FEMI TAIWO: WHY WINNERS WIN (I)
STRATEGY WITH FEMI TAIWO ON MONDAY
Michael is a first class chemical engineering graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, and a PhD holder in same discipline from the University of Arkansas, United States. He works in a multinational energy giant in the United States.
Winners do a lot of things right. They practice harder than everybody. Muhammad Ali famously said “the fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” Contests don’t make winners, they unveil them. That’s why winners crave competition; they cannot wait for their unveiling. They know they have done their homework; there’s no reason to expect a bad grade.
Another thing they do better than most is that they recognize, develop and use their natural strengths. Winners apply what sociologists call “The Matthew Effect” to their advantage. The Matthew Effect or law of accumulated advantage is the age old rich-get-richer-poor-get-poorer dynamic. It’s a term coined from the parable of talents where Jesus said “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken even that which he hath.”
Femi was recently named District Champion in a Public Speaking Competition in the United States. He is off to Malaysia for the global challenge.
Let’s take a semi-hypothetical example of how winners apply the Matthew effect. A young boy named Leo was poor at Math or Science or Business or Music or Language. He can either work very hard at developing one of these or work on his football skills. By the way, even though he is quite young, it is clear he is good at football. In fact, he is better than every other player on the field. He decides to spend a little more time than others cultivating new skills. He then agrees to move to another country where he can develop his talents even further. He already “hath” at the start, but because he recognizes and develops that, he “shall be given, and he shall have abundance.” Today, that young boy is the best player the world has seen in a generation and many believe he is the best player ever to grace the football field.
Leo Messi’s path to the top is typical of winners. They pick a field they are naturally better at and then go to work. With time, the Matthew Effect kicks in and they gradually accumulate advantage over others with slightly less skill or slightly less work ethic. What is an indiscernible margin today becomes an obvious gulf tomorrow.
One more thing winners do right is love. Winners are lovers. They love themselves, they love what they do and they love who they are doing it for. It is love, or passion, for their vocation that makes them work longer than their contemporaries because lovers always outwork workers. Serena Williams was on top of the tennis world when she thought it was a good idea to try acting as a side job. Because her love for tennis waned, she was quickly beaten by other tennis stars who wanted victory more. Her acting gig didn’t pan out either. She does not possess the natural acting talent needed for a successful Hollywood career. Training and coaching can only go so far. You need all the basic ingredients to win. She wholly returned to her first love – tennis – and returned to the zenith.
What would make Edison try 1,000 different materials for the light bulb? That’s not talent or even work ethic anymore. That is love: that transcendental care for the task at hand; that singular determination to reach uncharted depths where priceless pearls lay, that godlike desire to attain purity – purity is when you look back and say “I gave my all.”
