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Want to know how to win at business?

 

Spoiler alert: it has nothing to do with beating the competition

 

 

A Winning Strategy

 

Do you want to know a secret? The most successful innovators don’t sit around and talk about how to beat their competition. They talk about creating solutions to problems and serving their customers well.

 

In a recent interview between Simon Sinek and Marie Forleo, Simon recounts giving two keynote talks at very different conventions: Microsoft and Apple.

 

"As I sat in the audience for the Microsoft event, the vast majority of the executives spent the vast majority of their presentations talking about how to beat Apple. At the Apple summit, 100% of the executives spent 100% of their presentations talking about how to help teachers teach and how to help students learn. One was obsessed with where they were going. The other one was obsessed with beating the competition." — Simon Sinek

 

Two vastly different perspectives demonstrate precisely how when we start focussing on the finite game and winning for the sake of beating our competition—we take our eye off of what truly matters. These practices might win in the finite game (a single product launch, a particular campaign), but they lose in the infinite game... the long term.

 

"The goal is not to beat your competition, the goal is to outlast your competition, and the only true competitor in the infinite game is yourself." — Simon Sinek

 

The only person you are truly competing against is yourself—the last product that you launched, the last wedding that you photographed, the version of you who showed up to work yesterday.

 
 

My advice: Don't waste your time worrying about what your competition is doing. Invest your energy into improving, innovating and serving. Be a proactive thinker rather than a reactive worrier.

 

If we are constantly chasing after what others are doing, we cannot possibly carve out a unique path for ourselves. We will always be following in the footsteps of someone else, always reacting to what they are doing rather than paying attention to the people who truly matter.

 

We cannot choose a reactive business model for a world that requires proactive thinking.

 

The minute an entrepreneur stops concentrating on serving their customers, improving their products, and shifts their focus to reactionary business practices to beat others—they have already chosen a losing strategy.

 

 

Rising Together:

 
 

Before we close today's newsletter, I want to take a second to congratulate all of the nominees and winners of the 2019 list of the 20 ON THE RISE

 

This year my team and I reviewed thousands upon thousands of heartfelt nominations, and are honored to be sharing the stories of 120 individuals from our community with you. This initiative is one way we celebrate the heart of why we do what we do—community over competition in action.

 

We believe that building a platform is most impactful when you use it to elevate the voices of others... and we are honored to share our stage with these extraordinary individuals.

 

Until next week!

 

Natalie

 

psst...in case you missed it on insta

 
 
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