Fortune's Brainstorm Tech Conference(July 22-24 in Aspen, Colo.) regularly brings together the best and brightest minds in tech innovation. Each week, Fortune turns the spotlight on a different conference attendee to offer his or her own personal insight into business, tech, and entrepreneurship. This week, we asked Change.org President and COO Jennifer Dulski to answer 10 questions about life outside of work, the company she admires most, and industry advice for young entrepreneurs. Her responses follow.

What is the best advice you ever received?

    It came from a research study by one of my favorite Cornell professors, Thomas Gilovich, focusing on regret. The research concluded, "Actions, or errors of commission, generate more regret in the short-term; but inactions, or errors of omission, produce more regret in the long run." In other words, while people in the short-term regret "bad" choices, like trying out for something and getting rejected or choosing a job and deciding they don't like it, things are different when they look back on their lives: they most often regret the things they did not try, like not accepting a certain job offer, or not asking out that person they really liked. I often think of this research when faced with a decision, and it pushes me to try new things and challenge myself.

What was the most important thing you learned in school?

    The teachers who challenged me the most were also the ones I learned the most from in school. I remember a particular high school teacher of mine, Joe DiPrisco, who had impeccably high standards for strong writing and correct grammar. Even though it was uncomfortable to be corrected, I finished his class as a much stronger writer. I believe the same principle holds true in business – understand that those who push you will make you better, and surround yourself with people who aren't afraid to challenge you. Similarly, others on your team are more likely to exhibit excellence when you expect it of them, so keep your standards high.

What has been your biggest failure?

    There's one big mistake I made as a first time entrepreneur that I still laugh about. I named my startup's first product with an apostrophe. In the desire to get a name we could afford without paying through the nose for a domain, I chose "Center'd" (because "Centered" was taken and we couldn't afford to buy it). Not only is an apostrophe a "special character" that caused all kinds of issues in the code for our website, but it was also nearly impossible to speak about Center'd in the possessive, since it then had a double apostrophe! My main learning was this: pick a name that's easy to spell, helps to clearly explain what you do, and, ideally, works around the world. "Center'd" did none of those things. But "The Dealmap," the name for our second product, did all three – and boy, was it easier to give our elevator pitch and to get people to use our product.

    财富头脑风暴技术会议（Brainstorm Tech Conference，定于7月22-24日在科罗拉多州阿斯彭召开）总是能吸引技术创新领域最顶尖的人才。《财富》（Furtune）杂志每周都会聚焦于一名与会者，让他们谈谈在公司经营、技术和创业方面的个人观点。本周，我们邀请了在线请愿平台Change.org总裁兼首席运营官詹妮弗•杜尔斯基回答了十个问题，内容涉及工作以外的生活、她最欣赏的公司以及对年轻创业者的建议。以下是她的答案：

你得到过的最佳建议是什么？

    这个建议来自康乃尔大学（Cornell）教授托马斯•季洛维奇对后悔现象的研究。季洛维奇是我最喜欢的康乃尔大学教授之一。研究的结论是：“行动或者做错事会带来较多短期内的后悔情绪，而不作为或者疏漏则会带来较多长期后悔情绪。”换句话说，短期内人们会对那些“不好”的选择感到后悔，比如做出尝试而遭到拒绝，或者找了一份自己不喜欢的工作；但如果回首自己的一生，那就会是另一种情形：最让人后悔的往往是那些他们没有去尝试的事情，比如没有接受某一份工作，或者没有和自己真正喜欢的人约会。面对选择时，我经常会想到这项研究，它会激励我尝试新事物，挑战我自己。

