The One Thing More Important Than Skill Or Knowledge

In 1995, the year Toy Story was released, Pixar pulled off a brilliant putsch. It was orchestrated by Steve Jobs who planned everything brilliantly.

Pixar had a 3 picture deal with Disney but Jobs, knowing that if Toy Story was successful, Disney would want to prevent the upstart company from becoming a serious competitor. They would do this by keeping Pixar under their thumb, subservient to them.

Jobs, of course, didn’t want to play second fiddle to anyone. He wanted Pixar to have freedom and autonomy from Disney, but, for this to happen Pixar would need to supply at least 50% of the financing. Jobs decided the best way to do this was to have an Initial Public Offering.

The other co-founders of Pixar, John Lasseter and Ed Catmull, thought he was crazy—that they should get a few films under their belt before they considered an IPO.

Jobs, however, got his way as per usual and Pixar went public, becoming the largest IPO in 1995. This gave Jobs and Pixar the leverage to become equal partners with Disney and paved the way for years of successful filmmaking.

Jobs had believed in his vision even when everybody else doubted it and had executed it flawlessly. He was able to use his personal drive and egotism to propel himself to success.

Did it take technical skills?

Of course it did: he had to negotiate with Disney who have some of the best negotiators in the world, he had to use his salesmanship for potential investors; but none of would have happened if Steve Jobs didn’t have a force-of-nature personality.

In fact the Carnage Institute of Technology did a study where they claim that 85% of a person’s financial wealth is because of their personality and not because of their technical skills or knowledge.

Was Jobs a great programmer?

No.

Was he a great designer?

No.

It was his mercurial personality that drove people to be their best, and that drove him to never settle. He was inspirational, he was passionate and he was confident. These personality traits are what made him successful.

Personality Scarcity.

You can always hire somebody with good technical skills, whether it’s a programmer, a builder or a writer.

The United States has 5 million people graduating college every year, and countries like China and India are also producing more graduates each year than ever before in the world’s history.

This abundance of skilled workers is driving the price down for university and college graduates.

What the world isn’t producing is people with strong personalities. Individuality and personality isn’t stressed in classrooms or by parents.

This is making world-class personalities scares and desirable which means instead of learning a new skill, learn a new personality

Nature Vs. Nurture

But isn’t personality an inherent trait? Something that you can’t change?

The answer is a complicated one.

If you’re a writer like myself, you might always have a tendency to be quiet and introverted, but that doesn’t mean you can’t work on becoming a good sales person or a good negotiator like Steve Jobs.

(For the record, you don’t have to be abrasive or egotistical as Jobs was, but you need to realize what it was about him that made him a successful innovator.)

You’ll always have a natural state of comfort but you should develop your abilities to recognize when your natural state won’t get you towards the goals you desire.

Taking the introverted example again, networking is important for any career, but some people are better at it than others. If you’re introverted you will have to consciously switch it on when you’re at a business event. In fact an introverted person can actually be better at networking than an extraverted person because they have to do it consciously and not rely on natural personality.

Leadership Through Personality

John Maxwell, bestselling author and speaker, stresses the importance of strong leadership. Leadership is about influencing other people which is done through personality.

In fact, you can’t be a good leader without a world-class personality. It is the first step to getting that promotion or succeeding in business.

People are naturally attracted to strong personalities.

A strong personality doesn’t necessarily mean a Steve Jobs type, but someone who can be trusted, who is a good communicator and who is interesting.

Some people are naturally good at being leaders but it’s something that can be learned. It’s not a technical skill you can learn through manuals and teachers, but through experience.

Work On Enthusiasm (The Rest Will Come)

Frank Bettger was a major league baseball player who would later become Fidelity Mutual LIfe’s top salesman for 20 years. (This was before baseball players were paid boatloads of money and could easily retire at the ripe old age of 40.)

When Bettger was in the minors he was shocked to learn he was cut from his team for a lack of enthusiasm. Bettger got a job in the smaller Atlantic League where he decided he would prove his former coach wrong and be the most enthusiastic player on the team.

His enthusiasm was soon noticed and he got a position with the Saint Louis Cardinals where his salary was increased 700%.

Bettger was still the same ballplayer – in other words he still had the same technical skill; it was his personality that he improved and became that much more successful because of it.

If you work on just one aspect of your personality a week, I guarantee you’ll see positive changes around you.

If you become more enthusiastic, you will become a magnetic for the best workers in your field. After all who wants to be around a person who is always miserable and boring?

Your enthusiasm will inspire people; they will want to work for you, they will work hard for you, and they will take your advice.

Joel Mark Harris is a Canadian writer, producer and journalist. (@joelmarkharris) He is the proud founder of Scene2Studio and you can download for FREE his award-winning thriller novel A Thousand Bayonets HERE

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