Elon Musk is not your ordinary Billionaire. Elon Musk is a man of the future. Born June 28, 1971. He’s an inventor, entrepreneur, investor, and visionary—now a hugely successful businessman and leader. His computer skills and interests, however, took him to college in Canada, and then towards the founding of a software company called Zip2 with his brother Kimbal. Musk used the profits from that sale to co-found X.com, which, together with Confinity, would later become PayPal.
Since then, he’s founded SpaceX to advance rocket technology for future space travel. This company has only grown while NASA has been stymied with budget cuts. In 2008, he took over leadership of Tesla Motors, which is now a leading automotive innovator. He also is responsible for Solar City, in an effort to combat global warming by reducing emissions through solar energy innovation.
He’s worth over $20 billion and still isn’t done. Remember, this is the guy who taught himself to code in only three days. What can you learn from him for your own career inspiration?
Have a goal.
Don’t just make your goal to “make a lot of money” or “get promoted to X.” Have a goal that’s both compelling and meaningful. Figure out how to make things better, or to do something significant. If the company or product doesn’t exist yet, be on the forefront of making it real.
Work Like Hell
Elon Musk has a fierce work ethic.
“Work like hell. I mean you just have to put in 80 to 100 hour weeks every week. [This] improves the odds of success. If other people are putting in 40 hour work weeks and you’re putting in 100 hour work weeks, then even if you’re doing the same thing you know that… you will achieve in 4 months what it takes them a year to achieve.” ~Elon Musk
Take shortcuts
“Communication should travel via the shortest path necessary to get the job done, not through the ‘chain of command’. Any manager who attempts to enforce the chain of command communication will soon find themselves working elsewhere.”
Don’t Just Follow The Trend
If you look at all of Elon’s businesses they solve huge problems in emerging markets where there is little competition.
To reap the greatest rewards focus on innovation rather than competition.
If you want to create and capture lasting value, look to innovate and create a monopoly.
Monopolies by definition transcend competition and are how the greatest business profits can be achieved.
Focus on Signal Over Noise
Tesla has never spent any money on advertising.
They focus instead on investing in R&D and design since these will help make the car as good as possible.
“I ask myself: Will this activity result in a better product or service? If not, I stop those efforts.”
Use common sense
“In general, always pick common sense as your guide. If following a ‘company rule’ is obviously ridiculous in a particular situation, such that it would make for a great Dilbert cartoon, then the rule should change.”
Don’t waste time
“Walk out of a meeting or drop off a call as soon as it is obvious you aren’t adding value. It is not rude to leave, it is rude to make someone stay and waste their time.”
Be anti-meeting
“Excessive meetings are the blight of big companies and almost always get worse over time…. [so] keep them very short. Also get rid of frequent meetings, unless you are dealing with an extremely urgent matter. Meeting frequency should drop rapidly once the urgent matter is resolved.”
Seek Constructive criticism.
Don’t be delusional and think you and your ideas are infallible. Get as much feedback as you possibly can from people you trust. Make sure you keep examining yourself to make sure you truly believe in your ideas and aren’t just after some unrealistic dream for the wrong reasons. Be gracious when someone tells you to rethink one aspect of your plans
In my favorite interview with Elon Musk below, he touches on several of his success secrets that I share in this post.
One success tip that many people likely avoid is seeking out criticism.
No one likes hearing what they are potentially doing wrong but by seeking out this information from people you trust you gain valuable insight that you may be able to use to make improvements.
If you watch this video and notice the part where Elon discusses negative feedback please share the time in a comment below.
I think it’s important for people to pay close attention to negative feedback and rather than ignore negative feedback, you have to listen to it carefully.
Ignore it if the underlying reason for the negative feedback doesn’t make sense but otherwise, people should adjust their behavior.
I’m not perfect at it, for sure, but I do think it’s really important to solicit negative feedback, particularly from people who have your best interest in mind.
Don’t spread yourself too thin.
Don’t try to run multiple empires or companies. Concentrate on doing one thing, or building one company at a time, and giving that project you're all. On the other hand, you should be working harder and longer than everybody else. That’s how you get more done in less time, and how you get ahead.
Don’t fear failure.
In an interview, Musk has stated that he originally thought Tesla would fail.
When asked why he would start a company that he didn’t think would be successful his answer was:
“If something is important enough you should try even if the probable outcome is failure.”
Elon wanted to get rid of the perception that electric cars are ugly and slow.
Although entirely changing the way the public perceives a product class is no easy task Musk has made it happen.
The Tesla Model S sedan topped Consumer Reports’ annual customer satisfaction ratings two years in a row.
Failure is a normal part of the innovation process. Make friends with this. If you think something is probably going to end up in failure, but it’s important enough to try, make sure you go for it. Failure is generative. Failure is a necessary component of innovation.
Choose to be extraordinary.
According to Musk, “people can choose to be ordinary.” Choose the opposite. Challenge and question norms. Do the unexpected. Strive always for greater goals and deeds.
Really Like What You Do
When you really like what you do it enables you to find the energy persist through the challenges that a growing business will undoubtedly face.
Do Something Important
Success and satisfaction with your work are not all about making money.
Elon had more money than he needed at the age of 27 but he has pressed on, working like a madman because he recognizes the importance of his work, and changing the world in the process.
Elon recommends being bold and choosing to do something important.
Not only can working on important projects give you great financial rewards it can also provide the satisfaction that comes with knowing you are changing the world for the better.
Create a Superior Product
Create an amazing product and that is the strongest type of marketing there is.
Apple is another example of this. Although Apple certainly does not shy away from advertising that marketing would fall flat if their products were not high quality.
When media outlets start talking about how your product is the best in the world you’re on the right track.
Be Ready to Learn New Skills
Don’t let what you don’t know to stop you from tackling important endeavors.
Elon never owned a car company before, but that didn’t stop him from starting Tesla.
Elon was never a rocket scientist, but that didn’t stop him from starting SpaceX.
There are plenty of books out there and there is more information readily available than ever before so set your sights high because there is plenty of information online about how you can make it happen.
Be Unrelentingly Optimistic
Elon is known for setting impossible deadlines and making requests of his employees to cut costs by up to 90%.
A lot of the time these deadlines fail, but often they succeed.
With the optimism to tackle massive goals, you can often achieve success even if you fall a bit short of your original target.
Challenge yourself to think big and this will often yield big returns.
Seeking unreasonable levels of success is a strategy that can lead you to exceptional success.
Attract Great People
All a company is a group of people working together to create a product or service.
In his commencement speech at USC, Elon Musk explained that if you are creating or joining a company the most important thing is to attract great people.
He recommends you either
“Join a group that is amazing that you really respect or if you are building a company you’ve got to gather great people.”
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