The Single Most Important Success Skill

Whether you’re a salesperson, sales manager, business owner or CEO, there are a lot of skills that are necessary for success. A short list might include communication skills, sales skills, people skills, negotiation skills, leadership skills, and time-management skills.

But if I had to pick one skill that supersedes all the others, that is shared by all successful people, that is the foundation of success in any field, it would be this:

The ability to accept that there might be a better way.

This skill manifests as a hunger for learning, a need to experiment, a passion for pushing boundaries.

It’s what causes successful people to seek out mentors and coaches, to read voraciously, to attend conferences and seminars.

But more than that, it’s what enables them to actually act on feedback, insights, and new ideas.

So how good are you at this vital skill? How open are you to different viewpoints? How willing are you to discard beliefs and behaviors that are holding you back? How quick are you to trade old approaches for new ones?

Admitting you were wrong and that someone else’s way might be better than yours isn’t easy. It’s hard on our egos. And yet it’s a critical skill for your success. You can possess all the skills I mentioned above—and more—but if you lack this one, it will stymie your growth and keep you stuck wherever you are now.

So if you really want to accelerate your success, recognize that the ability to accept there might be a better way is a skill you need to hone. That’s the first step to honing it.