"Insecurity is a wonderful motivator" — When Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran explained how past failures create top performers

Shark Tank investor and real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran emphasized that insecurity plays a crucial role in driving success in a Business Insider interview on February 2, 2015. She explained that individuals who have faced setbacks often develop a strong determination to prove themselves, saying:

"Insecurity is a wonderful motivator."

The Shark Tank investor pointed out that her best-performing salespeople were not only good at selling but had also faced rejection and adversity, which drove them to be more ambitious. This view emphasizes how previous failures influence top performers by building resilience, flexibility, and a strong desire to succeed.

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How Shark Tank's Barbara Corcoran views insecurity as a key to success

The role of rejection in sales success

Barbara Corcoran explained in the interview that the ability to handle rejection is a key factor in high performance. She noted that in real estate or any sales-driven industry, success is not determined by one's ability to make a compelling pitch but rather by the capacity to recover from setbacks.

"I already knew that I more than any other broker out there was great at taking a hit and taking rejection," she said.

She highlighted that the best salespeople in her company were not necessarily those with the largest networks or the hardest work ethic, but those who could keep going despite failure. Corcoran also stressed that handling rejection is not about avoiding the emotional effect but about coping with it.

When asked whether she took rejection personally, she responded, "Of course," demonstrating that even the most resilient person has a disappointed moment. The difference, in Corcoran's opinion, is in the speed at which an individual gets over setbacks and keeps going.

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The impact of personal challenges on entrepreneurial drive

In her Business Insider interview, Barbara Corcoran pointed out that individuals with something to prove often outperform their peers. She explained that many of the most successful people have experienced struggles or lacked external validation early in their careers.

This observation suggests that internal motivation, often stemming from past hardships, drives individuals to exceed expectations and achieve remarkable results. Reflecting on her own experiences, she shared:

"I already knew at that point when I was 23 that I had 22 jobs and I failed at quite a few of them."

Having faced multiple failures, she understood firsthand how setbacks could be transformed into motivation. She noted that the most passionate individuals feel failures the most intensely but use those experiences as fuel for future success.

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The connection between resilience and performance

In her 2015 interview, Corcoran emphasized that persistence is often more critical than raw talent or work ethic. The Shark Tank investor observed that some of the hardest workers were not necessarily the highest earners.

"My worst workers very often work the hardest," she stated.

Instead, she highlighted that resilience—the ability to continue pushing forward after setbacks—was the defining factor among top performers. She also shared that on Shark Tank, she looks for entrepreneurs who have overcome adversity.

"When I can unravel something in an entrepreneur where that person's been injured, never had good guidance, everybody said this about them, that about them, they had their shot and they took control of their own universe and they were going to prove that they could do something—nothing's better than that," she explained.

This illustrates how past challenges shape an individual’s drive to succeed, reinforcing her belief in the power of insecurity as a motivator.

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