Edge: Turning Adversity Into Advantage, Huang Laura

How do you find a competitive edge when the obstacles feel insurmountable? How do you get people to take you seriously when theyre predisposed not to, and perhaps have already written you off?

Laura Huang has come up against that problem many times--and so has anyone whos ever felt out of place or underestimated. Many of us sit back quietly, hoping that our hard work and effort will speak for itself. Or we try to force ourselves into the mold of who we think is successful, stifling the creativity and charm that makes us unique and memorable.

In Edge, Huang offers a different approach. She argues that success is rarely just about the quality of our ideas, credentials, and skills, or our effort. Instead, achieving success hinges on how well we shape others perceptions--of our strengths, certainly, but also our flaws. Its about creating our own edge by confronting the factors that seem like shortcomings and turning them into assets that make others take notice.

Huang draws from her award-winning research on entrepreneurial intuition, persuasion, and implicit decision-making, to impart her profound findings and share stories of previously-overlooked Olympians, assistants-turned-executives, and flailing companies that made momentous turnarounds. Through her deeply-researched framework, Huang shows how we can turn weaknesses into strengths and create an edge in any situation. She explains how an entrepreneur scored a massive investment despite initially being disparaged for his foreign accent, and how a first-time political candidate overcame voters doubts about his physical disabilities.