你在学校里学到的最重要的东西是什么？

    学校里给我带来最多挑战的老师同时也是让我学到最多东西的老师。我还记得我的中学老师乔•迪普里斯科，他要求我们在写作功力和语法准确性方面做到无可挑剔。虽然让他纠正错误不是一件舒服的事，但上了他的课以后我的写作能力得到了很大的提升。我相信这个原则同样适用于企业经营：一个人要明白，那些给你带来压力的人才会让你得到提高，要把那些不害怕挑战你的人留在身边。同样的，对于你团队中的其他人来说，如果你有这样的期望，他们的表现就更有可能达到完美，所以应当保持高标准。

你经历过的最大失误是什么？

    第一次创业时，我犯过一个大错误，现在我还觉得很可笑。那时，公司刚刚起步，我在第一款产品的名字里用了省略号，目的是得到一个不需要花很多钱的域名。我选择了“Center'd”这个词（因为已经有人注册了“Centered”，而我们又买不起这个域名）。省略号是个特殊字符，这给我们的网站编程带来了各种各样的问题；不仅如此，你几乎没办法把它用在所有格里，否则就会出现一个带有双重省略号的词！我得到的主要教训是：选名字一定要容易拼写，要能清楚解释你的业务内容，而且这个词最好全世界都通用。“Center'd”这个词连一点也做不到。而我们第二个产品的名字——“The Dealmap”则三者兼具。你不觉得这个名字更容易在短时间内说明问题，同时说服人们使用我们的产品吗？

What do you do to live a balanced life?

    I focus on being a present parent. When I look back on my childhood and young adult years, one of the things I remember clearly is that my parents were always there. They were both working parents, and yet they showed their support for me by coming to important events, even in the middle of a work day. That support helped give me confidence that I could take risks and aim big.

    Now that I'm a parent myself, I want my children to feel that I'm there to support them. I leave work early to attend their dance recitals, school concerts, and other events. I even take them to nearly all of their appointments (doctors, dentists, orthodontists,etc.) – not because I need to, but because I want them to know I care about all the things they do, not just the big events. (Plus, I like spending time with them!)

    Of course, there are times when I just can't make it, so I work hard to make sure I'm present for them whenever I possibly can be.

What would you do if you weren't working at your current job?

    There's honestly nowhere I'd rather work – I've always wanted to blend my passion for building big internet companies and my desire to drive global [and] social impact, and Change.org is the ideal place to do both. But, if I were not doing this, I could imagine going back to teaching, which I did early in my career and loved.

What do you do for fun?

    My two favorite activities are spending time with my family and friends and traveling to learn about other places around the world. I look forward to taking my daughters to visit some of the 18 countries where we have Change.org offices.

你怎样保持平衡的生活？

    我把重点放在做一个随叫随到的家长。回首我的童年和青年时光，让我记忆犹新的一点就是，我的父母总是随叫随到。他们都有工作，但重要场合他们总在那里，表达他们对我的支持，甚至是在上班时也不例外。这种支持给了我信心，而这种信心则让我敢于冒险，目标远大。

    现在我已经为人父母，我想让我的孩子们能感觉到，我会一直支持他们。我会提前下班去看他们的舞蹈表演、学校音乐会和其他活动。差不多每次去医院都是我带着他们（看病、看牙、矫正牙齿）——这不仅是因为我需要这样做，也因为我想让他们知道我关心他们的点点滴滴，而不光是大事。（再说，我喜欢和他们待在一起！）

    当然，有些时候我确实没办法和他们在一起，所以我尽量保证自己在可能的情况下随叫随到。

如果不再从事现在的工作，你会干什么？

    说实话，我不会去别的地方工作——我一直想用自己的热情来建立大型网络公司，而且希望能给整个世界和我们的社会带来一些影响，Chang.org在这两方面都很理想。不过，如果不在这里工作了，我能想到的就是再回去当老师。我刚开始踏进职场时就是当老师，它也是我喜欢的工作。

你有哪些爱好？

    我有两大爱好，一个是和家人朋友在一起，另一个是到世界各地去旅游观光。Chang.org已经在18个国家和地区设立了办公室，我想带我的女儿们去其中的一些地方。

What would you say to a group of young people looking to enter the tough job market?

