You Are a Mogul: How to Do the Impossible, Do It Yourself, and Do It Now - Book Review
- Dr. Moria Levy
- 1 day ago
- 8 min read
The book "You Are a Mogul: How to Do the Impossible, Do It Yourself, and Do It Now!" was written by Tiffany Pham in 2018.
A mogul is a tycoon, an influential figure in the business world.
Although "mogul" is associated with wealth in its definition (as a tycoon), the use of this term in the book aims to mean being a trailblazer and having independent thinking that allows you, while maximizing your personal strengths and passions, to break through any glass ceiling and contribute to a better world.
The book was indeed written by a woman, from a feminist perspective, to empower women to believe in themselves and to provide them with tools to advance in the business world. However, I think it is suitable not only for women but also for anyone who identifies as a minority, and actually, for others as well.
The author unfolds her personal story, and in doing so, offers principles and action plans that led her to success and to the peaks she reached (among other things, including being one of the 30 most influential women under 30 at an early stage).
Main topics:
Spoiler—it's possible in 24 hours a day, but plan on sleeping a little. Very little.
I definitely learned from it. I recommend it to you as well, regardless of your gender.
Identifying Personal Passions
Identifying personal passions becomes possible when we find figures who inspire us and learn from their actions.
Identifying our personal passions is not always as simple a process as we might expect:
It requires that we not settle for the status quo and the comfort zones we find ourselves in.
It requires that we believe in ourselves and in our ability to reach far beyond what we ever thought possible.
It involves going through failures.
It demands pushing forward, even when we fail, without dwelling too much on self-pity and "licking our wounds."
Tips:
Don't get stuck; be flexible and open to change.
Invest more than required; much more; every time.
Identify existing opportunities; create additional opportunities on your own. Please don't wait for the perfect opportunity, because it won't always come. Remember that opportunities create defining moments that will help you leap forward much faster.
Be goal-oriented in your pursuit of identifying your passions; trust your gut feelings to know when you've arrived.
Self-Belief in Our Ideas
To succeed in being a "mogul," we must have our own ideas, ones that are meaningful and help advance the world. But... that's not enough.
We must believe in our idea and not be afraid to have an independent perspective; if we have a new idea, then there probably isn't another model to imitate with a similar concept—we need to be pioneers!
It's required that we be willing to voice our opinions, even if we assume not everyone will be enthusiastic.
It's essential to know how to deal with prejudices and objections that may be voiced, and not always in a gentle manner.
Tips:
We must not let our youth interfere with our confidence in the rightness of our path.
MBA studies can help build confidence in ourselves, as well as in voicing our opinions and creating opportunities to address and eliminate inequality.
Humor can be a tool for addressing objections based on age/gender, or any other inhibiting, stereotypical factor, and as a means of dealing with the "elephant in the room."
It's important and helpful to learn and practice public speaking and effective message delivery.
It's essential to maintain consistent messaging and communication that reinforces the message repeatedly. Ultimately, it will succeed.
Developing Skills Through the Workplace
Developing skills is an ongoing process, and one of the primary ways to advance them is through various workplaces.
From identifying passions (chapter above), it's possible to define the goals and skills that need to be developed to succeed in achieving them.
Choosing a workplace should address the central question: Which of the skills I don't yet have can I develop here?
This approach is less common, as workplaces tend to seek individuals with relevant knowledge, skills, and experience. We, as people, also tend to want to work in places where we can utilize our existing abilities—but such a perspective won't help us grow. It's better not to choose "easy" workplaces, but rather ones that will help us build another one of those skills we're missing to become a future "mogul."
And why would they accept us? There's no guarantee of that, but there's always flexibility. And we always arrive with some of the knowledge/skills/experience, so there's a good foundation to start with.
Tips for advancement within the workplace, and sometimes also as a springboard out:
Always do more. In every assignment, in every task, do everything they ask for—and a little bit beyond.
Adopt a fighting approach that doesn't give up until the goal is achieved, even if resourcefulness is required, effort is needed, and you must deal with challenges and obstacles along the way.
Discover the skill that makes us unique and will cause everyone to turn to us for help, leveraging our ability.
Be entrepreneurial and always suggest new ideas or new courses of action.
Ask for a promotion in the organization. If we wait for them to offer it to us, we'll wait too long.
Creating Connections
Creating connections with other people is a significant key to success.
Connections with Market Leaders
We need to make contact with our role models.
It's possible to send an outreach email to 50 leading individuals in the industry you want to work in, express interest in what they do, and ask to learn more about it. It's recommended to include in the email also an offer for a 15-minute coffee together at a location near their workplace or residence, with two possible convenient alternatives (call to action). At the end, it's advisable, of course, to briefly tell them about ourselves.
It's worthwhile to find a way to offer them professional help, unpaid, and outside work hours.
Professional help can be connecting them to another party, obtaining a business activity opportunity, writing, producing, or any other activity. Such activity can help us develop new skills (see above), generate interest (if regular work isn't exciting enough). Still, mainly, it serves as a basis for creating trust with that figure and a catalyst for advancing our personal development.
