At Last - A Bit of Sense

I was scanning the Daily Telegraph this morning and happened across a fashion article about Sir Paul Smith. According to Celia Walden he is Britain's most successful designer and his brand has doubled its turnover in the past five years, delivering a 15 per cent rise in profits to £150 million in 2008.

The interesting part of this story (apart from being an amazing success story in the midst of a recession) is Sir Paul's attitude to the fashion industry. He admits that he "prefers the creative process of designing and selling clothes to the idea of putting on a poncey fashion show" and describes the process as "pure, self-indulgent theatre - providing lesser designers with their 15 minutes of fame".

Here is a perfect example of someone who believes in himself enough to stand apart from the crowd and allow his talent and vision to speak for itself. You may be thinking that it's easy for him to say all this now that he's so successful - but perhaps it was precisely this attitude that made him so successful?

The lesson here is about developing an inner strength, fuelled by your values and beliefs (rather than superficial status and ego), as a way of navigating yourself to the top of your game. Perhaps the key is to learn from a master and don't worry too much about what everyone else is doing.