High achievers in business and sports think the same way. When I spoke with Barbara Corcoran last week, I thought about the similarities between her and the journey of the late, great Wilma Rudolph. Together, these reveal timeless characteristics for success in business, sport, and life.
The role of resilience
Rudolph contracted polio as a child and doctors told him he might never be able to walk, while Corcoran faced the challenge of dyslexia.
One could not walk and the other could not read.
An athlete’s inability to walk is similar to an entrepreneur’s inability to read or write. Both seem like inevitable paths to failure.
In third grade, Corcoran’s teacher, Sister Stella Marie, told him that if he didn’t learn to read and write, he would “remain stupid forever.”
But Rudolph’s mother, Blanche, insisted he would walk someday, and Corcoran’s mother, Florence, reassured her that she would “fill in the blanks.” Yes, Rudolph didn’t just walk. She won her three gold medals running at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
Corcoran is a very good man in his own right. She sold the Corcoran Group for $66 million in September 2001, and according to CNBC reporter Celia Fernandez, Corcoran wrote 650 to 700 books during her 14 years on ABC’s Shark Tank, and she earned a third He said he made a profit on 1.
They both praise their mother’s accomplishments and resilience.
A 2019 Mayo Clinic study highlights the importance of resilience in high-pressure roles. Kelmott, Johnson, et al. found a direct link suggesting that increased resilience among executives means improved well-being and performance.
Their findings reflect the experiences of people like Barbara Corcoran and Wilma Rudolph and show how important resilience is to mental health in high-stakes environments. This is an obvious lesson, but maybe not next time.
Monologues in business and sports
I asked Corcoran about Sister Stella Marie’s words. How did it affect you when someone who was influential at the time always told you that you were “stupid”?
What conversations did you have with yourself over the next few years? What were those monologues?
“I feel relieved now,” she said with a laugh.
“Because I’ve replaced that conversation with a positive conversation about myself hundreds of times. And I think you need to do that with old conversations that are bothering you. Forget them. Not only that, but we must eliminate it.”
“You have to replace them with great conversations. And the more you say it, the more you believe it. So I make good comments in my mind about myself. Now that It’s easier. It’s not that way when you’re much younger,” Corcoran said.
“But a strange thing happened. She also did me a favor in a funny way, because I spent most of my life trying to prove that I wasn’t that stupid. I wouldn’t have gone in that direction without those negative conversations.”
“It would have been okay to prove it all the time without having to prove it all the time. And that’s very helpful in business, where you feel like you always have to prove something,” Corcoran said. Ta.
A 2021 study by Kim et al., published in Scientific Reports, added further depth to our understanding of self-talk, using brain imaging to examine the effects of self-talk on cognitive function.
The study found that while positive self-talk improves cognitive performance, negative self-talk also has benefits, surprisingly increasing internal motivation and alertness.
These findings show how both types of self-talk change brain connections, mirroring experiences like Barbara Corcoran’s who used such negative conversations as motivation.
Self-talk was essential to Corcoran and Rudolph’s success. They believed in affirmations from supporters and used negative feedback from detractors to drive supporters.
Rudolph famously said, “The doctors told me I would never walk again. My mother said I would walk again. I believed her.”
Characteristics common to all species of sharks
In a 1997 Nike ad, Michael Jordan said, “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. That’s why I’m successful.” Great athletes and business leaders share this mindset.
Resilience and self-talk are common traits of business and sports greats, but they also factor in the inevitable failures.
In his book How to win in the sport of businessEntrepreneur and fellow Shark Tank star Mark Cuban writes, “It doesn’t matter how many times you fail. It doesn’t matter how many times you come close to succeeding. No one will ever know you failed. And I don’t care. And neither should you.”
Corcoran shares this sentiment. “I didn’t have a lot of confidence, but confidence comes from just getting back up and keeping trying again. Eventually something will work out,” she said.
Corcoran’s “Barbara In Your Pocket” community will launch in January and explore modern business topics with these members.
“If there’s one quality I would choose in an entrepreneur, or one quality I value most in myself, it would be the ability to overcome obstacles. That’s so important in business. It’s an obstacle game. You have to jump through the roof and find a goal.” It’s a way to get right back into the game. It’s essential,” Barbara said.
Parallels: Transactions from the track to the boardroom
In the stories of Corcoran and Rudolph, the quotes of Jordan, and the words of Cuban and others, there is a pattern of resilience, self-talk, and unwavering commitment to overcoming obstacles. Their experience highlights the importance of these traits, not only in sports and business, but in any competitive endeavor.
They also reflect larger truths. As we pursue our goals, whether in sports or business, our reactions to adversity and the conversations we have with others and ourselves about it influence the course of our lives.
look at me Conversation with Barbara Corcoran here.
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