Did You Win a Free Copy of Malcolm Gladwell's Bestselling "Outliers"?
Forget the Ronald McDonald hair for a moment. Author Malcolm Gladwell’s books – whether you agree with his conclusions or not – rarely fail to provoke interesting thinking and discussion. Gladwell has penned the bestsellers “The Tipping Point” (about social epidemics) and “Blink” (about making decisions without really thinking).
His new book “Outliers: The Story of Success” is about what makes some people wildly successful and accomplished. What is it that sets people like Bill Gates apart from other entrepreneurs? Gladwell’s goal was to explore the ideas of success beyond the clichés of being “really smart” or “really ambitious.”
With the help of our friends at Hachette Books, we’d like to “learn you” by giving away a free copy of Gladwell’s new book. We had more than a dozen folks leave comments behind about what they think is the most important trait of a successful person is in the comments section of this post.
We have now selected a winner! Bethany K. of Holland, Michigan
She will be sent a copy of the book shortly. Congratulations, Bethany, and thanks to everyone who entered the contest. Stay tuned for more giveaways from your pals at DaRK PaRTY ReVIEW.
And it's not too late to win a free copy of the audio version of the book over at She Is Too Fond Of Books.
ok, I want to read this book so I'll play. I think the most important trait of a successful person is flexibility - that is, willingness to change when something isn't working or to listen to a variety of perspectives.
Tenacity. The willingness to try, try and try again until you succeed. Most successful people did not find this success overnight. They used their talents, skills, wits and vision to cultivate their success.
Depends on your definition of success, doesn't it? Running and winning the race to become President of the United States might be considered the mark of a successful person, right? Does that make our current President a success? I'd hate to think so.
"Luck" is the trait of a successful person. How many talented artists and brilliant theorists died before their works were valued? They had the skills, they had the tenacity, the drive, the passion and the courage to try something new. They apparently lacked luck.
Choosing one trait is close to impossible, but I'm going with the ability to *see* differently. That is, we tend to culturally think that innovation must be some humongous leap, something that no one has ever done or thought before; when it is way more common that someone takes an existing technology, or product or service -- or even problem -- and simply *sees* it differently, and therefore sees how to meet it differently and solve it. The innovation may be incremental, but it will be so smart and revolutionary as to seem obvious in hindsight to others, and so they will follow.
The most important trait of a successful person is listening to what people are saying, whether it's how something isn't working, or how something should be working, and identifying strategies for creating a new product or process to improve it and market it.
I'm about to read it, but I believe you're right, Bethany. Gladwell apparently makes some pretty interesting observations about what it takes to be a success. Not surprising if you've read his other books.
Tenacity. The willingness to try, try and try again until you succeed. Most successful people did not find this success overnight. They used their talents, skills, wits and vision to cultivate their success.
Tenacity is what separates them from the rest.
"Luck" is the trait of a successful person. How many talented artists and brilliant theorists died before their works were valued? They had the skills, they had the tenacity, the drive, the passion and the courage to try something new. They apparently lacked luck.
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pretty please - I want to win!