I collect, study, and synthesize stories of people who own businesses. What makes some people excellent decision makers that produce successful businesses and others ...well, not so much? A critical component appears to be overcoming our natural bias toward loss aversion. As the Nobel prize winning economist Daniel Kahneman stated in his brilliant New York Times bestselling book Thinking Fast and Slow "We are driven more strongly to avoid losses than to achieve gains". Simply put, most people would rather not risk the money they have earned, to invest in something uncertain, like growth. A bird in the hand so to speak.
But consistently, the CEO's of small businesses that create substantial market value have learned to manage that fear and take smart risks. They see not achieving growth goals as a painful loss that must be avoided. They fight for new contracts as fiercely as they fight to keep their existing contracts.
This drive to achieve is what sets successful CEO's apart from the crowd. They are willing to think, invest, leverage others and press on the accelerator.
Is this you?