    First, believe in yourself. The first time you do anything, you've never done it before, so the best thing to do is give it your all and learn as much as you can from others. Remember that we were all there at some point – everyone who interviews you and everyone you'll be working with as well – so don't get intimidated. Second, look for work you believe is worthwhile. There's nothing better than working in a place where the time you invest in your job and the impact you make on the world are aligned.

What other companies do you admire? Why?

    I admire what LinkedIn has created. It started as a useful tool for professionals to build their profiles and connect to each other, but it had a problem with low user engagement. But over time, new tools like "LinkedIn Today" and the influencer blog network have made the site a very engaging place to spend time. This combination of a highly useful professional tool with a diverse and strong business model really sets LinkedIn apart.

What is one characteristic that every leader should possess?

    Empathy.

    I believe the best leaders are excellent at listening to those around them and synthesizing their insights into great ideas. The best leaders can put themselves in others' shoes, understanding the pain points of their customers and building products that creatively solve those problems. Strong leaders also exhibit empathy for their teams, recognizing people are motivated by different things and helping them find roles and projects that leverage their strengths and bring out their best work.

Is business school necessary for entrepreneurs?

    I'm a big fan of business school, both for what you learn and for the people you have the chance to meet. I still use plenty of the things I learned in business school, from negotiation tactics to financial modeling. That said, I believe it's possible to master the skills of great entrepreneurs – primarily customer focus, creativity, and relentless persistence – through other channels as well. In fact, I think business schools need to adapt to do a better job preparing students to become entrepreneurs. The only way to really learn what it takes is to try it, and both undergraduate and graduate schools should be helping students get more real-life entrepreneurship experience beyond classroom learning. I'm excited about some of the programs coming out in this arena.

对于马上进入竞争激烈的就业市场的年轻人，你有什么要说的吗？

    首先，相信自己。不管做什么，第一次肯定都没有经验，所以最好的办法就是全力投入，尽量从别人那里学习。记住，所有人都曾经历过这个阶段——面试你的人是这样，即将和你一起工作的人也是这样，所以不用畏首畏尾。其次，寻找你认为值得做的工作。如果你在工作上投入的精力和你对这个世界产生的影响方向一致，那就再好不过了。

其他公司里有你欣赏的吗？原因是什么？

    我欣赏商务社交网站LinkedIn所取得的成就。刚开始它是一个有用的工具，供专业人士自我介绍，相互联系，但那时的问题是用户参与度较低。不过，随着时间流逝，像“LinkedIn Today”这样的新工具以及influencer这样的博客系统让它变成了一个非常有趣、引人驻足的地方。LinkedIn结合了很有用的专业工具和多元化且强有力的商业模式，这确实让它与众不同。

所有的领导者都应该具有哪一种特质？

    体谅别人。

    我相信最好的领导者都精于倾听周围的人所说的话，同时把别人的观点纳入绝妙的想法之中。最好的领导者懂得换位思考，知道客户的痛处在哪里，同时通过自己的产品来创造性地解决这些问题。强有力的领导者还能体谅自己的团队成员，意识到人们的动力各不相同，同时帮助人们找到可以让他们发挥优势、达到最佳工作状态的职位和项目。

创业者需要上商学院吗？

    我非常喜欢商学院，既喜欢它的课程，又喜欢可能会遇到的那些人。我仍在使用很多在商学院学到的东西，从谈判技巧到金融模型都是如此。不过，我相信通过其他渠道也能掌握成为一位伟大企业家所需要的技能——主要是以客户为中心、有创造力以及坚持不懈。实际上，我觉得商学院需要进行调整，以便更好地让学生为创业做好准备。要想真正了解创业需要什么，唯一的途径就是去尝试。本科和研究生院校都应该帮助学生在课堂学习之外更多地体验真实的创业生活。这方面有一些课程让我感到很兴奋。（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie