INTRODUCTION
I believe that the name Elon Musk is not new to you, especially if you are in the business world. You have been hearing things like: Tesla Stock, Twitter stock, SolarCity and so on.
According to the Forbes Billionaires list, Musk, 52, is currently One of the richest man in the world, with over $200 billion as of October 2023. He is the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter (now X), and other great companies in the United States.
We have painstakingly studied the life and business activities of this great entrepreneur, and we have come up with some qualities you can learn from him.
Here are the qualities business owners can learn from Musk:
1: Assemble The Right Team
Hiring great people who believe in your dream and vision goes a long way in helping you meet your target goals and expand the scope of your business. We learned that Elon Musk sometimes personally conducts job interviews himself, especially in some strategic positions. In 2015, he said through his Twitter handle that he was looking forward to bringing in “hardcore” software engineers he would conduct interviews for personally.
While conducting interviews for candidates, Musk would be interested in how they solved problems from the previous job roles they had occupied. He would like to know if they solved the problems unilaterally or as part of a team.
In an interview with Glassdoor, Musk said, “We challenge our leaders to hire people that are better than themselves. Therefore, making the company better with each hire.”
Apart from seeking talented employees, Musk also gives priority to candidates with the right and good attitudes.
2: Stay Open to a Wide Range of Ideas
You might have heard some words of advice asking you to focus and specialize in your field of study until you use it to bring a particular change to the world. However, I want to tell you that you don’t have to do that. Instead of sticking to just one thing, you should endeavor to learn new things, as this will equip you with new skills.
Looking at the success of Musk, opening up to new ideas can have a great impact on our lives and the global world in general. Musk engaged himself in different investments such as PayPal, SpaceX, DeepMind Technologies, and lastly, Twitter (now X).
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Apart from your profession, what are the other things that interest you that you left behind in the past? That thing that you ignored and neglected may later fetch you good fortunes because you don’t know when something could suddenly produce the desired results. Therefore, give proper attention to things you like doing.
Musk himself said in an interview that we should stop following trends blindly. To succeed, we should always question and challenge the status quo. However, he warned that we should not just dip our hands into something without understanding the basic principles.
Musk too has advised that people should properly understand the fundamental principles of whatever they want to do before putting their hands into the details, so as to avoid building on faulty ground.
3: You Can Get Great Ideas From Anywhere.
On some occasions, Musk has thrown some of his ideas to the public for opinions, suggestions, or improvements wherever they are needed. This is a great quality you need to learn from this business guru. Don’t underrate any source when it comes to the area of ideas.
By making his ideas open source, Musk is making us understand that to be a good leader, we should always take advantage of information technology by allowing people to actively participate in finding solutions to problems.
You may be a smart entrepreneur, but the input you would get from other people may make you record success that could not be possible with only your own effort. Teamwork is very important for you as an entrepreneur; it goes a long way in helping you execute your plans well.
4: Don’t Let Fear of Failure Dominate You.
As a business owner or potential business owner, understand that failure is part of life; therefore, you have no reason to be afraid of it. Instead, consider it in your business plans and devise a plan to manage it and handle the effects it brings.
Before kicking off the SpaceX program, Musk had done enough research about the lofty project and committed a budget of $100 million to it. He had planned that he would not spend more than that amount to launch a rocket into space, adding that he would jettison the idea if the project failed.
Musk spent $90 on the first two launches, and the project didn’t succeed. He, however, finally succeeded with the third attempt, where he spent $10. As you can see, don’t be afraid of failure; instead, there should be a plan in place to manage it in a way that would not spell doom for your business.
5: Let Quality be Your Priority.
One of the lessons you should learn from Musk is to focus on how to make your products or services a quality one first, instead of placing your priority on how to sell them out to the public.
Musk said that at Tesla, they put much of their focus on how to manufacture the best cars instead of focusing on how to spend money on advertising. He said, “When we consider spending money, we ask, ‘Will this create a better product?’ If not, we don’t proceed with spending the money.”
6: Accept Constructive Criticisms
Many business owners detest criticism; they don’t want it all. You should note that constructive criticism can show you what you need to have and point out your weaknesses.
In the course of developing his business empires, Elon Musk himself said, “Constantly seek criticism.” He sees criticism as part of strategies to develop his ideas.
When he was developing the Tesla electric car, Musk asked the automobile engineers to point out the faults in the design. He didn’t ask them to tell him only what was good about it. When the engineers gave him their opinions, he made the necessary corrections to the design.
To succeed in your business and every part of your life, go to people you trust and ask them to give you feedback about crucial areas of your life that need to be amended for good.
7: Ensure You Have Integrity
An adage says, “A good name is better than gold and silver”. When Musk wanted to start Tesla, he borrowed some money from the Department of Energy of the United States. He paid back his $400 million loan as soon as possible after the company started making money.
You can learn from this that it is good to conduct your business in an honest way so that people feel free to do business with you.
All these factors we highlighted contributed greatly to Elon Musk’s wealth. It is very important that you learn some things from it, especially, if you are an entrepreneur or you want to start a business
