ThemePeople & Network
CardCard 7 of 66
Questions5 to explore

Competition

The people running the same race as you

Knowing who is competing with you, and what you actually think about that, is more useful than ignoring competition or being preoccupied with it.

Competition in professional life is real, even when people pretend otherwise. There are limited positions, limited attention, limited clients. People are going after some of the same things you are going after. How you relate to that fact affects both your strategy and your state of mind.

The most useful thing competition can do is sharpen your sense of what makes you distinct. When you look at the people running the same race, what do you have that they do not? What angle are they taking that you have not considered? Where is there genuinely room for everyone, and where is the field genuinely crowded?

Competition also has an emotional dimension that is worth naming. Envy, admiration, anxiety, and inspiration can all come from watching others. Being honest about what you feel when you look at your competitors, rather than performing indifference, tends to be more useful than pretending those feelings are not there.

How to work on it

Practical ways to reflect on and develop this dimension of your working life. How it tends to look at different stages of a career, and where to put your attention.

Early career

Identify the people who are at a similar stage and doing similar things. This is less about rivalry and more about understanding the landscape you are entering.

Mid career

Revisit who your real competitors are. They may have shifted as your direction has clarified. Some people who seemed like competitors are actually potential collaborators.

Later career

Think about competition in terms of positioning and differentiation rather than head-to-head comparison. What space do you occupy that others do not?

Any stage

Use your competitors as a source of information. What are they doing well? What gap are they leaving that you could fill?

Questions to explore

Use these on your own or in a group. There are no right answers, only better conversations.

Who would you name as the people most directly competing with you right now?
What do your competitors do well that you have learned from or been inspired by?
Where do you feel genuinely differentiated, and where do you think the distinction is less clear than you would like?
How do you feel emotionally when you look at the people around you in your field, and what does that tell you?
Is there someone you think of as a competitor who might actually be a potential ally or collaborator?

Things to notice

Obsessing over competitors is as unhelpful as ignoring them. The goal is orientation, not constant comparison.
The people you perceive as competition may not perceive you the same way. Make sure your sense of who is in the race is grounded, not just a product of insecurity or ego.
Defining your field too narrowly can make competition feel more intense than it is. Often there is more room to move sideways or find a different lane than is immediately obvious.