Triangulation Is One of My Keys to Success

There are two schools of thought. Some entrepreneurs believe that mentors and coaches are a huge integral part of their life. I know that I've had spiritual mentors, financial mentors, career mentors. I've had mentors in every area of my life. I see you as a mentor.

On the other end, there are entrepreneurs who believe they're self-made; that you don't need mentors, you don't need coaches, you don't need to listen to anyone's advice. Where do you sit on that, and how do you help young people navigate that today? Because I think a lot of people are stuck trying to figure it out, or they're not doing either properly as well.

The second group is stupid, but just to be clear, okay? That was very radically transparent. I just want to be clear. They may confuse the fact that they may have good instincts, they have to make their own decisions, they can be independent thinkers, that might do controversial things in order to be successful. That all is true, okay? That all is true.

But the perspectives gained, the learning, the wisdom that is gained, the open-mindedness, the power of stress testing your ideas. I say that I think everybody, to be successful, should be assertive and open-minded at the same time. People ask, "Well, what does that mean?" It means that you have to believe; you have to understand that at the same time, you have to doubt and pull out and get the questions so that you stress test it and that you're learning, right?

And so there's a great power in getting the other perspectives. You know, triangulation, for me, is the key to success—one of the keys to success. Triangulation—I mean, get the three smartest people that you know, who will care about you, yeah, but will disagree with you, will stress test you, and have those conversations. I like to have them disagree with each other, yeah.

So, I'll bring them into a room, and we'll have a conversation, yeah? And then, okay, do the back and forth. You want to learn about anything? Like, I have big initiatives and where I don't know anything, and I have found that if I follow that approach by getting the best experts—and I do that—I can go into things with the guidance.

So, it's so obviously stupid, I think, or so obviously beneficial to be able to draw upon the best thinking and then not to just blindly believe. So when I say, "Be assertive and open-minded at the same time," don't just follow. Okay, do the back and forth, hear the disagreements, and then resolve the disagreements. It's an extremely powerful approach.