Being in business will challenge you and stretch you all the time. In many ways, it will push you to do what you never thought was possible. Such is the level of pressure one gets in the given tough environment.
Let’s face it – without being aggressive, you won’t meet targets, deadlines, close deals or stay successfully in business. There is nothing wrong with being aggressive to achieve a stated purpose. Unfortunately, too many have a bad taste of the word ‘aggressive’ when it comes to business, because they have a negative perception about what ‘being aggressive’ is about. The goal of being aggressive is to get immediate results by creating a sense of urgency.
Aggressiveness in business is fundamental for any company to be successful. Rapid expansion, continuous investment and going public one day. All of that matters. That is what I call positive aggression, the target is to grow a business, because it directly benefits us – the consumer with better products, services and options in the market.
Fearful people
Any profession where negotiation takes place, a professional will tell you that deals don’t happen by simply waiting on people to come to you. You have to go to them. Call it, taking the initiative or being confident in what you are offering, the truth of the matter is that you have to go to the people. You have to go after the sale. Understand this – many people don’t want to be the initiator because of what it gives off. Fearful people will never reach their peak. Think about this – aggressive people have a plan and a purpose and are not afraid to go after it. They are full of energy and hardworking – never show lethargy.
Outstanding leaders don’t hesitate. They are decisive and follow their instincts. Overthinking comes at a price. Rapid execution is the order of the day, for early adopters with a passion for business performance. Influential leaders excel in communicating their vision and goals clearly. They inspire their teams and rally everyone around the cause. By sharing their passion and enthusiasm, they galvanise their teams to push the limits and embrace challenges as opportunities for growth.
Dark side
But there is another type of aggressiveness, the one people refer to as ‘the dark side of the business’ or simply justify as ‘business is business’, is called negative aggressiveness, the one aiming to destroy others at any cost. Like trying to buy 51% of shares of your competitor to control them and if unable, then suing them for as many reasons as you can possibly sue, in as many states as you possibly can. This negative aggressiveness, directed at destroying someone, versus the first one that is oriented to grow a business, is rather interesting.
It is the obligation of a leader in a company, to look deep within oneself and challenge and question who we are and the decisions we take, all the time. If we want to push our companies to evolve, we must evolve first, every day. When meditating about the aggressiveness behind the decision making for the company one works for, I can see where it all comes from, and it is love. Love for human-kind, passion to improve the experiences of users, passion to constantly innovate, expand and be a better company for ourselves, for our users and our collaborators. To see it with honesty, with no ulterior motive or hidden truth I am happy. I am happy for the present moment and for the future ahead.
Love and fear
Believe in the spirit that successful people are aggressive. In other words, they visualise and pen down their visualisation and implement it. Can we be honest for a moment and say that implementing a plan can be challenging? You’ll ask yourself questions such as what if I get rejected, what if I don’t get any responses and will people think I’m being too pushy? To all of those questions and many others not to mention, I answer with what do you have to lose? You will never know how great you can become unless you’re willing to step out of your comfort zone and become aggressive.
The two basic motivating forces in humans are love and fear. Love is positive and it pushes a positive kind of aggressiveness, for the love of what we do, the love for human-kind and love that is transformed into a passion. Fear, on the other hand is what pushes the negative kind of aggressiveness in business. Staying focused on the goal is much more difficult than it appears. When others question your goals, philosophy and decision-making, it takes genuine conviction to stay the course.
Be aggressive and not pushy. Be confident and not arrogant. And be certain and not cocky. People who are scared don’t eat and scared entrepreneurs don’t stay in business long. Be assertive when you have to be but being aggressive for results for the benefit of others is certainly a trait any successful leader needs to have.
