Talent is not enough to succeed in business

My hairdresser said it all yesterday morning. Her words remained with me all day and proved to be prophetic during a rare evening in front of the telly.

We were talking about the UK TV show called The X Factor and I confess to being hooked this year. Partially because the standard is so high, partially because Holly Willoughby is so lovely and also from the parallels for people relatively new in business. Being a pop star is a business and here we have many talented people competing to launch a career in the music business.

As Lisa surgically removed big clumps of grey hair from my barnet, we chatted about the various talents until we came to Rachel Hylton. Oh yes, said Lisa, she has an amazing voice but she is far too cocky……I don’t like her.

Last night 2 of the most talented vocalists were in the sing off. Austin Drage – who Will Young (winner of Pop idol 5 years ago and over 8 million records to his name) called one of the finest vocalists he has come across – was booted out and Rachel survived by the skin of her teeth.

Both singers have huge raw talent and yet were in the position of having to battle it out to stay in the game.

Going back to Lisa, my hairdresser, I think the comment about being cocky hit the nail squarely on the head. The danger with being naturally gifted is that it is easy to coast. When the competition is low then its not a problem. When there are more businesses competing for fewer projects you cannot afford to rely on talent alone. You have to continually work on your game and that includes how you promote and sell yourself. None of us can afford to be cocky in business. We need to want it and work for it.

If you consider yourself to be the best around then let this week’s X Factor be a wake up call……that in the end in business talent is not enough.

For the rest of us…let it be an inspiration that we can compete and win work from the best of the best if we want it bad enough and are prepared to continually work on our game. That has certainly been true in my journey as an accidental sales person.

Happy selling!

Richard

Richard White
The Accidental Salesman®