How to Be the Best of the Best
In fact, there are many people who have what it takes to become great. But to be the greatest of the greats, you need more than talent.
Albert-Laszlo Barabashi is a scientist who made it his mission to tell people how to succeed, and his new book , Formula: Universal Laws of Success, was destroyed by Bloomberg News. There seem to be five basic principles of killing your competitors. If you are currently at the top of your field but want to knock everyone else off the mountain, Barabashi will tell you how. And if you’re not quite there yet, these laws may give you a reason to reflect on the way up.
Network, Network, Network
You may be the best at something, but if no one knows, no one cares. Work on making friends in your field, especially with people who are more successful than you. This means having the skills to work with people, represent yourself at parties, attend events, and turn down services.
It sucks that just being very good isn’t enough, but a lot of skills don’t qualify as “best of”. An athlete can consistently win, thereby establishing himself as the best, but most of us do things that are much more difficult to measure. This is why it is so important who you know (and who loves you).
Act like you are the best
There seems to be very little difference at the top as well, but there is a big difference in the kinds of awards and attention that go to those considered number one versus number two. So: if you’re already incredible, add a little flair. Writer Peter Coy added this anecdote as an example of what this means:
Pianist Lang Lang is known for his theatrical keyboard gestures. Turns out this is a good strategy. Both newcomers and pundits alike were better at predicting the winners of the Jury Piano Competition when they watched videos of performances with the sound muted – a sign that the jury members themselves were influenced not only by the music, but also by the look.
Flair attracts more people who are interested in you by building, you guessed it, a network.
Imagine You Have Already Been Successful
Once you are named “successful,” there will be even more success on your way. It’s hard when you first start. Barabashi says it’s best to pretend until you succeed. Write your reviews, tell everyone how great you are; it does not necessarily mean false, but it does involve deception. Just think of it as making your light shine brighter. A hint of shamelessness can take you far.
Dominate or avoid groups
One person will always be the face of group efforts. If you agree that you are always sharing credit or not getting it at all, then cooperation is for you. Collaboration is also beneficial for society as a whole. However, if you are determined to be the best, you must be careful with how you tie your carriage to projects. Especially women, apparently:
When women are co-authors of economic research with men, people assume that the real work was done by men. How do we know this? Because every article written by a team that a woman contributes to reduces her chances of getting the position. Unfortunately, “in terms of tenure, if you are a female economist who publishes with men, you may not publish at all,” writes Barabashi.
You may be in an area where doing things alone is not an option, especially in the beginning. Just think carefully about your every move. Do you sideline yourself forever?
Resist
Stick to. Many successful people do it because they stay there until the very end. Barabashi cites examples of older scientists who are believed to be less likely to discover anything of note than younger scientists — except they publish fewer articles. The ones that have been published are comparatively comparable to the breakthrough studies. The problem is their productivity, not the quality of their work.
Others will fall, lose their advantage, don’t know how to play an online game, or find other things to do. Not you. You, a truly successful person, have never given up. And now you are here to collect all the awards.