Tweet

Lesson #3: Your Work Ethic Is Your Most Important Asset

Article Overview: “I'm not too good at lying still in the sun,” says McMahon. “I have to do something with my mind, or I'll get in trouble.” By all accounts, McMahon was obsessed with wrestling since he was a little boy, and he continues to be just as devoted a fan today. It is his passion for his work that allows him to maintain the strong work ethic that he has, working long after his competitors have already gone to sleep.

Lesson #3: Your Work Ethic Is Your Most Important Asset

“I'm not too good at lying still in the sun,” says McMahon. “I have to do something with my mind, or I'll get in trouble.” By all accounts, McMahon was obsessed with wrestling since he was a little boy, and he continues to be just as devoted a fan today. It is his passion for his work that allows him to maintain the strong work ethic that he has, working long after his competitors have already gone to sleep.

“I always feel that creativity coupled with Lady Luck and a very strong work ethic will eventually overcome,” he says. From the very first day he took over his father’s company, McMahon was dedicated to making it as successful an operation as possible. From creating new programs such as the “Royal Rumble” to initiating new types of wrestling matches – first blood, where the first wrestler to bleed loses was a particularly popular one – McMahon never rested until he had satisfied the needs of the day.

“I don't know what drives me,” says McMahon. “I don't have a clue, but I'm driven more today than I ever have been….I guess maybe another gift I have is a great work ethic.” It is this great work ethic that has set McMahon apart from his competitors for the past twenty years, and which has enabled the WWF to outlast both its toughest competitors and its harshest critics.

“I think my idea of retirement might be to one day work a 40-hour week,” he says. Why does McMahon feel the need to put in such long work hours and devote his tireless energy and resources to his company? Because, in his own words, “We're a long ways away from what it can be.” McMahon was never satisfied with the status quo; he always had a grander vision and believed, with a little bit more work the popularity of the WWF could only increase.

“In the real world of competition, the players want to compete and they want to compete at the very highest level,” says McMahon. For him, keeping high standards and competing at the highest level meant having a strong work ethic; that was how he was going to keep the WWF successful when other such enterprises seemed to falling by the wayside.

However, having a strong work ethic never meant that McMahon was ready to take every aspect of his business on himself. He understood the concept of teamwork and he utilized it as best he could. “You have to delegate as you grow,” says McMahon. “You need to surround yourself with quality human beings that are intelligent and have a vision… There is a great deal of deference, a great deal of respect shown to one another, and a great deal of teamwork. There is also a lot of competitiveness and a lot of testosterone and estrogen, and that's just wonderful.”

Nevertheless, McMahon understood that regardless of how well his business was run, it would only be as good as the product it produces. “If you stop building stars,” he says, “which we never do, you wouldn't be in business.”

Related Articles
  How important is a work ethic?
  Lesson #2: Learn To Mind Your Own Business
  Asset Sales
  Do You Need Experience to Own a Franchise?
  Developing a Strong Work Ethic for Online Business

Article Tags: clue, creativity, first blood, lady luck, lesson 3, little bit, passion, popularity, real world, retirement, royal rumble, sleep, strong work ethic, sun, tireless energy, twenty years, world of competition, wrestling matches, wwf



Related Forum Posts
Re: What works for you? - Hi Yinka, I work better under pressure of deadlines when I am doing something for other people. However, I like to have the leisure to develop my own projects. The first case is what Stephen Covey calls a "Quadrant 1" activity ("Important and urgent") whereas the second case is a "Quadrant 2" activity ("Important, not urgent"). We should aim to make as much time as possible for Q2 activities so that we can develop our own projects. Easier said than done!
$1,000,000 - Hi Evan, Are you talking about US Dollars? If so, that would be approx £500,000 in the UK. The Canadian Dollars differs also from the Australian Dollar. In any case, one needs to solve problems to help people to get money. The more solutions are given to people's needs to solve their problems, the closer one gets. Finally, are we talking about 'Income' or can we talk about 'Asset'? Kindest Regards Beat "Unlock People's Potentials!"
Import / Export Business - I am in the benign stages of starting an import/export business and would like to know the most important factors in the early stages of the business. 1)The most secure method conduct financial transactions 2)Important issues with development of a website?
Re: Five Personality Traits of Successful Business Owners - 1. Focus 2. Ability to Adapt 3. Hard Work 4. Good planning 5. People Skills
Re: Books for the Entrepreneur - Another great book for internet entrepreneurs is The Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris MichelleJ


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Looking for an Easy Online Business Opportunity?

Setting Goals for your Home Based Business

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.