- Never let a rival define you
- If your rival is worried, find out what he knows that you don’t
- Employ one marketing smartie who thinks like an outsider, will tell you the truth, and is endowed by you with veto power over messages and themes
- When your rival punches you, punch back – but elegantly, by taking the conversation above him to a bigger point
Be who you are but put your energy, vocabulary and instincts on steroids
- Stats and numbers can keep you in the weeds; use them shrewdly but don’t depend upon them – tell the story of what they mean in the aggregate to your customer
- After a distinct, authentic viewpoint, put nimble thinking and decisiveness above all else
- Incessantly cultivate the mindset that every customer is yours to lose; this is the wellspring of both the confidence and the humility every person needs to lead and to prevail