Takeaways from SVP Alum Carl Sanders-Edwards M’12
On May 22, Carl Sanders-Edwards M’12, founder and CEO of Jump Shift came to Babson to share his entrepreneurial journey with the Summer Venture Program participants. JumpShift is a company that helps organizations develop better leaders and managers by inspiring them to take smart action. Sanders-Edwards emphasized the importance of decisions throughout the session.
Carl Sanders-Edwards M’12 of JumpShift
Originally from New Zealand, Sanders-Edwards had to make a big decision coming to Babson. But Sanders-Edwards was firm with his decision because he knew what he wanted to do and had reason to come to Babson. Sanders-Edwards’s personal mission was to close the gap between the education level that people can get. He thought this could be done by initiating challenges and enabling people to make wise decision. Sanders-Edwards emphasized the importance of having personal mission in life and be certain what one wants to do.
Through his entrepreneurial career, Sanders-Edwards had three main themes he observed: meaning, inspiration, and act & adapt perseverance. Sanders-Edwards pointed out that people have difficultly carrying work that has significance or meaning. Sanders-Edwards emphasized that entrepreneurs have idea on what they want to do, and in order to move these idea forward, they must assess its meaning and value it can bring.
As a way to keep inspiration, Sanders-Edwards recommended writing ideas down whenever they pop up. He emphasized the process of evaluating the idea, and suggested asking yourself why and how it can be significant. If it seems to be a significant and is a need, carry out the inspiration through action.
To improve the decision and the decision making process, Sanders-Edwards suggested to reflect on the decisions you’ve made and diagnose the pattern of the decisions you made. For him it was really important to understand what he really wanted to do. Afterwards, he acted out the idea himself and experimented to see if there were space for him to grab the chance.
As we are living in a world of learning and development, Sanders-Edwards recommended to share your ideas and be open to the feedback. Whenever any idea comes to mind, take notes, assess the idea yourself and with people near you, act it out and see how it works. Then repeat.