Lesson #5: Trust Your Gut

When Cowell first started out at BMG, he wanted more than anything to produce a hit and prove himself to be a valuable contribution to the company after years of rejection by the industry. Oddly enough, he decided to look in the direction of professional wrestling. His colleagues thought he was crazy, but Cowell had a hunch that if young boys would pay to watch professional wrestling and buy all the related merchandise, they would surely also buy a WWF-themed record sung by the superstar wrestlers themselves.

Cowell’s hunch was bang on. The WWF Superstars album was an instant smash hit. After that, few would come to doubt Cowell’s instincts again. He would later go on to record albums with the Power Rangers and the Teletubbies, both of which achieved similar levels of success. When most people had dismissed opera as not being mainstream, Cowell mixed it with pop and four attractive young men, in Il Divo, and created an instant mainstream success. Where few thought there was any potential for a successful record, Cowell followed his instincts and proved everyone wrong.

It was this kind of leadership – by gut instinct – that would characterize the rest of Cowell’s career. Cowell understands, however, that his instinct would not always be spot on. Sometimes he would get it wrong, but it was in recovering from his mistakes that Cowell would go on to create something even better.

Early on, when reality TV was just beginning to grab a hold of audiences, Cowell was offered the opportunity to be a judge on a new show called “Popstars”, which detailed the process of putting together a pop band and producing the winning band’s first record. Cowell’s gut instinct told him that the show would not be popular – people would not want to ruin the mystique behind the process of how bands come together.

Cowell declined to participate as a judge on the show. A short time after it first aired, both the show and the band that was created as a result became hugely popular. Cowell had trusted his gut instinct and, as a result had missed a great opportunity. It was one of his biggest regrets.

But, Cowell’s gut instinct was now telling him that the success of “Popstars” was not an isolated occurrence. He had a hunch that “Popstars” was just the beginning of a growing trend and this time, Cowell would not let the opportunity pass him by. Determined not to make the same mistake twice, Cowell teamed up with producer Simon Fuller and created the new show “Pop Idol”. A reality show with a twist, it quickly became an even bigger hit. Cowell’s gut had been wrong once, but he had learned his lesson and made good the second time around.

Cowell refused to bend in the face of doubt or pressure. Sometimes to naught and sometimes to success, Cowell always followed through on his hunches. Where he was wrong, he learned from his mistakes and where he was right, he could proudly smile in the face of his doubters.

Lesson #5: Trust Your Gut

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