I am thinking of two mid-30’s business leaders.
One went to Yale and had a lot of advantages in life. He’s good looking in an Abercrombie kind of way, soccer star… you know the type. The other is also good looking (by that same standard) and athletic. He has a degree from a state school. His parents are teachers.
If IQ or ‘what college you attended’ or grade point average were the measures of success – the Yalie should win. But something else is really at the heart of business ‘success’ and it relates to:
— whether you see obstacles as opportunities or things that slow you down.
One way to to learn about obstacles as opportunities — is to grow up WITHOUT advantages. This builds grit and grit builds success. I wrote a post a few year back about people who failed time and again. Michael Jordan and Ulysses S. Grant. I had a college professor tell me I’d never graduate from college. Haha. I showed him.
Bottom line is — if you think that people who went to Ivy League schools are automatically successful, I ask you to think again.
As a country, we are suffering from ‘elitism fever’ (we think we’re better than others) – but deep in our hearts we know – the American spirit is grounded in pure grit. So next time you go to hire someone, why not ask… what obstacles have you overcome to be here? That might tell you everything you need to know.
Image credit: Elia Locardi
What do you think?