Expert Executives and the Feeling

The American steel industry was struggling to compete with foreign companies who were producing and shipping steel to America cheaper than American companies could produce steel in their home market. Overwhelmingly, industry executives begged the Federal government for protection from imports

One executive did not. Ken Iverson, CEO at Nucor, was the exception. Strikingly, Iverson viewed the imports as a blessing. He actively, and unpopularly, spoke against government protectionist policies. The problem, as he saw it, was not companies from overseas, but rather poor management at home. Specifically, Iverson believed American management had failed to keep pace with innovation. The responsibility for being outperformed, according to Iverson, was the American executives, not the importers.

Differentiating successful executive experts, like Ken Iverson, is, in part, the feeling of personal responsible for the outcomes of their actions. Simply put, those who achieve great heights in business, sport or any other human endeavor largely do so because they believe their destiny is firmly in their hands. They feel that their level of achievement is chiefly their responsibility alone. The less expert executive easily chalks up their lack of success to things outside their control.

Feeling responsible is critical to attaining higher levels of expertise, and here is why: when you feel responsible your success or lack of it, you work hard to learn and earn whatever is necessary to become successful. When you believe what you achieve is beyond your control, you give up responsibility of the outcomes of your actions and are therefore less inclined to work to turn a lackluster performance into an outstanding one.