Tuesday night I spoke at the New York Library of Science, Industry and Business relating the lessons I’ve learned as an entrepreneur. A full house showed up, mostly men and women under 40, many in their 20’s and 30’s–not my usual crowd. I had everyone introduce him/herself for several reasons.

• I knew that with a 5:30pm start time folks would be drifting in after work, and I didn’t want to begin my official talk until people were settled into their seats.
• It’s always a good exercise to stand up, introduce oneself and speak your message. Most people don’t like doing this for themselves, but they enjoy listening to everyone else and learning what others are up to in their business lives.
• I like to offer a marketing opportunity, which the self-intro segment provides.
• I could get a sense of the crowd, where they were in their business development, to gauge and respond during my talk.

What knocked my socks off was one young man’s self-introduction. He said that he had just arrived (last week) in the U.S. from Seoul, South Korea, and wanted to learn as much about business as he could. It took my breath away.

It inspired me to see someone seizing opportunity. It underlined for me what an incredible country we live in, in spite of the craziness of the current situation. And it was a reminder of our intensely competitive marketplace and what it takes to succeed.

What are you doing to stay competitive?