Book Review- The Wealth Elite: A Groundbreaking Study of the Psychology of the Super Rich, by Rainer Zitelmann Notes
I came across this book because I was looking for psychology books. I found the first of the book rather boring and too textbook-y. The second part is much better.
The author interviewed like 45 millionaire - billionaires. These were his findings.
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48% stated that real estate was an ‘important’ source of their wealth, and one in ten described real estate as the ‘most important’ aspect of their personal wealth-building. And a total of 20% described stock market gains as an ‘important’ factor in wealth-building, although in this case only 2.4% stated that this was the ‘most important’ factor in building their wealth.
‘Creative intelligence’ is key to financial success. The following is a comparison between the percentage of entrepreneurs (and in brackets the percentage of attorneys) who agreed that the following factors played a decisive role in their financial success: seeing opportunities others do not see: 42 (19); finding a profitable niche: 35 (14).
The role of habitus
* Intimate knowledge of required codes of dress and etiquette
* Broad-based general education
* An entrepreneurial attitude, including an optimistic outlook on life
* Supreme self-assurance in appearance and manner.
He identifies a key quality that is essential for any prospective appointee to the executive board or senior management of a major company: habitual similarities to those who already occupy such positions.
Skillset of Entrepreneurs
* The ‘conqueror’. The entrepreneur has to have the ability to make plans and a strong will to carry them out.
* The ‘organizer’. The entrepreneur has to have the ability to bring large numbers of people together into a happy, successful creative force.
* The ‘trader’. What Sombart describes as a ‘trader’, we would more likely call a talented salesperson today. The entrepreneur has to “confer with another, and, by making the best of your own case and demonstrating the weakness of his, get him to adopt what you propose. Negotiation is but an intellectual sparring match.”
Entrepreneurial success personality traits
* Commitment
* Creativity
* A high degree of extroversion
* Low levels of agreeableness
Entrepreneurial success personality traits
* Orientation towards action after suffering disappointments (the entrepreneur remains able to act, even after failure)
* Internal locus of control (the conviction “I hold my destiny in my own two hands”)
* Optimism (the expectation that the future holds positive things in store)
* Self-efficacy (the expectation that tasks can be performed successfully, even in difficult circumstances).
constant power struggles with their teachers in order to ascertain who would emerge the stronger from such confrontations.
Secret of selling
* Empathy
* Didactics
* Expert knowledge
* Networking.
Conscientiousness is the dominant personality trait. Extroversion is also very common among the interviewees. Openness to Experience is very common
A high tolerance to frustration is one of the most characteristic personality traits of this group.
exceptionally high levels of mental stability.
primarily characterize entrepreneurs as being prepared to swim against the current and make their decisions irrespective of majority opinion.
“No, I never did that (lost my temper). I never get loud. But I can be resolute and say: “That is unacceptable.” And then you either have to go your separate ways or make a decision that the other party might not like. It’s the same in negotiations. I was always described by other people as a bit of a toughie.”
Having the courage to stand against majority opinion is probably a prerequisite for making successful investments, as this is what makes it possible to buy cheap and sell high.
Many of the interviewees spoke about their ability to switch off and direct their focus, even in the event of major problems. The interviewees consistently referred to their ability to focus on solutions, rather than torturing themselves with problems.
At least in the initial phases of wealth creation, most of the interviewees rated their own risk profiles as very high. This changes during the stabilization phase, when risk profiles decrease. In this phase, the hypothesis of moderate risk does apply.
Conscientiousness was the interviewees’ most dominant personality trait. It is important to remember that the Big Five theory’s definition of conscientiousness does not just include qualities such as duty, precision, and thoroughness, but also emphasizes diligence, discipline, ambition, and stamina.
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