AyiPreneur

A Professional Fisherman Doesn’t Need Luck

June 29, 2012 at 7:21 pm jorelien Leave a comment

A business consultant and speaker Vince Langley who also owns a professional fishing business shared a story with my Vistage group of CEOs on how when he first went into the business, before a fishing trip he wished good luck to a professional fisherman that he had befriended. The professional fisherman became very angry as if he had been insulted and came close to Vince’s  face to state sternly “Don’t you ever wish me good luck”.

Why was the fisherman friend so angry? Because for the professional fisherman, luck has nothing to do with it!

A professional fisherman doesn’t go and throw a net or other fishing gear in the water and hope that they’ll catch something. They do things such as keep data on where they’ve caught fish, where they were not successful and make decisions about where to fish based on more than they just hoping that the fish will bite.

This much is also true for CEOs and entrepreneurs. I have met many CEOs and entrepreneurs where after hearing them talk about how they think and their plans, I have no doubt that they will be successful. While people might focus on the break that a CEO or entrepreneur might get, they often overlook the barriers that have to be overcome. So, based on my experience I feel confident to say that to a “professional” CEO or entrepreneur, success does not depend on having weak competitors, a favorable regulatory environment, a great economic environment or luck.

 In other words, with or without luck, even with tough competition, even in a tough economy, even in a tough regulatory environment a great CEO or entrepreneur find a way to deliver.

Entry filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: luck; success;.