If You Sucked at School You Can Still Be a Boss B*tch in Business
If you’ve ever slammed your hands on your laptop and screamed to your textbook that “school is bullshit,” congratulations, you’re right.
Getting a degree is cool and all, but if you’ve ever had a real job you’ve probs quickly realized that classroom work and real world skills are totally different. In fact, in a recent interview with Inc., “Shark Tank” host Barbara Corcoran attributes her success to being a terrible student.
“I had the great advantage of being a terrible student in school and feeling like the dunce,” said Barbara. “As a result of that, I was used to not being popular or approved. That was freeing and that’s what building a business is all about, getting over what sets you back and getting over it as fast as you could. I learned to use my mouth instead of my testing ability, I learned to use humor to make friends vs. sounding smart.”
She then goes on to say that she thinks that “bad” students in fact make the best entrepreneurs:
“I do think that people who have trouble reading and writing are extremely visual in nature and can see the big picture quicker than a wink. Entering the business field that allows you to see the organizational part of where all the pieces fall and who’s best at what. I think it’s natural to kids who struggle in school because you’re always jockeying for acceptance, so you’re always on guard. You see the enemies coming long before they arrive, you’re pretty street smart of how to duck and weave. People think they can study to be an entrepreneur, no, I think it needs to be felt, lived, and fought through to get the skill set. You can’t read about it.”
When you really think about it, this totally makes sense. On one hand, the people you know who go off to be entrepreneurs might be kind of self-righteous. But they’re also the type of people who ruffle some feathers and can stand up for themselves. On the other hand, someone who does amazingly in school is used to taking orders and doing things someone else’s way. Plus, if someone does well in school, it’s harder for them to take the risk of being an entrepreneur, especially if they have already carved out a career path.
So if you’ve always had a hard time in school, don’t worry, test-taking doesn’t translate to the real world. If you’re a straight A-student, don’t try to capitalize on the entrepreneurship trend, it’s probs not for you. And that’s okay too.
