Your Competitors Can't Stop Telling You Their Secrets

I’ve been a student of WW2 since my early teens and love getting my hands on anything and everything related to the conflict.

There's this electric moment in the movie"Patton" (if you haven't seen it, stop reading and go watch it right now).

George C. Scott (playing Patton) stands on a battlefield in North Africa, binoculars raised, watching Rommel's (a famous German general) tanks advance.

Patton is kicking his butt.

And then a line comes…. that perfect crystallization of leadership insight:

"Rommel, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!"

It's not just a great movie quote.

It says a lot about competitive advantage for only nine words.

While other generals were busy strategizing in the abstract, Patton had done something different.

He'd studied his opponent.

Really studied him.

Read his book.

Understood his mind.

I recall the old Sun Tzu line

“If you know the enemy, and you know yourself, you need not fear the outcome of a thousand battles”.

Every morning, somewhere in the world, a successful person wakes up with an urge to share their success.

This is even more true if they did it via a social media led strategy!

(…which I am the lucky beneficiary of every day)

They can't help it.

They need to share it.

They're compelled to “teach it.”

But here's the real secret: The winners aren't the ones on podcasts talking about their success.

They're the ones taking notes during those interviews!

When arrogant people succeed, they have no choice but to share.

It's ego!

This is a pattern that repeats:

• The successful founder who can't stop tweeting their thinking & accomplishments

• The winning CEO who must share their new hires

• The market leader who writes detailed post-mortems of their victories

But there's another role in this dance.

The one who listens to all this…to create a competitive advantage!

This is where the magic happens.

Because while everyone else is busy performing their success, they are busy understanding their performance.

This isn't spying.

This isn't stealing.

This is seeing what's already there.

The marketplace rewards those who see what others miss.

…and what others miss is usually what they're too busy announcing to notice.

The choice is yours:

You can be the one on stage, sharing your secrets... Or you can be the one in the audience, collecting them.

This is how you win.

Not by being the loudest voice in the room.

But by being the deepest listener.

Most people are too lazy to gain a knowledge advantage.

Don’t be one of those people!

Competitive strategy is easy when your competitors telegraph their moves.

HUBER, YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD, I READ YOUR BOOK.

Yallah Habibi,

Jon

P.S. I can hear you now.

“But Jon what are you doing! Aren’t you making the same mistake? I’m reading your newsletter now!”

I’ll respond with one of my favorite quotes:

“In times of war, the truth must be protected by a bodyguard of lies”