How to Deal With the Dreaded Competition

It's not a secret that many sales managers don't like competition. Some never even win any challenges, much less earn a promotion. The problem is this: Most of them are afraid of competition and what it might do to their performance. They're right to be scared. If you are one of those people who never perform up to your abilities, here are three reasons why you shouldn't fear competition.

First, it's pointless. Yes, competition is a force that can drive all people crazy. It's the ability of someone out there to present a better offering than you have, to present something you cannot offer, and to act with success that drives everything. But if you're looking at it realistically, how many of these things are actually going to happen? None, I'm sorry to say. So stop focusing on the negatives and realize that you're dealing with other human beings.

Second, it's dangerous. Competition drives fear in most people. That means when they see others rising above you, they'll feel inferior and get nervous and scared. This in turn perpetuates itself into a vicious cycle. So while you're trying to rise above everybody else, you're also working yourself lower, because no matter how good you are, you're still competing against far worse people.

Third, it's pointless. Are you really convinced that you're better than everyone else? If so, why are you trying so hard to prove it? Is it because you actually think that you're better than others? If so, how do you plan to get others to see your point of view so that you can convince them to work your way up the corporate ladder? How can you honestly expect them to believe what you're saying if they know that you're just repeating the same lies over again?

There's a simple way to deal with fear of competition: Find more competition. It might be easy to spot people who are envious, afraid, fearful or lazy about others in their industry - but who are actually benefiting from all the competition that's created? There are plenty of people who are making great incomes and climbing the corporate ladder right now. The question is: where are they finding all these opportunities?

It's simple. Instead of acting so afraid of competition that you'll spend your life searching for opportunities elsewhere, find more competition. Don't waste your time looking for someone to copy your ideas, but go out there and find others who are already doing what you're doing. That way, when you've found some ideas that work, you can simply pick them up and make your own.

Here's another tip. Don't get wrapped up in the "I'm better than you" mentality. You might be the best in the world, but who is better than you at this one thing? None other than YOU. Why should someone else be better than you at this one thing? If someone else can do it, why can't you?

Fear of competition doesn't hold any water under the right circumstances. If you're already doing something better than your competitors, then stop pretending you're better! It's an excuse, you'll come up with every single time, so just quit it!

Instead, concentrate on what you can learn from others. When you get past your own limitations, you'll have more knowledge of how to do something than you know what to do yourself. Don't avoid learning new things because you think someone else is right and you're wrong. That's how ignorant you can become!

Here's a simple example. Say you have a website that does a good job of selling an item. Someone else does an even better job! Should you try to copy what they're doing and market it even harder? I would definitely not. Why?


Because you don't have the same knowledge, and it will take you much longer to become as good at it as the original website owner. So, don't set yourself up for failure by thinking negatively. Instead, look at what they did right, and give them a chance!