Lessons From 6 Business Superstars

Whether you’ve been in business weeks, years or decades, you’ve collected a number of lessons along the way. Some have been in the form of positive, enlightening moments, and others have knocked you for a loop. No matter whether you’re an entrepreneur working for yourself — or the head of a family business or a professional working for an established company — business offers you plenty of teachable moments, if you pay attention.

I’ve personally bought and sold more 250 businesses and served as CMO at a Fortune 100 company. Today, I have a podcast and am the chairman of the C-Suite Network. And all these stops along the way have taught me a few things. Here are my “top business lessons” I’ve collected from the people who have been there and done it all.

Barbara Corcoran: Learn to take a hit and get back up.

Most of you are familiar with Barbara Corcoran from the TV show Shark Tank, but one thing you might not know is that she described herself to me during our interview as “a below-average reader and an insecure student.” You wouldn’t think that about someone who built a real estate empire which she eventually sold for $66 million.

Corcoran tells the story how, before her “big TV hit,” she received a call telling her that the producers didn’t want her on the show anymore. Naturally, she was angry about being dropped, but instead of wallowing, she grabbed the bull by the horns and called producer Mark Burnett. She says she told him, “I consider your rejection a lucky charm, because everything that ever happened in my life came on the heels of failure.”

The producers changed their minds about having her, and the show turned out to be a major success.

The lesson? Setbacks aren’t always setbacks. They can be what moves your needle forward; you just need to adjust your mindset. Pushing through obstacles is a quality all entrepreneurs share, and it’s something Corcoran says looks for when being pitched. In business, you will have setbacks and the way you respond to them will define your success.

As the movie character Rocky Balboa once said, “It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”

Beth Comstock of GE: Keep innovating.

It all started with a light bulb at GE, a company that has always been at the forefront of innovation. Beth Comstock is GE’s first female vice chair, and one of the most interesting interviews I’ve ever done. She’s been instrumental in merging the company’s industrial beginnings with its digital future. She and her team are constantly working to accelerate the industrial internet, enhance clean energy and pursue the kinds of projects that have kept the 140-year-old company agile.

Comstock is quick to point out that no company manages to stay in business without being innovative and reinventing itself. In fact, she and I share an adage, “Adapt, change or die.”

For anyone beginning an entrepreneurial career, here’s a tip: Study GE — not its profits or their bottom line, but how it’s constantly innovating and reinventing itself, its products…