There Are No Magic Businesspeople
Being “touched by divinity” is not required for business success.
Warren Buffett. Jack Welch. Bill Gates. Steve Jobs. JP Morgan. John D. Rockefeller. Seth Godin. David Allen. Tim Ferriss. Guy Kawasaki. Dan Kennedy. Jay Abraham. Chet Holmes. Michael Masterson. Dale Carnegie. Michael Porter. Jim Collins. Peter Drucker. Gods and Demi-Gods in the pantheon of business success, capable of wielding super-human powers of profit creation, productivity, insight, and decision-making. Extremely rare geniuses who have more potential in their shoelaces than normal people can muster in a lifetime, right? Wrong.
For me, one of the unexpected benefits of developing the Personal MBA has been the realization / internalization of the fact that successful businesspeople (and business book authors) are normal people, just like you and me. Their work is mundane, not magical - they’ve simply identified a need or opportunity, developed their knowledge and skills, and created something of value that satisfies the demand.
It’s easy to deify these figures because they seem so exceptional and (many times) far removed from your current state. Unless you have the opportunity to meet them in person or take a few minutes to write them a letter, they remain enshrined in a place of honor on your bookshelf, encased in a throne of paper, ink, and glue. It’s only after you come in close contact with one of these notable people that you realize there’s really nothing magical about them at all.
