“5 Business Lessons I Learned on the Way to Becoming a Shark” Leadership Lessons from Shark Tank’s Robert Herjavec

I recently had the pleasure to have a conversation with one of the “Sharks” of Shark Tank, Robert Herjavec. Robert is a businessman, investor, and television personality. In 2003 he founded the internet security company “The Herjavec Group” which has become one of Canada’s largest internet security firms. Robert’s rapid success in business and connection to television prompted producers to feature him on investing reality shows, such as CBC Television series Dragons’ Den, and eventually ABC’s version of the series, Shark Tank. On Shark Tank, Robert shares investment advice and acquires equity in start-up companies along with his co-stars, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Daymond John, Kevin O’Leary, and Barbara Corcoran. Robert has written several business books including, Driven: How to Succeed in Business and Life (2010) and The Will to Win: Leading, Competing, Succeeding (2013).

In our interview, we talked about the leadership lessons other founders can learn from his founder experience, about how to scale from a startup to an enterprise company, how to manage personnel, and how he balances two careers while hosting his Emmy winning show.

BE REALLY GREAT AT ONE THING

Herjavec insists that in general, success starts with sacrifice — you have to be willing to set goals for yourself and pursue their achievement relentlessly. Ultimately reaching those goals will prove to be beneficial and those sacrifices will pay off.

According to Herjavec, “One of the things I’ve learned over the years is you have to be really great at one thing. I always say that no one rewards mediocrity”. This means that being average at a bunch of things won’t make you stand out. You should find your talent, be great at it and apply it to the best of your ability. There will always be someone out there trying to outdo you, so you have to stay ahead of the curve.

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