What Business Development REALLY Means, According to Bill Ruprecht

Mo asks Bill Ruprecht: What story did your parents tell you that shaped how you thought about business development?

Bill's mother was always extremely bright and driven, but she wasn't terribly happy in her life. His father had the knack of being able to find commonality with almost anyone. It was at the dinner table where Bill was constantly challenged with questions on how he would deal with a variety of hypothetical situations.
When Bill started in the antique business he was working with Persian rug dealers and in the process he learned what was relevant to them and how to build rapport, despite the considerable difference in their culture.
Bill understood that those conversations with his parents around the dinner table were like batting practice, and those skills served him well in his work later on in life.
When you do something for a long time, you give yourself the opportunity to get lucky. If you position yourself in the right way and do the work, it doesn't mean you're going to be successful, but it does mean you can get lucky.
There wasn't one single pivot moment where Bill got lucky and his career took off. It was a gradual process of taking on more risks and responsibilities over time and pushing past the fear to take the leap each time.

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