Grit Is the Real Competitive Advantage 🚀

Margaret Mead understood – today’s quote is the essence of being relentless — the unyielding, persistent pursuit of excellence. Not aggression. Not burnout. But a clear vision, unwavering focus, and the grit to keep going when others stop.

I learned this firsthand in the jet stream of Steve Wynn’s relentless pursuit of excellence. Long before The Mirage opened, he saw what Mirage Resorts could become — a game‑changing force in design, operations, and service. The design phase alone took four years of obsessive attention to detail. And as the plans took shape, he led us with the kind of determination that pushed past every naysayer and every obstacle.

So many elements had no blueprint. We had to invent our way forward.

• No one had ever built a working volcano. Water, steam, and fire don’t naturally cooperate — but our engineers persisted until it became an icon.

• No one had ever turned over 3,000 rooms in a single day. Yet the drive for extraordinary service led to innovations like an airport‑style baggage system and a mesmerizing fish tank behind the front desk.

• No one had ever relocated and replanted 3,200 palm trees. A horticultural team — led by a former San Diego Wild Animal Park leader — lost fewer than 20.

• No one had ever hired, trained, and started 6,000 employees on the same day. More than 300 trainers taught simultaneously in 300 temporary classrooms.

• And then came the Siegfried & Roy theater, the white tiger habitat, the dolphin facility — each a first, each requiring relentless effort.

The list of other firsts could fill a book. But the greatest first was assembling a world‑class team that believed in the vision and worked tirelessly to make it real.

Every day, everywhere, new “firsts” happen — big and small. They look effortless only because someone was relentless behind the scenes. That’s the real value of hard work learned by working hard.

Lead your team with that same relentless spirit today.

Margaret Mead (1901 – 1978): American cultural anthropologist, author, and speaker, who appeared frequently in the mass media during the mid-twentieth century.