It was my first real awareness that not everyone in this world will like us, or accept us, that we’re often cast aside at the very moment we most nee… - Phil Knight

Every runner understands this. Front runners always work the hardest, and risk the most.

When you hired an accountant, you knew he or she could count. When you hired a lawyer, you knew he or she could talk. When you hired a marketing expert, or product developer, what did you know? Nothing. You couldn’t predict what he or she could do, or if he or she could do anything.

People reflexively assume that competition is always a good thing, that it always brings out the best in people, but that’s only true of people who can forget the competition.