In the Art of War By Suz Tzu – He says – "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."
Our frame of reference for this lesson will be from two legends. Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.
Michael Jordan played for fifteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. His accomplishments include six NBA Most Valuable Player awards. He also holds the NBA records for career regular season scoring average and career playoff scoring average.
Kobe Bryant won five NBA championships and was an 18-time All-Star. In addition, he was the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), and a two-time NBA Finals MVP. Bryant also ranks fourth in the league's all-time regular season and postseason scoring.
They understood that being the greatest means constantly evaluating yourself. For you, it's evaluating you and your business. Fortunately, there is a tool for that in business. It is called a SWOT analysis. It is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Here is how to fill out the chart, which you can download here!
When completing the Strengths portion of the tool, identify what you are good at as a leader and what your business is good at. For the areas that you do not like to do or are not 100% competent at, highlight that as weaknesses and challenges.
For the threats – you must be your worst enemy by evaluating how you would take yourself down if you were a competitor. Also, consider how a competitor would undermine your business strengths too. By doing that, you can then consider strategies to reinforce your strengths or protect them. Again, the goal is to reduce any vulnerabilities.
For the opportunities section - think of ways you and your business can improve in the short term and long term. It may be creating a digital presence on social media or offering customers a loyalty reward program.
MJ and Kobe Bryant were relentless in their pursuit of improvement, which always meant doing anything for enhancements—in basketball, jumping an extra quarter inch higher or building endurance for an additional minute were worth it. If they could see the value in constantly analyzing and improving, you should too.
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