If You Want to Scale Your Business Successfully, You Need to Adopt the Bruce Lee Mindset

The following is adapted from SIMPLE Scaling by Brendan McGurgan and Claire Colvin.

I’ve been practicing martial arts for more than 25 years and have always been fascinated by the importance of mindset in performance and the many parallels between performance in elite sport and elite business.

Take tae kwon do, the martial art that I’ve concentrated on. It is based on five principles: courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, and indomitable spirit. You could just as easily ascribe these values to that of any successful scaling organization.

Committed as I have always been to martial arts, particularly tae kwon do, it will come as no surprise that growing up, Bruce Lee was my hero. His many films inspired my big vision: achieving a black belt.

With practice, desire, and focus, you can secure a colored belt every three to six months over a four-year period. I loved how these mini goals allowed me to measure my progress toward the ultimate ambition.

At the age of 41, having attained my third-degree black belt, I took part in my last competition, the Northern Ireland Championships. By then, I was accompanied by my two daughters, who were competing at junior level that same weekend. After three bouts of competitive sparring, I made it through to the final, where my opponent was five inches taller and half my age. That day, I had to concede that this was a younger person’s game, and I proudly accepted my silver medal.

The Importance of Mindset

“Giving back” is part of what attracted me to tae kwon do’s admirable tradition. Since achieving my black belt, I have coached the sport in my local community.

I’ve noticed, over that time, just how many students quit at green belt stage. Progressing from white through yellow to green is, well, easy. You can secure your grading and be awarded your belt even if you miss classes, fumble your patterns, and get pummeled in sparring.

To progress to blue, red, and black, however, requires so much more: discipline, dedication to a vision, the ability to listen, perseverance, desire, faith, an unwavering attitude, and a willingness to learn. Not everyone has this mindset.

Progressing to the later belts — and the black in particular — is very much like the choice facing entrepreneurs who are deciding whether to try to hold what they have or to scale. Similarly, achieving any of these goals requires the same outlook: what I like to call the Bruce Lee mindset.

Connect to Something Bigger Than Yourself

It’s been 50 years since the untimely passing of Bruce Lee. He was only 32 when he died, an age at which many of us have not figured out what we want.

Yet, in those short years, he made a huge impact, not only on sport but also on film, on philosophy, and the study of mindset. Bruce was passionately connected to something that was much bigger than himself. It wasn’t just about being rich and famous.

Bruce Lee once said, “If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there; you must go beyond them.”

This is the essence of the Bruce Lee mindset. And, if you are a scaling entrepreneur, it’s the mindset you need to adopt.

Embrace the Bruce Lee Mindset

You may be wondering how to embrace the Bruce Lee mindset. To help you do that, let’s look at the seven qualities of the mindset. First, this mindset consists of a “can do, will do” attitude. People with this mindset also have a “win or learn” mentality; they see mistakes as an opportunity for self-improvement and adaptation.

It does not stop there. This mindset also requires us to be “formless,” that is, not stubborn. As Bruce put it, “flexible like water.” It requires an insatiable appetite for learning as the sustenance of personal growth. And, it asks you to make your best effort each day: “Do just a little more than what’s required.”

Along with all these qualities, you must also take personal responsibility for the outcome. Finally, you must be a source of uplift. Your positive attitude and positive energy will raise those of your team.

The bottom line is that the obstacles we think are impeding our progress toward scaling or any other goal are almost always self-imposed. We focus energy on the problem, not potential solutions. To knock down those walls and scale successfully, we need to adopt the Bruce Lee mindset — the growth mindset.

For more advice on how to develop the Bruce Lee mindset as you work to scale your business, you can find SIMPLE Scaling on Amazon.

Brendan McGurgan is a global business leader who builds profitable, scalable businesses by delivering on his strong personal belief that anything is possible. Over seventeen years, twelve as CEO of CDE Group, he helped the company achieve 25x revenue growth and become an industry leader.

Claire Colvin is a highly experienced Talent Leader and partner of scaling CEOs, building the right culture and people-centered systems to accelerate the scaling process. The former Talent Director on the Board of CDE and qualified with a master’s degree in HRM, she draws on twenty-five years’ experience in high-growth SMEs, global organizations, and major UK PLCs.

Together, they co-founded Simple Scaling and developed the ScaleX™ Accelerator Program to inspire, connect, and enable ambitious leaders of SMEs to scale with purpose. Learn more at www.simplescaling.com.