Winners Compete with Themselves
I have been asked many times about competing with others. New graduates have asked me how to compete with experienced professionals; experienced professionals have asked how to compete with offshore cheap resources. These questions came from fear of the unknown.
My answer has been, “Don't compete with others, compete with yourself." I believe that every individual is a star, made of strengths and weaknesses. If you try to compete with thousands of people equipped with thousands of different strengths, you put yourself into a meaningless panic mode, chasing someone else's tail every second. If a company is chasing every competitor, it puts itself in the same situation and loses its direction. You can only have one brand effectively.
Let's fly to 1000 feet and take a five-year look forward at yourself and your competitors. Identify your strengths and weaknesses. Pick one or two areas where you would like to improve. Then compete whole-heartedly in these limited areas.
Winners never compete with others they compete with themselves. They set and calibrate their strategic goals and work hard on meeting these challenging goals. They stay focused on their goals and never allow competition in the marketplace to sidetrack them from their direction.
My answer has been, “Don't compete with others, compete with yourself." I believe that every individual is a star, made of strengths and weaknesses. If you try to compete with thousands of people equipped with thousands of different strengths, you put yourself into a meaningless panic mode, chasing someone else's tail every second. If a company is chasing every competitor, it puts itself in the same situation and loses its direction. You can only have one brand effectively.
Let's fly to 1000 feet and take a five-year look forward at yourself and your competitors. Identify your strengths and weaknesses. Pick one or two areas where you would like to improve. Then compete whole-heartedly in these limited areas.
Winners never compete with others they compete with themselves. They set and calibrate their strategic goals and work hard on meeting these challenging goals. They stay focused on their goals and never allow competition in the marketplace to sidetrack them from their direction.
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P.S. It was great seeing you again at MJAA event yesterday! (I finally managed to change my blog name from "coffee" to my real name :-))