You Can Either Focus On What You Can’t Do – Or What You Do Better Than Anyone Else

At New York City’s JFK airport, Zeynep Ton steps off her plane, volleyball scholarship in hand. She’s bursting with excitement – from her home in Turkey, her dream of studying in the United States is finally coming true. 

Just one problem; at the time, Zeynep didn’t speak a word of English. 

Communicating even the simplest of needs proved difficult. Ordering food, introducing herself to new teammates, and finding her dorm all felt like insurmountable challenges.

Zeynep started to worry that her language barrier might be too great to overcome.

Today, Zeynep is the co-founder and president of the Good Jobs Institute, as well as an author and professor at MIT Sloan School of Business. Needless to say, she overcame that language barrier. When I interviewed Zeynep Ton for episode 326 of the Disrupt Yourself podcast, she shared that the risk of coming to the United States shaped her entire life's journey.

Taking the Right Risks is one of the Seven Accelerants of Growth. It acknowledges that when you thoughtfully identify and take chances, you have more room to grow. A large part of this is being able to discern risk, comparing uncertain opportunities to figure out which one aligns with your goals. This is often done with input from trusted individuals in your life, like coaches, mentors, family, and friends.

By seeking the input of her coaches and mentors when considering a volleyball scholarship in the US, Zeynep was able to embrace the uncertain outcomes and take a chance in an area where no one else in her family had ventured before. By taking the right risks, Zeynep grew in ways her family – and Zeynep herself – likely could not have imagined. 

But it wasn’t just the right risks alone that allowed Zeynep to accelerate her growth. She also paired her risk-taking with a second Accelerant, Play to Your Distinctive Strengths, aligning what she does well with the available opportunities.

Putting her English fluency aside for a moment, Zeynep landed at JFK with a unique skill already in hand – her volleyball abilities, a strength she had already played (forgive the pun) to get the college scholarship in the first place. If Zeynep hadn’t differentiated herself early, she wouldn’t have had the room or capital to take that first calculated risk and buy the plane ticket.

By recognizing, valuing, and leveraging her greatest strength and then being willing to take the right risk, Zeynep Ton navigated this transition and built the foundation for her future success.

Although the language barrier seemed insurmountable, Zeynep took a page out of positive psychology – our brains magnify whatever we focus on. Instead of focusing on what she couldn’t do, Zeynep doubled down on what she did better than anyone else. It didn’t necessarily mean she’d end up a star volleyball Olympian for Team USA, but the stability her strengths gave her meant she was closer to her ultimate goal – creating good jobs and thriving communities. 

What risk are you considering right now? Where can you complement it with a unique strength?

What seemingly insurmountable challenge did you overcome to get where you are today?