The Competitive Edge.
January 21st, 2011 Posted in Self Help | MAKE A COMMENT “
- Who’s afraid of a little competition.
A little competition never hurt anyone.
Ya gotta love the Linked In. How can you beat the efficiency of an on-line resume and the wide broadcast of accolades that your acquaintances so generously heap on you (and vice versa)?
Call me paranoid, but I am actually quite finicky with those I choose to include in my circle of contacts on-line. That’s because I do enough snooping to realize that we’re all fair game and the hunt for information is so exhiliratingly satisfying. Someone “out there”, or some “friend” right on your very own Facebook page, is studying you, what you’re doing, who you’re talking to. I naively think I am protecting my business from marauders with my selectivity. But really, I’m limiting my scope of influence and possibilities. It’s a new year and I need to loosen up.
Don’t underestimate your competition. Learn from it.
One of our guest Birds cited the McDonald’s/Burger King competition as the classic example of competitive learning. Rumor has it that #2 Burger King waits patiently while #1 McDonalds drops the big bucks on feasibility studies to determine potential new locations. That’s why wherever there’s a McDonalds’ grand opening, there’s the Burger King himself lurking around the corner waiting to break ground for his new unit.
Competition is good.
When you’re not the only game in town, customers and clients have a choice to make. And you have the perfect opportunity to help them choose by distinguishing yourself from your competition. Differentiation. Knowing your competition’s strengths and offerings can help you determine how you need to market yourself. Or readjust yourself.
Competition motivates, me.
Motivation comes in two forms: internal or external. Either you have the intrinsic discipline to get yourself going or you have some other force pulling you into action (family obligations, mortgage payments, bosses). Realistically, it’s a combination of factors. I have to admit that I have a deep-seated competitiveness that pushes me. Perhaps it came from growing up in the shadow of an older brother. Perhaps it was years playing competitive singles tennis instead of team sports.
All I know is that when that little bird of competition whispers in my ear, something clicks in me and I become a hawk: stealthy and aggressive.