True—it's scary to leave our comfort zone and reach out to such people, but there's really no risk here. And if they ignore or refuse, don't take it to heart and move on.
Collaborations
It's right to leverage conferences, events, and shared activities as a way to create new connections and deepen existing ones.
We all know this, and Pham suggests a new approach: look in these connections for opportunities to create collaborations that can develop into friendships and, later, perhaps also into future partners.
Here too it's relevant to operate outside work hours (reminder—there are 24 full hours every day—M.L.), both in meetings and in initiatives and collaborations.
Don't wait for others' initiatives—you initiate and suggest that others join you. Everyone will benefit.
Additionally, collaborations and initiatives are also relevant for advancing non-profit organizations. Important for so many reasons.
Partners
We need partners. We should never fall into the trap of thinking we'll succeed in getting very far alone.
The world of partners includes:
Financial partners—investors
Business partners—for responsibility and company management
Advisory partners—including formal ones (advisory board), think tanks, or other consultants (paid and friends)
Task partners—employees
And influence partners—network influencers and others.
Partners give us a sense of security and help reduce the burden of carrying it alone. They serve as a support group. They provide answers to what we're less good at (and yes—there are things we'll always be less good at). They help create impact. In short, they help with success.
Sometimes it requires courage to ask people to be our partners. But, as it runs like a thread throughout the entire book, courage pays off, and it's another way to grow.
Launching Independent Business Activity
Reaching "mogul" status involves entrepreneurship and business activities that we lead.
Tips:
You can start from the bedroom at home; you can start as a side job beyond work hours. However, you need to recognize when the right time is to be courageous and turn the initiative into your primary business activity. It's advisable and necessary to trust in the passion and in the ability that the idea will succeed financially at some point. If not, we won't be able to take off.
When developing a new product/service, please don't wait for it to be perfect. Always release it to the world, even if there are additional ideas about what would make it "even more successful."
We can't afford a dedicated specialist role holder for each of the roles in the activity. We need to roll up our sleeves and take on additional roles and tasks ourselves—no task is beneath our dignity.
Start small and grow gradually. Don't invest financially beyond what we have.
Take the first business activities even at "half free." These activities will serve as a business card for us, allowing us to participate in future activities at full and proper payment, whether with this client or with others.
Work to get the most out of every day. Examine at the end of the day what succeeded and what less so, where and how investment is needed for tomorrow.
Managing a Values-Based Company
Business activity is implemented through a company. A company encompasses employees, tasks, and financial management, but it also encompasses organizational culture.
We need to create a company with a values-based organizational culture, where people will want to work, and we'll be proud to lead. Pham shares the values she chose to put at the center (and it seems we'll all identify with her):
Generosity, compassion, and understanding of the individual
No separation between personal and professional life—employees become friends
Maximum communication and transparency
Thinking outside the box
Collaborations and partnerships—across the company and with parties outside the company (Creating Connections chapter above)
Celebrating successes
The cultural fit of a potential employee with the company is important, and we should consider it as a key parameter in selecting new employees.
Marketing
We must market our idea/development/product/service/platform.
At every stage of development, at every opportunity, and to everyone we know.
For what purpose? For everything—we'll always need an investor, a partner, an employee, a client, a user, or all of them together.
How? When we market, it's advisable to—
Use the storytelling technique to describe the development of the vision and the aspiration to create something unique.
Connect to a vision with greater meaning than business success
Share data about success or usage that already exists
Create a (gentle) sense of fear of missing out for those who don't choose
Be enthusiastic; not just convey the knowledge
Be personal; share authentically about ourselves
The Personal Dimension
To become an entrepreneur and achieve success as a "mogul," you must be willing to make sacrifices.
First of all, you sacrifice time; a lot of time. Sleep less. Invest time simultaneously in both/and (e.g., eating and meeting at the same time, participating in both sports, and possibly also getting to work on time, and more).
Manage a packed daily routine of early rising, sports, connecting, food (don't give up—but you can combine it with meetings), office, collaborations, social events, and family, updating for tomorrow, and sleep.
Go with the flow with difficulties, but don't give up on functioning gracefully.
Don't be alarmed by "no." We need to be prepared to hear a negative response. Both because not everyone is interested, and also because they may not be interested in us, and also because sometimes the "no" is simply "not right now." Just move on.
Pham doesn't shy away from the problematic question of partnership and love. A true partner is one who also has dreams, is not threatened by us, and both partners are supportive of each other, pushing each other forward. We need to think with our heads and not just with our hearts, and ensure that our relationship indeed meets these definitions. If not, we should let go, even if there is love. Not easy, but necessary to move forward. Both professionally, but also personally.
To become a "mogul," we must be goal-oriented with meaning greater than ourselves (the "why" that drives us). And work hard. But it's definitely possible.
And remember: After we succeed, it's our duty to help those who come after us pave their way more easily.
The world needs us and our contribution. It's not just for us—our journey is for the benefit of the world.
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