THE LAW of competition ensures the fittest are rewarded and have a stage for her/his talents and abilities.

For many

naysayers, competition is an unattractive proposition inspiring self-centred endeavours leading to destructive human behaviour.

But, once we choose to engage in a workplace where the terms of success are clear – “compete or be left behind”, it is silly to ignore the relevance of competing.

It was the legendary former CEO of General Electric and author of Winning, Jack Welch who best personified this value when he said: “If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.”

Whether you are in the queue with 35 others who want the same job as you or are a CEO competing for market share, the key to sustaining a healthy competitive advantage is setting personal targets against yourself.

When you compete against yourself, then winning isn’t about public affirmation, but personal mastery. The best-selling Canadian artist of all time Celine Dion said: “I’m not in competition with anybody but myself. My goal is to beat my last performance.”

Entitlement fundamentally conflicts with the law of competition. When two fully enabled individuals line up at the beginning of a race, the thrilling part of watching the two compete is not knowing who put in the most work and therefore having no real clue who will win.

When there is fraud or some sort of cheating interference, it dissolves the pleasure and causes disgust from those “honestly” participating as well as those watching.

This is precisely why athletes who are found to be taking steroids or politicians who take short cuts are despised by society.

There are two keys needed to ensure you are able to compete at the highest level:

Know your strengths. The English author and revolutionary Thomas Paine was keenly aware of how the lessons we learn from our pitfalls can enable our strengths. “I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.”

Know what the market needs. Once you have investigated your strengths and know which competitive advantage you are working with, do extensive research into the job market to equip yourself with the ammunition and intelligence needed to take the market by storm.

Don’t stop until you have every ounce of information needed to compete at the highest level.

l Contact Timothy at info@timothymaurice.com