp and appreciate the value we command and the edge we bring. Finally, Laura points out how “Effort” and hard work reinforce the edge that we create for ourselves. Sometimes it’s as much what we do as it is the effort that we put into not doing other things. Don’t be mistaken—hard work is critical. But ultimately, gaining an edge requires hard work, plus.

This is a great episode for anyone struggling with figuring out how to turn hard work into success.

You can access this week’s overtime segment, transcript, and rundown through the Hidden Forces Patreon Page. All subscribers also gain access to our overtime feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application. 

Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas

Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou

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