Conventional wisdom emphasizes that we compete with others. We compete with other companies in the marketplace whom we must beat in order to win and succeed. Top performers in any field, though, all say that the ultimate competition is not with others, but within ourselves. How do we keep calm when our competitors play dirty? We have to master our own reactions to prevail. Further, how do we give a long-standing direct report some very tough feedback that they will feel hurt by, but if they don’t correct it could get them fired? The positive influence (+influence) warrior must master these moments of inner turmoil.    In the journey to maximize +influence, we must win three competitions with ourselves:   – First is a competition [...]