A long time ago I quit a job to start my own business. I stayed friends with my former boss, even though we were technically competitors. One day we were talking and I told him that I'd taken great pains not to steal any of his existing customers. His reply to me was "I don't mind. Call them all. I don't mean to be cruel, but you need to know this: you'll never be a success at business, you just don't have a killer instinct".
This really torked me off. I told myself that he'd just made me mad enough to give me the motivation he thought I lacked. For years it bothered me. Then, after recovering from my 3rd failed business, I think I understood what he meant.
If I'd had the "killer instinct" I wouldn't have felt bad about approaching his customers, and certainly wouldn't have talked to him about it. What he was basically saying was my nature is basically non-competitive. I now accept this as true, and actually embrace it. I'm proud of it.
Some people have what it takes to be a great singer...but some don't. Same with sports or anything at all. It's not just a case of attitude and talent, there are facets of personality at play. With business it takes, among other things, at least a small love of competition.
Later in life, I ran a great company for 10 years. My employees loved working for me. My customers thought we were the best. But as soon as we got big enough to appear on the radar of bigger companies, it got to be no fun at all. In fact, it got to be horrible. So I sold the company and chose another path. If I'd had the killer instinct, that would have been the point when the fun really started.
I learned something about myself. What about you? Do you have a killer instinct?
This really torked me off. I told myself that he'd just made me mad enough to give me the motivation he thought I lacked. For years it bothered me. Then, after recovering from my 3rd failed business, I think I understood what he meant.
If I'd had the "killer instinct" I wouldn't have felt bad about approaching his customers, and certainly wouldn't have talked to him about it. What he was basically saying was my nature is basically non-competitive. I now accept this as true, and actually embrace it. I'm proud of it.
Some people have what it takes to be a great singer...but some don't. Same with sports or anything at all. It's not just a case of attitude and talent, there are facets of personality at play. With business it takes, among other things, at least a small love of competition.
Later in life, I ran a great company for 10 years. My employees loved working for me. My customers thought we were the best. But as soon as we got big enough to appear on the radar of bigger companies, it got to be no fun at all. In fact, it got to be horrible. So I sold the company and chose another path. If I'd had the killer instinct, that would have been the point when the fun really started.
I learned something about myself. What about you? Do you have a killer instinct?
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