A long time ago, Simon Oberman used to be a fintech entrepreneur. Now, he has shifted his focus to tech and social impact as the CEO of Artemis Impact, a Southeast Asian platform and network to help corporations and foundations to manage their donations and social investment, project creation and assessment, and build technology for impact measurement management. He founded the company in hope to bring more transparency and traceability so more people can do good. Inspiring, right?

Simon joined the YCSE Academy 2.0 virtual mentorship yesterday, and shared his experience dealing with a crisis — or what he calls his best friend. 

Below are his top 3 business leadership tips to all the 10 social enterprises at the webinar: 

Tip #1: Do not be afraid to fail

Just like any of us, Simon also experienced the anxiety of experiencing failure. Artemis Impact is surprisingly not Simon’s first company. He shared that his first company was not successful at all. Yet, this experience actually made him stronger and more fearless! With Artemis Impact, now he knows what to do and what not to do as he learned from his previous mistakes.

The most difficult part from his point of view is actually the first step, to found the company. It’s very exciting that the participants actually have through that step, right?

Tip #2: Do not be afraid to ask for advice

Simon confessed that all of his success and learnings came because he asked for advice and perspectives from other people often. Yes, often! So it’s very important for business leaders to have an open mind!

Tip #3: Not everybody else’s opinion is right. 

At the same time, when you ask other people for advice, do not take their feedback at face value. Sometimes, you may disagree with the opinion of others, but it’s okay! The really important thing is that you learn to listen and train your judgement whether the advice is relevant or helpful for you. Just because someone has done something more for a longer period of time, it doesn’t always mean all of their wisdom is 100% relevant to your case.

Let’s process his simple and complex tips in our heads… Now, are you ready to be a better business leader?