The best leaders treat customers and coworkers like family. Musk, for example, regularly expresses gratitude to customers through Twitter. It may seem like small gestures, but people take notice. Many executives have learned from Musk’s example, such as Maulik Parekh, President and CEO at SPi CRM. “Our most valuable asset is our people,” he explains. “If we take care of […]

  School may end but self-education never has to. “You don’t know what you don’t know. You realize there are all these things out there,” says Musk, who said he read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica as a child. That’s right. While you and I read Goodnight Moon, Musk absorbed an encyclopedia. The trend has only continued as Musk […]

Musk doesn’t waste his resources on advertising. Instead, he asks himself: “Will this activity result in a better product or service? If not, I stop those efforts.” As a marketer myself, this one pains me to hear. But I understand Musk’s point. A top-quality product will lead to lots of great word of mouth. Focus […]

The best time to be an entrepreneur is when you’re young. “As you get older, your obligations increase,” Musk said. “So I would encourage you to take risks now, to do something bold, you won’t regret it.” As you get older, risk-taking also impacts your family and children. Not to mention, you’ll have much less time on […]

Most people complain about traffic. Not Elon Musk. Instead of moaning about the problem, Musk searched for a solution. This resulted in The Boring Company, which seeks to decrease road congestion by creating a tunnel system. Building the future for yourself is the best way to achieve the outcomes you actually want. This was a lesson […]

“Don’t just follow the trend,” Musk said. The most successful companies focus on creating new innovations. They don’t try to chase the competition. Jonny Videl, CEO and founder of Viral Contest Marketing, has learned a lot from Musk when it comes to this. “Going viral doesn’t happen by accident,” he says. “Stand out by focusing on […]

There’s no crystal ball for success. Even Musk couldn’t predict how Tesla Motors would turn out. But as he explained: “If something is important enough you should try even if the probable outcome is failure.” If you care about something, you should put every effort into following your dreams. At the same time, be ready in […]

There’s always room for improvement. As Musk explained, “It’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better. I think that’s the single best piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.” Jason Bliss, founder […]

You don’t have to completely change the world to “do good.” But you should always try to provide real value. As Musk has said, “If you make something that has high value to people…and frankly, even if it’s something, if it’s like just a little game or some improvement in photo sharing or something, if it […]