Do you Know Locus of Control? Its secret ingredient that fuels every startup’s growth

Here is a little story about locus of control, a success condition many people don’t exist.

I also I didn’t, but one morning chasing rabbits down internet holes while researching for an article, I bumped into these three words and didn’t know what they meant.

The curious me couldn’t let it go I had to let my hair down and chase this rabbit to its ultimate doom. What a chase it became! every new discovery led me deeper into the crevice. Deeper and deeper I dug, down information-rich tunnels I went, digging golden nuggets about locus of control.

Suddenly what had started as a curiosity was a full-blown obsession. That obsession led me to a discovery, the discovery was too good to keep to myself I had to share it with the world.

How Zoom founder’s success story relates to locus of control

But first, do you know that locus of control affects all of us, the 8 billion humans on earth? and it has the power to bury your dreams or to shoot your vision to the stars?

Eric Yuan the founder of Zoom may have known or not known about locus of control, but his story, one of resilience and never giving up, is a great identifier of what locus of control is about.

Born and raised in China, Tai’An City, Shandong Province, Eric had a burning desire to come to America, it was a dream he would relentlessly work on.

He studied in his home province of Shandong and got a bachelor’s and a Master’s degree. Then he got married at quite a young age of 22 years.

Between 1996 to 1997 Eric applied for a US visa but his application was rejected. He applied again and it was still denied, but he didn’t give up. he applied yet again and got another denial.

He would go on to apply 8 more times before he was finally granted the visa on his 9th application.

In 1997, he finally immigrated to the U.S. and started working in Silicon Valley as a software engineer at a young company called WebEx. It was at WebEX that he sharpened his skills in web solutions.

Ever curious to develop practical solutions he completed an MBA from Stanford Business School and was promoted by his employer to the position of Vice President of Engineering. He was in charge of running engineering operations. It was this position that would open him up for his future venture.

As years went by, he started thinking of starting his own business. In June 2011 that’s exactly what he did, after being with WebEx for 14 years, he left to incorporate his business, SaaSbee a web communication solution provider.

He had US$3 Million in seed funding from people who believed in his dream and had seen his raw talent. Amongst them was his former boss at WebEx CEO Subrah Iyar and Yahoo Co-founder, Jerry.

He started working on developing zoom, he did not want distance to be a factor in communication.

Zoom was going to be a virtual communication software that cut long-distance to nothing. People didn’t need to meet face to face or to communicate long distances to have a conference.

In 2012 he introduced Zoom to the world. Then 8 years on and boom! 2020 happened. The pandemic hit the world and everybody was suddenly on zoom.

Eric did not just become a household name but he became a billionaire as well. Today over 750,000 companies use Zoom, to connect to their clients and employees via video and audio conferencing, shared workplaces, chats, and more. Face-to-face video conferencing allows people to see each other in real time, making communication more realistic and humanistic.

Zoom has also allowed millions of employees to work from home and communicate with their workplaces from anywhere in the world.

Now Eric had every reason to give up on his dreams while still in China except that he didn’t. he pressed on, never giving up, never quitting because he had a deep inner belief in himself, that it could be done. He believed he was in control of everything that happened in his life.

Eric has a strong internal locus of control.

What does “Locus of Control” Mean?

Locus of control refers to how we feel about events that affect our lives. It is the orientation of every outcome that happens in your life.

Psychologist Julian B. Rotter first coined the term in 1954 while referring to how much individuals believe they can control events that affect them. He believed it was an essential element that defined our personalities.

The word “locus” is from a Latin word meaning “location or a place” locus of control can either be internal or external.

People who have an internal locus of control take charge of their lives, they know they are both the reason for their successes and their failures.

Conversely, people who have an external locus of control believe higher powers, other people, circumstances, or the environment, shape their lives. They give credit to external variables for their successes.

Most Successful People Have a strong internal ‘Locus of Control’ they take responsibility for what happens in their lives. They work at tackling tasks knowing nobody is coming to help them.

They are resilient when facing challenges, and are confident in their abilities to overcome every adversity. They are less likely to be influenced by other people’s opinions.

They often feel helpless and powerless and are likely to have a victim mentality. Always complaining, criticizing, and blaming others as the reason for their failures.

Research suggests that people who have an internal locus of control make better leaders because they handle challenges and negative situations better than those with an external locus of control.

How do you identify your locus of control?

Before you can shift your locus of control you need to know where you sit on the locus of control spectrum.

You can test yourself the locus of control questionnaire developed by Julian rotter in 1966. A low score indicates a strong external locus of control while a high score indicates a strong internal locus of control.

For people with an external locus of control

Learn to put time and effort into tasks even when you feel like everything happening is beyond your control.

Step back from your life’s circumstances and analyze contributing factors think through, what part did you play in what’s happening?

Catch external thoughts when you find yourself blaming negative happenings on external forces or attributing your success to luck assess your role in the outcome. Cultivate a growth mindset and improve your self-agency, motivation, and resilience.

For people with an external locus of control

Internal locus of control may have many benefits, but it still has its downside too. For example, you may find it difficult to delegate because you are accustomed to feeling in control. Delegate, share tasks you think you are good at.

When you perceive life to be in your control, you may blame yourself for failures and negative happenings. Take the time to reflect on what contributed to the situation, when you have, let go and move on.

Regardless of where you are on the locus of control spectrum, knowing how your orientation is affecting your life will help you to avoid extremities that may lead to failure.

Here is what you should do to increase your internal locus of control.

Reflect:

We all have moments of distress and faults. How we justify these moments says a lot about our locus of control. Reflect on negative your life’s negative occurrences, get to the root of why they happened, and take charge.

You increase your internal locus of control by learning to take responsibility for the outcome of your life rather than shifting blame.

Take charge of your thought patterns, from “when this happens” to “when I make this happen,”

Final Word:

A strong internal locus of control will lead to greater success in your life. It will help you to grow your life and your startup. When you take control of your life and business directing every activity, and taking responsibility of every shortcoming, you increase your self-worth and your net worth.

This post was first published Here: How Locus of Control Can Help Grow Your Startup